have been created.
The genus Furnarius contains several species, all small birds, living
on the ground, and inhabiting open dry countries. In structure they
cannot be compared to any European form. Ornithologists have generally
included them among the creepers, although opposed to that family in
every habit. The best known species is the common oven-bird of La
Plata, the Casara or housemaker of the Spaniards. The nest, whence it
takes its name, is placed in the most exposed situations, as on the top
of a post, a bare rock, or on a cactus. It is composed of mud and bits
of straw, and has strong thick walls: in shape it precisely resembles
an oven, or depressed beehive. The opening is large and arched, and
directly in front, within the nest, there is a partition, which reaches
nearly to the roof, thus forming a passage or antechamber to the true
nest.
Another and smaller species of Furnarius (F. cunicularius), resembles
the oven-bird in the general reddish tint of its plumage, in a peculiar
shrill reiterated cry, and in an odd manner of running by starts. From
its affinity, the Spaniards call it Casarita (or little housebuilder),
although its nidification is quite different. The Casarita builds its
nest at the bottom of a narrow cylindrical hole, which is said to
extend horizontally to nearly six feet under ground. Several of the
country people told me, that when boys, they had attempted to dig out
the nest, but had scarcely ever succeeded in getting to the end of the
passage. The bird chooses any low bank of firm sandy soil by the side
of a road or stream. Here (at Bahia Blanca) the walls round the houses
are built of hardened mud, and I noticed that one, which enclosed a
courtyard where I lodged, was bored through by round holes in a score
of places. On asking the owner the cause of this he bitterly
complained of the little casarita, several of which I afterwards
observed at work. It is rather curious to find how incapable these
birds must be of acquiring any notion of thickness, for although they
were constantly flitting over the low wall, they continued vainly to
bore through it, thinking it an excellent bank for their nests. I do
not doubt that each bird, as often as it came to daylight on the
opposite side, was greatly surprised at the marvellous fact.
I have already mentioned nearly all the mammalia common in this
country. Of armadilloes three species occur namely, the Dasypus
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