of their kind."

The owls are few and all of wide-ranging species. The most common is the
burrowing-owl, found in both Americas. Not a retiring owl this, but all
day long, in cold and in heat, it stands exposed at the mouth of its
kennel, or on the vizcacha's mound, staring at the passer-by with an
expression of grave surprise and reprehension in its round yellow eyes;
male and female invariably together, standing stiff and erect, almost
touching--of all birds that pair for life the most Darby and Joan like.

Of the remaining land birds, numbering about forty species, a few that
are most attractive on account of their beauty, engaging habits, or
large size, may be mentioned here. On the southern portion of the pampas
the military starling (Sturnella) is found, and looks like the European
starling, with the added beauty of a scarlet breast: among resident
pampas birds the only one with a touch of brilliant colouring. It has a
pleasing, careless song, uttered on the wing, and in winter congregates
in great flocks, to travel slowly northwards over the plains. When thus
travelling the birds observe a kind of order, and the flock feeding
along the ground shows a very extended front--a representation in
bird-life of the "thin red line"--and advances by the hindmost birds
constantly flying over the others and alighting in the front ranks.

Among the tyrant-birds are several species of the beautiful wing-banded
genus, snow-white in colour, with black on the wings and tail: these are
extremely graceful birds, and strong flyers, and in desert places, where
man seldom intrudes, they gather to follow the traveller, calling to
each other with low whistling notes, and in the distance look like white
flowers as they perch on the topmost stems of the tall bending grasses.