Synallaxis hudsoni, Scl. P. Z. S. 1874, p. 25; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 36, et 1878, p. 396 (Chupat, Central Patagonia); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 209 (Azul, Sierra de la Ventana). Synallaxis sclateri, Cab. J. f. O. 1878, p. 196.
Description.—Above fulvous brown, mottled with black, each feather being marked with a large black spot; on the upper part of the back the feathers are faintly edged with whitish grey; wings blackish, basal halves of feathers pale clear brown, forming a transverse bar, the terminal part of the feathers slightly edged on the outer webs and tips with ochraceous; tail blackish, the outer pair of rectrices and broad tips of the next two pairs on each side very pale brown, the two middle feathers broadly margined on both webs with pale greyish brown; beneath pale ochraceous brown, with a pale sulphur-yellowish gular spot; flanks with a few black marks; under wing-coverts light cinnamon; bill and feet pale horn-colour: whole length 7·8 inches, wing 3·2, tail 3·5. Female similar.
Hab. Argentina.
This Spine-tail, which Sclater has named after me, is the Argentine representative of S. humicola of Chili. It is common on the pampas, and is sometimes called by the gauchos “Tiru-riru del campo,” on account of its resemblance in the upper plumage and in language to Anumbius acuticaudatus, which is named “Tiru-riru,” in imitation of its call-note. The addition of del campo signifies that it is a bird of the open country. It is, in fact, found exclusively on the grassy pampas, never perching on trees, and in habits is something like a Pipit, usually being taken for one when first seen. It is quite common everywhere on the pampas, and specimens have also been obtained in Cordova, Uruguay, and Patagonia.
This Spine-tail is resident, solitary, and extremely timid and stealthy in its movements, living always on the ground among the long grass and cardoon-thistles. At times its inquisitiveness overcomes its timidity, and the bird then darts up three or four yards into the air, and jerking its tail remains some moments poised aloft with breast towards the intruder, emitting sharp little notes of alarm, after which it darts down again and disappears in the grass. When driven up it has a wild zigzag flight, and after reaching a considerable height in the air darts down again with astonishing swiftness, and comes back to the very spot from which it rose. It is, however, incapable of sustained flight, and after being flushed two or three times refuses to rise again. In spring the male perches on the summit of a cardoon-bush, or other slight elevation, and at regular intervals utters a pleasing and melancholy kind of song or call, which can be heard distinctly at a distance of a thousand yards, composed of four long clear plaintive notes, increasing in strength, and succeeded by a falling trill. When approached it becomes silent, and dropping to the ground conceals itself in the grass. Under a cardoon-bush or tussock of grass it scoops out a slight hollow in the ground, and builds over this a dome of fine dry grass, leaving a small aperture arched like the door of a baker’s oven. The bed is lined with dry powdered horse-dung, and the eggs are five, bluntly pointed and of a very pale buff colour. The interior of the nest is so small that when the five young birds are fledged they appear to be packed together very closely, so that it is difficult to conceive how the parent bird passes in and out.
The nest is always very cunningly concealed, and I have often spent days searching in a patch of cardoon-bushes where the birds were breeding without being able to find it.
Synallaxis maluroides, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 64; Scl. P. Z. S. 1874, p. 26; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 180, et 1878, p. 61 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 208 (Entrerios).
Description.—Above, front and middle of crown chestnut; hind head, neck, and back pale fulvous brown, thickly marked with longitudinal black shaft-spots; lores white; wings blackish, the feathers edged with pale ochraceous, the basal part of secondaries very pale brown, forming a transverse bar; tail pale chestnut-brown, the two middle feathers with a broad black mark on the inner web; beneath white, breast and flanks washed with pale brown, and freckled with very small dark brown spots; under wing-coverts white; bill and feet pale horn-colour: whole length 6·1 inches, wing 2·0, tail 2·9. Female similar.
Hab. South Argentina.
D’Orbigny discovered this small Spine-tail near Buenos Ayres city, but did not record its habits. Like the species just described it is abundant on the pampas, but in its habits resembles a Wren of the genus Cistothorus rather than a Pipit, being partial to moist situations, where there is a rank growth of grass and herbage. The wings are very short, and the flight so feeble that the bird refuses to rise after being pursued a distance of one or two hundred yards. And yet I am not prepared to say that it does not migrate, as I have found that in spring it all at once becomes very abundant, while in the cold season it is rarely seen. It is solitary, and in spring sits on a thistle or stalk, uttering at short intervals its small grasshopper-like song or call. The nest is a slight open structure of grass, lined with a few feathers, placed in a tuft of grass or reeds. The eggs are pure white in colour.
Coryphistera alaudina, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 470 (Paraná); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 64; Salv. Ibis, 1880, p. 359 (Tucuman, Salta); White, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 40 (Cordova).
Description.—Above dark greyish brown; elongated crest-feathers blackish; ear-coverts chestnut; on the back, upper tail-coverts, and upper wing-coverts the feathers have white and whity-brown edgings; wing-feathers blackish, the basal part of the inner webs pale brown; rectrices bright chestnut, broadly tipped with blackish; beneath white, thickly striated with fulvous brown; under wing-coverts pale cinnamon; bill and feet light brown: whole length 6·2 inches, wing 2·7, tail 2·3. Female similar.
Hab. Argentina.
This highly interesting little bird, the only known member of its genus, inhabits the dry plains of Paraná and Cordova.
The following meagre note from White, which only serves to excite curiosity, comprises all that we know of its habits:—
“These birds are not found in dense woods, but in the open, tenanted only by a few small trees or bushes. Five or six are usually seen running about together with a quick, abrupt movement, meanwhile uttering a sharp cry.”
