I was told that near Colonia 2500 were killed in the course of one
year. A bird with a forked tail, terminated by two long feathers
(Tyrannus savana), and named by the Spaniards scissor-tail, is very
common near Buenos Ayres: it commonly sits on a branch of the ombu
tree, near a house, and thence takes a short flight in pursuit of
insects, and returns to the same spot. When on the wing it presents
in its manner of flight and general appearance a
caricature-likeness of the common swallow. It has the power of
turning very shortly in the air, and in so doing opens and shuts
its tail, sometimes in a horizontal or lateral and sometimes in a
vertical direction, just like a pair of scissors.
OCTOBER 16, 1833.
Some leagues below Rozario, the western shore of the Parana is
bounded by perpendicular cliffs, which extend in a long line to
below San Nicolas; hence it more resembles a sea-coast than that of
a fresh-water river. It is a great drawback to the scenery of the
Parana, that, from the soft nature of its banks, the water is very
muddy. The Uruguay, flowing through a granitic country, is much
clearer; and where the two channels unite at the head of the Plata,
the waters may for a long distance be distinguished by their black
and red colours.
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