(GREAT TINAMOU.)
+Rhynchotus rufescens+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 498 (Paraná,
Rosario, Tucuman); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 153; _Hudson, P.
Z. S._ 1872, p. 546 (Buenos Ayres); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p.
263 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 317 (Entrerios);
_Withington, Ibis_, 1888, p. 473 (Lomas de Zamora).
_Description._--Above cinereous; head, wings, and back crossed by
black bars with pale ochraceous edgings; neck reddish; primaries
chestnut: beneath pale cinereous, strongly tinged with rufous on the
neck and breast; chin white; bill ashy, beneath at base yellowish;
feet dark flesh-colour: whole length 14·0 inches, wing 9·5, tail
3·0. _Female_ similar, but larger.
_Hab._ South Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.
This large Tinamou, known to the Argentines as the _Perdiz grande_, or
"Great Partridge," is found on the pampas wherever long grasses abound,
and extends as far south as the Colorado river, its place being taken
in Patagonia by _Calodromas elegans_. It is never met with in woods or
thickets, and requires no shelter but the giant grasses, through which
it pushes like a Rail. Wherever the country becomes settled and the
coarse indigenous grasses are replaced by those of Europe, it quickly
disappears, so that it is already extinct over a great portion of the
Buenos Ayrean pampas.
This species is solitary in its habits, conceals itself very closely in
the grass, and flies with the greatest reluctance. I doubt if there is
anywhere a bird with such a sounding flight as the Tinamou; the whir
of its wings can only be compared to the rattling of a vehicle driven
at great speed over a stony road. From the moment it rises until it
alights again there is no cessation in the rapid vibration of the wings;
but, like a ball thrown by the hand, the bird flies straight away
with extraordinary violence until the impelling force is spent, when
it slopes gradually towards the earth, the distance it is able to
accomplish at a flight being from 800 to 1500 yards. This flight it can
repeat when driven up again as many as three times, after which the bird
can rise no more.
The call of the Large Partridge is heard, in fine weather, at all
seasons of the year, especially near sunset, and is uttered while the
bird sits concealed in the grass, many individuals answering each other;
for although I call it a solitary bird, it being a rare thing to see
even two together, many birds are usually found living near each other.
The song or call is composed of five or six notes of various length,
with a mellow flute-like sound, and so expressive that it is, perhaps,
the sweetest bird-music heard on the pampas.
The eggs are usually five in number, nearly round, highly polished, and
of a dark-reddish-purple or wine colour; but this beautiful tint in a
short time changes to a dull leaden hue. The nest is a mere scrape,
insufficiently lined with a few grass-leaves. The young birds appear to
leave the mother (or father, for it is probable that the male hatches
the eggs) at a very early period. When still very small they are found
living, like the adults, a solitary life, with their facilities,
including those of flight and the melodious voice, in a high state of
perfection.