Volume 21, Plate VI / Ornithology (Birds)

Cock-Tailed Water-Chat

Alectura Azarii

A small water frequenting bird, the male having black upper plumage edged with grey, a black collar springing from behind the ears, white shoulder covers and quill edges, cinereous lower back, and pure white ears, eye stripe, and under parts. Found in Paraguay and Southern Brazil, it prefers open tracts near water, pursues semiaquatic insects on the ground, and the males take almost vertical flights, tumbling over before alighting.