Its manner of feeding and its general habits are very similar to
those of the cheucau.
On the coast, a small dusky-coloured bird (Opetiorhynchus
Patagonicus) is very common. (13/4. I may mention, as a proof of
how great a difference there is between the seasons of the wooded
and the open parts of this coast, that on September 20th, in
latitude 34 degrees, these birds had young ones in the nest, while
among the Chonos Islands, three months later in the summer, they
were only laying, the difference in latitude between these two
places being about 700 miles.) It is remarkable from its quiet
habits; it lives entirely on the sea-beach, like a sandpiper.
Besides these birds only few others inhabit this broken land. In my
rough notes I describe the strange noises, which, although
frequently heard within these gloomy forests, yet scarcely disturb
the general silence. The yelping of the guid-guid, and the sudden
whew-whew of the cheucau, sometimes come from afar off, and
sometimes from close at hand; the little black wren of Tierra del
Fuego occasionally adds its cry; the creeper (Oxyurus) follows the
intruder screaming and twittering; the humming-bird may be seen
every now and then darting from side to side, and emitting, like an
insect, its shrill chirp; lastly, from the top of some lofty tree
the indistinct but plaintive note of the white-tufted
tyrant-flycatcher (Myiobius) may be noticed.
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