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BIRDS OF. ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 123
The type and one other specimen described by Peale® as Rallus
luridus from Orange Harbour, Tierra del Fuego, belong to the form
PardiraUus rytirhynchos sanguinolentus (Swainson)^ so that luridus
should be cited in the synonymy of that subspecies. Should Rallus
setosus named by King,^ it is presumed from the Straits of Magellan,
prove the same this name will antedate sanguinolentus. From the
description, however, it appears that setosus, like rytirhynchos, is
of the type with dark centers in the feathers of the dorsal surface.
PardiraUus r. rytirhynchos was recorded at the following points:
Lavalle, Buenos Aires, October 29 to November 15, 1920; General
Roca, Hio Negro, December 3 ; Carhue, Buenos Aires, December 17
Carrasco (near Montevideo), Uruguay, January 16, 1921; Lazcano,
Uruguay, February T and 8; Rio Negro, Uruguay, February 18;
Tunuyan, Mendoza, March 22 to 28. One recorded near Concon,
Chile, on April 26, that was not secured, is supposed to have been
PardiraUus r. sanguinolentus.
PardiraUus during the summer season is a frequenter of rush or
grass-grown marshes in the pampas, or ranges through swamps or
along channels grown with low dense shrubber}^, particularly where
such growth stands in water. Though it resembles ordinary rails in
general habits it must swim well as it is found many times where the
water stands nearly a meter deep. When in its haunts one may
be startled by a solemn hollow-sounding repetition of notes, too too
too-oO'Oo, an odd, lugubrious call suggestive almost of the super-
natural, coming from the rushes almost at hand, although no sign
of the bird may be seen. If one retreats a short distance and waits
quietly a rail may run out to the edge of cover, but more often the
only sign of its presence is the hollow repetition of its calls. In fact,
for some time I was inclined to attribute these notes to a grebe as
they came from rushes that stood in fairly deep water. After the
breeding season the hollow notes are given less frequently, but a low,
grunting sound, suggestive of the protest of the tuco tuco {Ctenoviys)
in its underground chambers, may be heard, or a sudden gunshot
may startle the rails into emitting wheezing shrieks that are answered
and repeated from every side. All are strange sounds, not at all
birdlike in their nature, and so different in quality and tone as to
make it seem almost impossible that they come from the same bird.
The brilliant colors of the bill are easily seen when the birds
venture into the open. They suggest Virginia rails as they v/ork
about with the tail cocked over the back and twitched at intervals.
At times deliberate in movement, again they traverse runs in the
« U. S. Explor. Exped., vol. 8, 1848, p. 223.
''Rallus sanguinolentus Swainson, Anim. Menag., 1838, p. 335, said to inhabit "Brazil
and Chili " ; type locality restricted to Chile by Chubb, Ibis, 1919. p. 51.
8Zo6I. Journ., vol. 4, April, 1828, p. 94.
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