_Description._--Above earthy brown, forehead chestnut, superciliaries white, head, neck, and back marked with black striations; primaries blackish, secondaries pale chestnut-brown; tail black, all the feathers except the middle pair broadly tipped with cream-colour; beneath pale ochraceous brown, white on the throat, the white bordered on each side by numerous small black spots; bill and feet pale horn-colour: whole length 8·3 inches, wing 3·6, tail 3·7. _Female_ similar. _Hab._ Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. This is a common and very well-known species throughout the Argentine country and Patagonia, also in Uruguay and Paraguay, and is variously called _Espinero_ (Thorn-bird), _Tiru-riru_, in imitation of its note, and _Añumbi_ (the Guarani name); but its best known name is _Leñatero_, or "Firewood-Gatherer," from the quantity of sticks which it collects for building-purposes. The Firewood-Gatherer is a resident in Argentina, and pairs for life. Sometimes the young birds remain with their parents for a period of three or four months, all the family going about and feeding in company, and roosting together in the old nest. The nest and the tree where it is placed are a favourite resort all the year round. Here the birds sit perched a great deal, and repeat at intervals a song or call, composed of four or five loud ticking chirps, followed by a long trilling note. They feed exclusively on the ground, where they creep about, carrying the body horizontally and intently searching for insects. When disturbed, they hurry to their usual refuge, rapidly beating their very feeble wings, and expanding the broad acuminated tail like a fan. When the male and female meet at their nest, after a brief separation, they sing their notes in concert, as if rejoicing over their safe reunion; but they seldom separate, and Azara says that when one incubates, the other sits at the entrance to the nest, and that when one returns to the nest with food for the young the other accompanies it, though it has found nothing to carry.