Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE H
nent. The Laguna Castillos, Laguna Negro, and other lakes,
swamps, and cienagas, covered broad areas on the coastal plain,
interspersed with great forests of palms and open prairies. The
palm groves were of a different type than those of the Chaco, as
the trees had thick, heavy trunks and long fronds, whose heavy
bases, when dry, furnished a valuable source of firewood. These
groves covered large tracts extending toward the Brazilian frontier,
a few miles distant. (Pis. 11 and 12.) Kains were frequent throughout
my stay. It was said in San Vicente that I was the first North
American to visit that section, and I was received with every
courtesy. On February 2 with all my equipment I continued north
and east of north in a two-wheeled cart drawn by horses over a
little-traveled road heavily washed and gullied by rains. We crossed
a range of rolling hills and then descended into a broad valley
drained by the Arroyo Sarandi. The country was sparsely populated,
rheas were abundant, and many other birds were seen. At
the Paso Alamo on the Sarandi, 30 kilometers north of San Vi-
cente, I made a camp for a few hours and collected a number of
birds in low thickets and prairies. That night I slept at a holiche
near the level marsh known as the Banado de la India Muerta, and
on the following morning did some collecting in the vicinity. On
February 3 I reached Lazcano, 20 kilometers north of the marshes
just mentioned, and there remained until February 9. Low rocky
hills here bordered a broad valley drained by the Rio Cebollati.
The stream itself was bordered by dense thickets and low trees,
forming a band nowhere wide but still of fair extent, considering
the type of country. On either hand were broad saw-grass swamps
and meandering channels in fording which my horses frequently
sank until head and neck alone projected above the water. Water
birds abounded, thicket-haunting species were found along the
stream, and prairie-inhabiting forms were encountered on the bare
uplands. (PL 13.)
February 9 I left Lazcano by coach, crossed the river on a ferry
or balsa at the Paso del Santafecino to enter a more populous
region that continued to Corrales in the Department of Corrales,
where I arrived that night. On February 10 I returned to INIontevideo
by railroad, and on February 13 continued by rail to Rio
Negro, Department of Rio Negro, in northwestern Uruguay. Here
a high, rolling plain was cut by a broad swift stream, the Rio
Negro, bordered by low thickets with lagoons and marshes of small
size in its flood plain. Birds were abundant but were in molt, and
so were quiet. Rains were frequent and the weather enervating
because of humidity and intense heat. Completing field work hero
on February 22, I went by train to Salto on the Rio Uruguay, and
crossed that broad stream by ferry to Concordia in Argentina,