(CURVED-BILL RUSH-BIRD.)
Limnornis curvirostris, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 64; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 182 (Buenos Ayres).
Description.—Above rufous-brown, brighter on the rump; lores and superciliaries white; wings and tail chestnut-brown; beneath white; flanks and under tail-coverts pale brown; under wing-coverts white; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 7·0 inches, wing 3·0, tail 2·0. Female similar.
Hab. Argentina and Uruguay.
This species is found everywhere in marshy places in the eastern part of the Argentine Republic, and is also common in Uruguay, where Darwin discovered it. It inhabits dense reed-beds which grow in the water, and is not found in any other situation. It pairs for life, has a very feeble flight, and flies with great reluctance, but lives always in close concealment in one spot. It is, however, very inquisitive, and when approached the two birds creep up to the summit of the rushes and utter peculiar loud, rattling, and jarring notes, as if angrily protesting against the intrusion.
The Rush-bird has a stout body and short graduated tail, strong claws, and a slender curved beak three-fourths of an inch long. The upper plumage is brown, the tail rufous, the under surface and a mark over the eye white.
[208.] PHACELLODOMUS FRONTALIS (Licht.).
(RED-FRONTED THORN-BIRD.)
Phacellodomus frontalis, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 467 (Tucuman); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 65; Salvin, Ibis, 1880, p. 359 (Salta); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 612 (Buenos Ayres). Phacellodomus sincipitalis, White, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 433.
Description.—Above nearly uniform olive-brown, crown blackish brown, superciliaries white; beneath dirty brownish white; under wing-coverts pale cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 6·8 inches, wing 2·6, tail 2·6. Female similar.