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 up to 50 kilos, with enormous head, and good eating;
"Savala," the mud-eating cruiser, which one sees nearly always with its
tail out of water, and which makes excellent revolver shooting;
"Palmieta," the curse of the Chaco streams and rivers, making bathing
unadvisable on account of its hostile assaults on the extremities of all
foreign bodies; and the "rallo," or sun fish, a large flat fish with a
long tail.
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