(WHITE-NECKED TAPACOLA.)
+Pteroptochus albicollis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 471
(Mendoza); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 76.
_Description._--Above chestnut-brown, obscure or slightly olivaceous
on the neck and upper part of back; inner webs of wing-feathers
blackish; lores, superciliaries, and under surface white, the breast
sparsely, and the belly and flanks thickly marked with transverse
spots of blackish brown; lower flanks and under tail-coverts
chestnut-brown, obscurely spotted with black; bill and feet black:
whole length 8·5 inches, wing 3·1, tail 2·9. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ Chili and Western Argentina.
Dr. Burmeister tells us that he met with this Chilian species in the
water-courses near Mendoza, where it was seen running about on the
stones like a Dipper.
Darwin has given us some interesting notes on this bird:--"This species
is called by the Chilenos 'Tapacola,' or 'cover your posteriors.' The
name is well applied, as the Tapacola generally carries its short tail
more than erect, that is, inclined backward and toward the head. It is
extremely common in Central Chile. The Tapacola frequents hedge-rows
and the bushes which are scattered at a considerable elevation over the
sterile hills, where scarcely another bird can exist; hence it plays
a conspicuous part in the ornithology of Chile. The Tapacola is very
crafty; when frightened by any person, it will remain motionless at the
bottom of a bush, and will then, after a little while, try with much
address to crawl away on the opposite side. It is also an active bird,
and continually making a noise; these noises are various and strangely
odd; one is like the cooing of doves, another like the bubbling of
water, and many defy all similes. The country-people say it changes
its cry five times in the year, which is according, I suppose, to some
change of season. I was told that the Tapacola builds its nest at the
bottom of a deep burrow." (Darwin, in Zool. Voy. 'Beagle,' iii. p. 72.)