Being At Anchor, As I Have Said, In One Of The
Deep Creeks Between The Islands Of The Parana, As The Evening
Drew To A Close, One Of These Scissor-Beaks Suddenly Appeared.
The Water Was Quite Still, And Many Little Fish Were
Rising.
The bird continued for a long time to skim the
surface, flying in its wild and irregular manner up and down
the narrow canal, now dark with the growing night and the
shadows of the overhanging trees.
At Monte Video, I observed
that some large flocks during the day remained on the
mud-banks at the head of the harbour, in the same manner
as on the grassy plains near the Parana; and every evening
they took flight seaward. From these facts I suspect
that the Rhynchops generally fishes by night, at which time
many of the lower animals come most abundantly to the
surface. M. Lesson states that he has seen these birds
opening the shells of the mactrae buried in the sand-banks on
the coast of Chile: from their weak bills, with the lower
mandible so much projecting, their short legs and long
wings, it is very improbable that this can be a general habit.
In our course down the Parana, I observed only three
other birds, whose habits are worth mentioning. One is a
small kingfisher (Ceryle Americana); it has a longer tail
than the European species, and hence does not sit in so stiff
and upright a position. Its flight also, instead of being direct
and rapid, like the course of an arrow, is weak and
undulatory, as among the soft-billed birds.
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