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

68 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Swainson (1837), antedated by Palamedea cristata Linnaeus (1766),
a name that refers to the cariama, overlooked a note by Dr. C. W.
Kichmond to the effect that the proper name for the bird in question
was found in Ghaja torquata Oken (1816).
The screamer was found in the Chaco in remote regions where set-
tlements Avere few, and was common in the pampas on large estancias,
where the birds were given more or less protection. Though formerly
distributed throughout this entire region they have been killed
or driven away throughout extensive areas. Occasional screamers
were noted from the train in crossing the marshy region in northern
Santa Fe on July 5. At the Riacho Pilaga, in the interior of Formosa,
single birds were observed about lagoons from August 10 to
21, and on August 16 an adult male Avas taken. Near Puerto Pinasco,
Paraguay, they were common from September 6 to 30, and were
found in the interior Chaco to the westward as far as I penetrated
(to Kilometer 200). One was observed on the Rio Paraguay itself
on September 30.
Screamers ranged usually in pairs, but at times congregated in
some numbers. On one occasion I saw 14 in a flock, circling in the
air like vultures, 18 gathered in a band at the border of a lagoon and
others scattered about near by, until in all I had 40 of the great birds
under observation at one time. They were found ordinarily on floating
masses of vegetation over deep water or in damp meadows where
marshy growth was not too luxuriant. When alarmed or suspicious
they flew up to perch in the low tops of near-by trees, where they
were able to view the country. On alighting on the carnalote, as the
masses of water hyacinth and other vegetation that formed floating
mats in the water were called, they frequently extended the wings
for a few seconds, until they had tested the footing, but their long
toes enabled them to walk over these insecure masses without trouble.
The approach of any suspicious object was the occasion of loud
trumpeting calls, rather gooselike in nature, that resembled the syl-
lables chah hah^ given slowly and with equal emphasis. These calls
were loud, so that they carried for long distances, and had a certain
stirring quality that was more or less pleasing, but Avere repeated so
incessantly that in time they tended to become irritating, particularly
when more desirable game was put on the alert by the alarms sounded
by these efficient sentinels. These loud calls were often followed by
a curious rattling, rumbling sound, audible only for a short distance,
that resembled the noise produced by rubbing and compressing a
dried, distended bladder. This sound was wholly internal and
seemed to be produced when air was forced from the large air sacs
into the smaller cells that lie between the skin and the body. At
times the forepart of the body was slightly elevated as it was pro-
duced.