(PARAGUAY SNIPE.)
+Scolopax frenata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 503. +Gallinago
paraguaiæ+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 144 (Buenos Ayres);
_iid. Nomencl._ p. 144; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 198 (Buenos
Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 314 (Entrerios); _Withington,
Ibis_, 1888, p. 472 (Lomas de Zamora). +Scolopax frenata
magellanica+, _Seebohm, Plovers_, p. 496.
_Description._--Above brown, striped and barred with black and
pale fulvous; wings dark cinereous edged with white; tail of 16
rectrices, of which the outer pair are pin-shaped: beneath white,
breast marbled with blackish and brown: whole length 10·5 inches,
wing 5·1, tail 2·4, bill 2·8.
_Hab._ Patagonia, La Plata, and Paraguay.
This familiar bird, called _Agachona_ in the vernacular, from its habit
of crouching close to the ground to escape observation when approached,
is abundant in the Plata district and resident, although its sudden and
total disappearance from all the open wet places where it is common in
the winter gives one the impression that it is migratory. The bird,
however, only retires to breed in the extensive lonely marshes. The nest
is a slight depression on the moist ground close to the water, and lined
with a little withered grass. The eggs are four, pear-shaped, and
spotted with black on an olive-coloured ground.
After the summer heats are over Snipes suddenly appear again all over
the country, and at this season they are frequently met with on the high
and dry grounds among the withered grass and thistles. In favourable wet
seasons they sometimes collect in large flocks, numbering not less than
five or six hundred birds, and a flock of this kind will occasionally
remain in one spot for several months without breaking up. They usually
frequent an open spot of level ground where the water just covers the
roots of the short grass; here the birds keep close together while
feeding and are visible from a long distance; but they become extremely
wary, all raising their heads in a very un-Snipe-like manner at the
slightest alarm, and taking flight with the readiness of Wild Ducks.
These flocks are, however, not often met with. Usually the Snipe is a
solitary bird, crouches close when approached, and springs up suddenly
when almost trodden on, loudly uttering its sharp scraping alarm-cry;
after rising to a considerable height, flying in a wild erratic manner,
it returns suddenly to the earth, often dropping into the grass within
twenty yards of the spot it rose from.
It is, indeed, curious to see how these habits, characteristic of the
Snipes all over the world, are so completely laid aside when the birds
associate in large flocks.
Early and late in the day many individuals are usually on the wing
engaged in their aerial pastimes, the singular grinding sounds caused
by their feathers in their violent descent from a great height being
distinctly audible at a distance of nearly a mile. It is heard
throughout the winter at all hours of the day in mild damp weather, and
on moonlight nights often until after midnight.