(CHILOE WIGEON.)
+Anas chiloënsis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 517 (Mendoza).
+Mareca chiloensis+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 635
(Buenos Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 130. +Mareca sibilatrix+,
_Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1876, p. 395; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p.
41 (Chupat), p. 192 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 401 (Central
Patagonia); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 274 (Bahia Blanca).
_Description._--Above black, on the neck barred across with white;
feathers of the back and scapularies margined with white; head above
and cheeks pure white; nape and back of the neck shining greenish
purple; wings brown, lesser wing-coverts white; secondaries velvety
black, white at the base: beneath white, throat and fore neck
blackish; upper breast black, with narrow white cross bands; flanks
stained with rusty rufous; bill and feet black: whole length 20·0
inches, wing 10·3, tail 4·3. _Female_ similar, but not so bright in
colour.
_Hab._ Paraguay, Argentina, Chili, and Patagonia.
The Chiloe Wigeon, as this Duck has been usually called since its
introduction and acclimatization in England, is the only species of the
genus found in South America, and is most abundant on the pampas,
where it is called by the country people _Pato picaso_ or _Pato overo_
(piebald duck), or _Chiriví_ from its cry. It is a very handsome bird;
the upper plumage variegated with black, white, and grey; forehead,
speculum, and under surface white; head and neck dark glossy green. It
is resident, and is usually seen in small flocks of from a dozen to
twenty birds, but sometimes as many as one or two hundred congregate
together. They are wary and loquacious, strong on the wing, and
frequently engage in a peculiar kind of aerial pastime. A small flock
will rise to a vast height, often until they seem mere specks on the
sky, or disappear from sight altogether; and at that great altitude they
continue hovering or flying, sometimes keeping very nearly in the same
place for an hour or more, alternately separating and closing, and every
time they close they slap each other on the wing so smartly that the
sound may be heard distinctly even when the birds are no longer visible.
While flying or swimming about they constantly utter their far-sounding
cry--three or four long, clear, whistling notes, followed by another
uttered with great emphasis and concluding with a kind of flourish.
The nest is made amongst the rushes in the marshes, and the eggs are
pure white and eight or nine in number.