From these facts I suspect that the Rhynchops generally fishes by night, at which time many of the lower animals come most abundantly to the surface.

M.Lesson states that he has seen these birds opening the shells of the mactrae buried in the sand-banks on the coast of Chile: from their weak bills, with the lower mandible so much projecting, their short legs and long wings, it is very improbable that this can be a general habit.
In our course down the Parana, I observed only three other birds, whose habits are worth mentioning.

One is a small kingfisher (Ceryle Americana); it has a longer tail than the European species, and hence does not sit in so stiff and upright a position.

Its flight also, instead of being direct and rapid, like the course of an arrow, is weak and undulatory, as among the soft-billed birds.
It utters a low note, like the clicking together of two small stones.

A small green parrot (Conurus murinus), with a grey breast, appears to prefer the tall trees on the islands to any other situation for its building-place.