The beak is flattened laterally, that is, in a plane at right
angles to that of a spoonbill or duck. It is as flat and elastic as
an ivory paper-cutter, and the lower mandible, differently from
every other bird, is an inch and a half longer than the upper. In a
lake near Maldonado, from which the water had been nearly drained,
and which, in consequence, swarmed with small fry, I saw several of
these birds, generally in small flocks, flying rapidly backwards
and forwards close to the surface of the lake. They kept their
bills wide open, and the lower mandible half buried in the water.
Thus skimming the surface, they ploughed it in their course: the
water was quite smooth, and it formed a most curious spectacle to
behold a flock, each bird leaving its narrow wake on the
mirror-like surface. In their flight they frequently twist about
with extreme quickness, and dexterously manage with their
projecting lower mandible to plough up small fish, which are
secured by the upper and shorter half of their scissor-like bills.
This fact I repeatedly saw, as, like swallows, they continued to
fly backwards and forwards close before me. Occasionally when
leaving the surface of the water their flight was wild, irregular,
and rapid; they then uttered loud harsh cries.
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