Hab. Northern Argentina.
This fine and distinct species was first obtained by Dr. Burmeister in Cordova and in Tucuman, where Durnford also obtained specimens of it during his last journey. It is larger than N. pentlandi, and has the breast thickly covered by somewhat rounded light spots upon a cinereous ground; these are mixed with black points and slight striations.
[430.] NOTHURA MACULOSA (Temm.)
(SPOTTED TINAMOU.)
Nothura maculosa, Burm. La-Plata Reise, p. 499; Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 153; iid. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 143 (Buenos Ayres); Hudson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 547 (Rio Negro); Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 203 (Buenos Ayres); Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 168 (Buenos Ayres); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 629 (Misiones); Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 317 (Entrerios, Bahia Blanca); Withington, Ibis, 1888, p. 473 (Lomas de Zamora). Nothura major, Darwin, Zool. ‘Beagle,’ iii. p. 119.
Description.—Above pale yellowish brown, barred with black and brown and streaked with fulvous white; wing-feathers ashy black, crossed on both webs by fulvous bands: beneath rich yellowish brown; throat white; breast and flanks spotted and banded with brownish black; bill and feet yellowish brown: whole length 11·0 inches, wing 5·5, tail 1·6. Female similar, but larger.
Hab. Argentine Republic.
The Perdiz comun or Common Partridge of the pampas, as it is always called—the naturalist’s name of Tinamou being utterly unknown in the southern part of South America—is much smaller than the “Perdiz grande,” but in its form, slender curved beak, bare legs, and in the yellowish mottled plumage generally resembles it. It also inhabits the same kind of open grassy country, and is abundant everywhere on the pampas and as far south as the valley of the Rio Negro in Patagonia. It is solitary; but a number of individuals are usually found in proximity; and in lonely places on the pampas, where they are excessively abundant, I have seen three or four meet together and play in the manner of kittens, darting out from a place of concealment at each other, the pursued bird always escaping by turning off at right angles or by suddenly crouching down and allowing the pursuer to spring over it.
It is very tame in disposition, and flies so reluctantly that it is not necessary to shoot them where they are very abundant, as any number can be killed with a long whip or stick. It moves on the ground in a leisurely manner, uttering as it walks or runs a succession of low whistling notes. It has two distinct songs or calls, pleasing to the ear and heard all the year round; but with greater frequency in spring, and, where the birds are scarce and much persecuted, in spring only. One is a succession of twenty or thirty short impressive whistling notes of great compass, followed by half a dozen rapidly uttered notes, beginning loud and sinking lower till they cease: the other call is a soft continuous trill, which appears to swell mysteriously on the air, for the listener cannot tell whence it proceeds; it lasts several seconds, and then seems to die away in the distance.
It is an exceedingly rare thing to see this bird rise except when compelled. I believe the power of flight is used chiefly, if not exclusively, as a means of escape from danger. The bird rises up when almost trodden upon, rushing into the air with a noise and violence that fill one with astonishment. It continues to rise at a decreasing angle for fifty or sixty yards, then gradually nears the earth, till, when it has got to a distance of two or three hundred yards, the violent action of the wing ceases, and the bird glides along close to the earth for some distance, and either drops down or renews its flight. I suppose many birds fly in much the same way; only this Tinamou starts forward with such amazing energy that, until this is expended and the moment of gliding comes, the flight is just as ungovernable to the bird as the motion of a brakeless engine, rushing along at full speed, would be to the driver. The bird knows the danger to which this peculiar character of its flight exposes it so well, that it is careful to fly only to that side where it sees a clear course. It is sometimes, however, compelled to take wing suddenly, without considering the obstacles in its path; it also often miscalculates the height of an obstacle, so that for Tinamous to meet with accidents when flying is very common. In the course of a short ride of two miles, during which several birds sprang up before me, I have seen three of these Tinamous dash themselves to death against a fence close to the path, the height of which they had evidently misjudged. I have also seen a bird fly blindly against the wall of a house, killing itself instantly. A brother of mine told me of a very curious thing he once witnessed. He was galloping over the pampas, with a very violent wind blowing in his face, when a Tinamou started up before his horse. The bird flew up into the air vertically, and, beating its wings violently, and with a swiftness far exceeding that of its ordinary flight, continued to ascend until it reached a vast height, then came down again, whirling round and round, striking the earth a very few yards from the spot where it rose, and crushing itself to a pulp with the tremendous force of the fall. It is very easy to guess the cause of such an accident: while the Tinamou struggled blindly to go forward, the violent wind, catching the under surface of the wings, forced it upwards, until the poor bird, becoming hopelessly confused, fell back to earth. I have often seen a swallow, gull, or hawk, soaring about in a high wind, suddenly turn the under surface of its wings to the wind and instantly shoot straight up, apparently without an effort, to a vast height, then recover itself, and start off in a fresh direction. The Tinamou, when once launched on the atmosphere, is at the mercy of chance; nevertheless, had this incident been related to me by a stranger, I should not have recorded it.