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58 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
plumes is prohibited. In the Chaco, however, where the aborigines
live almost entirely by the chase, Indians are permitted to kill herons
and other birds for food at any season, a concession that has led to
organized hunting of herons for plumes. In August, 1920, when
I was at the Riacho Pilaga in Formosa, the Tobas were preparing
for an extended plume hunt in heron rookeries located somewhere
near the Rio Pilcomayo and wished me to accompany them. When
I inquired concerning the condition of the plumes at that season I
found the Tobas well versed in the matter, as they remarked with-
out hesitation that eggs should now be hatching in the nests so that
in a few days the plumes would be ripe. I was informed that during
the previous year Cacique Mavordomo, chief of the Tobas of that
section, had organized plume hunting on a cooperative scale, and
had secured 78 kilograms of plumes. These had been sold to traveling
merchants for between 8,000 and 9,000 pesos (at normal exchange
9,000 paper pesos is equivalent to about $3,965) for shipment to
Buenos Aires.
ARDEA COCCI Linnaeus
Ardea cocoi Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, vol. 1, 1766, p. 237. (Cayenne.)
This heron was observed in fair numbers, but no specimens were
secured. The cocoi heron, when seen in the field, resembles the great
blue heron of North America in haunt and habits, as it does in call
notes and general appearance. It was observed solitary on the shores
of large lagoons and rivers, and was more common in the northern
portion of the section traversed than in the Pampas. It was recorded
in small numbers along the Parana and Paraguay Rivers from Cor-
rientes to Puerto Pinasco, from July to September, 1920. About the
1st of October adult birds suddenly increased in number along the
Rio Paraguay, and many were observed in passing by steamer from
Puerto Pinasco to Villa Concepcion on October 2. It is probable
that at this time they had come out from the drying Chaco to feed
and secure food for young. At Lavalle, Buenos Aires, the species
was recorded from November 8 to 16, and at General Roca, Rio
Negro, on November 27. Young birds of the year were observed at
San Vicente, Rocha, on January 31 and February 2, 1921, and near
Lazcano, Rocha, from February 5 to 9. Cocoi herons were noted at
Guamini, Buenos Aires, on March 6 and 7, and in the vicinity of
Tunuyan, Mendoza, on March 23.
TIGRISOMA MARMORATUM (Vieillot)
Ardea marmorata Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 14, 1817, p. 415.
(Paraguay.)
An adult female, taken at Kilometer 80, west of Puerto Pinasco,
Paraguay, on September 17, 1920, measures (in millimeters) as follows:
Wing, 330; tail, 127.5; exposed culmen, 100; tarsus, 107. A