One is called "chiduco," and is an omen
of good; another, "huitreu," which is extremely unfavourable;
and a third, which I have forgotten.
These words are
given in imitation of the noises; and the natives are in some
things absolutely governed by them. The Chilotans assuredly
have chosen a most comical little creature for their prophet.
An allied species, but rather larger, is called by the natives
"Guid-guid" (Pteroptochos Tarnii), and by the English the
barking-bird. This latter name is well given; for I defy any
one at first to feel certain that a small dog is not yelping
somewhere in the forest. Just as with the cheucau, a person
will sometimes hear the bark close by, but in vain many
endeavour by watching, and with still less chance by beating
the bushes, to see the bird; yet at other times the guid-guid
fearlessly comes near. Its manner of feeding and its general
habits are very similar to those of the cheucau.
On the coast, [4] a small dusky-coloured bird (Opetiorhynchus
Patagonicus) is very common. 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.
From the great preponderance in most countries of certain
common genera of birds, such as the finches, one feels at
first surprised at meeting with the peculiar forms above
enumerated, as the commonest birds in any district. In central
Chile two of them, namely, the Oxyurus and Scytalopus, occur,
although most rarely. When finding, as in this case,
animals which seem to play so insignificant a part in the great
scheme of nature, one is apt to wonder why they were
created.
But it should always be recollected, that in some other
country perhaps they are essential members of society, or
at some former period may have been so. If America
south of 37 degs. were sunk beneath the waters of the ocean,
these two birds might continue to exist in central Chile for
a long period, but it is very improbable that their numbers
would increase. We should then see a case which must inevitably
have happened with very many animals.
These southern seas are frequented by several species of
Petrels: the largest kind, Procellaria gigantea, or nelly
(quebrantahuesos, or break-bones, of the Spaniards), is a common
bird, both in the inland channels and on the open sea.
In its habits and manner of flight, there is a very close
resemblance with the albatross; and as with the albatross, a
person may watch it for hours together without seeing on
what it feeds. The "break-bones" is, however, a rapacious
bird, for it was observed by some of the officers at Port St.
Antonio chasing a diver, which tried to escape by diving
and flying, but was continually struck down, and at last
killed by a blow on its head. At Port St. Julian these great
petrels were seen killing and devouring young gulls. A second
species (Puffinus cinereus), which is common to Europe,
Cape Horn, and the coast of Peru, is of much smaller size
than the P. gigantea, but, like it, of a dirty black colour. It
generally frequents the inland sounds in very large flocks:
I do not think I ever saw so many birds of any other sort
together, as I once saw of these behind the island of Chiloe.
Hundreds of thousands flew in an irregular line for several
hours in one direction. When part of the flock settled on the
water the surface was blackened, and a noise proceeded from
them as of human beings talking in the distance.
There are several other species of petrels, but I will only
mention one other kind, the Pelacanoides Berardi which
offers an example of those extraordinary cases, of a bird
evidently belonging to one well-marked family, yet both in
its habits and structure allied to a very distinct tribe. This
bird never leaves the quiet inland sounds. When disturbed
it dives to a distance, and on coming to the surface, with the
same movement takes flight. After flying by a rapid movement
of its short wings for a space in a straight line, it drops,
as if struck dead, and dives again. The form of its beak and
nostrils, length of foot, and even the colouring of its plumage,
show that this bird is a petrel: on the other hand, its
short wings and consequent little power of flight, its form
of body and shape of tail, the absence of a hind toe to its
foot, its habit of diving, and its choice of situation, make it
at first doubtful whether its relationship is not equally close
with the auks. It would undoubtedly be mistaken for an auk,
when seen from a distance, either on the wing, or when diving
and quietly swimming about the retired channels of
Tierra del Fuego.
[1] Horticultural Transact., vol. v. p. 249. Mr. Caldeleugh
sent home two tubers, which, being well manured, even the
first season produced numerous potatoes and an abundance of
leaves. See Humboldt's interesting discussion on this plant,
which it appears was unknown in Mexico, - in Polit. Essay
on New Spain, book iv. chap. ix.
[2] By sweeping with my insect-net, I procured from these
situations a considerable number of minute insects, of the
family of Staphylinidae, and others allied to Pselaphus,
and minute Hymenoptera.
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