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.
It utters a low note, like the clicking together of two small
stones. A small green parrot (Conurus murinus), with a grey breast,
appears to prefer the tall trees on the islands to any other
situation for its building-place. A number of nests are placed so
close together as to form one great mass of sticks. These parrots
always live in flocks, and commit great ravages on the corn-fields.
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