ruit with joy, and it
apparently has no bad effect on them.

The forests are full of all kinds of animals, and, in addition to those
already mentioned, there are red deer, black and brown monkeys, and
bear, and the ring-tailed coons, which latter make noises like the
grunting of pigs.

Of ground game there are foxes, tattoo or mulita, armadillo, and
ostriches.

Amongst the birds the most common are various kinds of hawks, including
some very much like the great bustard, English brown buzzard, and osprey
falcon, and two or three kinds of parrots and cockatoos, the green
parrots being the curse to agriculturists, eating all the maize, as the
locusts do in the South.

There are many different kinds of "carpinteros" or woodpeckers, most of
them having most wonderful plumage of brown, green, scarlet, blue, and
yellow.

A strange bird which is not often seen is the "tucan," a small black
bird, with a beak almost as big as his body, and of a splendid orange
colour with a scarlet tip; he is a top-heavy looking little chap when
seen seated on an orange tree, his favourite haunt.

Amongst table birds there are grey pheasants, martinetta, and
partridges. Of wild fowl, there are enormous varieties, including the
"pato real" or great tree duck, whistling mallard, various kinds of teal
and shovellers, widgeon, muscony and hooded duck, black-headed geese,
grey geese, and swans. Amongst water-birds are the black, grey, and
white "garza" or heron. The latter are especially valuable on account of
the splendid feathers on the back of their necks. Of the smaller birds
there is the gallinetta, a kind of landrail, the curse of hunters
shooting wild duck, their wretched screech warning every bird in the
district. The beautifully coloured and almost transparently winged
golden moorhen covers every stretch of water inland, and the "chaja" or
wild turkey, one of the most useless birds in the Chaco, and quite
uneatable, sends forth his dismal cry "chaja."

The kingfishers are, perhaps, the most noticeable of all the river
birds, and are of all sizes, from the small European variety to one
almost ten times their size. Gorgeously plumaged, they skim, like
flashes of light, over the water, which is full of all kinds of fish
including "Dorado," a splendid fighting fish, excellent eating, which
can be caught with rod or fly, and goes up to 10 kilos in weight;
"Suravi," a great mud fish, which is seen sometimes basking out of
water, weighing