Anumbius acuticaudatus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 467 (Paraná, Mendoza); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 64; Hudson, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 159 (Buenos Ayres); Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 181 (Buenos Ayres); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 612 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 211 (Entrerios).
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.
To build, the Añumbi makes choice of an isolated tree in an open situation, and prefers a dwarf tree with very scanty foliage; for small projecting twigs and leaves hinder the worker when carrying up sticks. This is a most laborious operation, as the sticks are large and the bird’s flight is feeble. If the tree is to its liking, it matters not how much exposed to the winds it may be, or how close to a human habitation, for the bird is utterly unconcerned by the presence of man. I have frequently seen a nest in a shade or ornamental tree within ten yards of the main entrance to a house; and I have also seen several on the tall upright stakes of a horse-corral, and the birds working quietly, with a herd of half-wild horses rushing round the enclosure beneath them, pursued by the men with lassos. The bird uses large sticks for building, and drops a great many; frequently as much fallen material as would fill a barrow lies under the tree. The fallen stick is not picked up again, as the bird could not rise vertically with its load, and is not intelligent enough, I suppose, to recover the fallen stick, and to carry it away thirty yards from the tree and then rise obliquely. It consequently goes far afield in quest of a fresh one, and having got one to its liking, carefully takes it up exactly by the middle, and, carrying it like a balancing-pole, returns to the nest, where, if one end happens to hit against a projecting twig, it drops like the first. The bird is not discouraged, but, after a brief interview with its mate, flies cheerfully away to gather more wood.
Durnford writes wonderingly of the partiality for building in poplar trees shown by this bird in Buenos Ayres, and says that in a tall tree the nest is sometimes placed sixty or seventy feet above the ground, and that the bird almost invariably rises with a stick at such a distance from the tree as to be able just to make the nest, but that sometimes failing it alights further down, and then climbs up the twigs with its stick. He attributes the choice of the tall poplar to ambition; but the Añumbi has really a much simpler and lowlier motive. In the rich Buenos Ayres soil all trees have a superabundance of foliage, and in the slim poplar alone can the nest be placed where the bird can reach it laden with building-material, without coming in contact with long projecting twigs.
The nest of the Añumbi is about two feet in depth, and from ten to twelve inches in diameter, and rests in an oblique position amongst the branches. The entrance is at the top, and a crooked or spiral passage-way leads down to the lower extremity, where the breeding-chamber is situated; this is lined with wool and soft grass, and five white eggs are laid, varying considerably in form, some being much more sharply pointed than others.
The nest, being so secure and comfortable an abode, is greatly coveted by several other species of birds to breed in; but on this subject I have already spoken in the account of the genus Molothrus. When deprived of their nest, the birds immediately set to work to make a new one; but often enough, without being ejected from the first they build a second nest, sometimes demolishing the first work to use the materials. I watched one pair make three nests before laying; another pair made two nests, and after the second was completed they returned to the first and there elected to remain. Two or three nests are sometimes seen on one tree, and Azara says he has seen as many as six. Mr. Barrows observed the bird at Concepcion, where it is very common, and writes that in that district the nest is sometimes four feet long with an average diameter of two feet, and that the same nest in some cases is used for several seasons successively; also that several nests are sometimes joined together and all occupied at the same time.
Limnornis curvirostris, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 64; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 182 (Buenos Ayres).
Description.—Above rufous-brown, brighter on the rump; lores and superciliaries white; wings and tail chestnut-brown; beneath white; flanks and under tail-coverts pale brown; under wing-coverts white; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 7·0 inches, wing 3·0, tail 2·0. Female similar.
Hab. Argentina and Uruguay.
This species is found everywhere in marshy places in the eastern part of the Argentine Republic, and is also common in Uruguay, where Darwin discovered it. It inhabits dense reed-beds which grow in the water, and is not found in any other situation. It pairs for life, has a very feeble flight, and flies with great reluctance, but lives always in close concealment in one spot. It is, however, very inquisitive, and when approached the two birds creep up to the summit of the rushes and utter peculiar loud, rattling, and jarring notes, as if angrily protesting against the intrusion.
The Rush-bird has a stout body and short graduated tail, strong claws, and a slender curved beak three-fourths of an inch long. The upper plumage is brown, the tail rufous, the under surface and a mark over the eye white.
Phacellodomus frontalis, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 467 (Tucuman); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 65; Salvin, Ibis, 1880, p. 359 (Salta); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 612 (Buenos Ayres). Phacellodomus sincipitalis, White, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 433.
Description.—Above nearly uniform olive-brown, crown blackish brown, superciliaries white; beneath dirty brownish white; under wing-coverts pale cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 6·8 inches, wing 2·6, tail 2·6. Female similar.
Hab. S. America, from Venezuela to Argentina.
The Red-fronted Thorn-bird, which is found in the Northern provinces of Argentina, and only occurs as a straggler near Buenos Ayres, resorts to the thickets, and in its habits is said to resemble the Synallaxes of the group to which S. spixi and S. albescens belong. It builds a large nest of sticks, and White says that it makes a peculiar chattering sound that has the effect of exciting other small birds, and causes them to crowd about it.
Phacellodomus sibilatrix, Scl. P. Z. S. 1879, p. 461; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 612 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 209 (Entrerios).
Description.—Above dull olive-brown, paler on the sides of the head; front and lesser wing-coverts chestnut-red; wing-feathers blackish, edged with olive-brown; tail light chestnut, the middle pair of feathers and the inner webs of the two next pairs brown, like the back; beneath dirty brownish white, washed with ochraceous on the flanks; under wing-coverts bright cinnamon: whole length 5·3 inches, wing 2·2, tail 2·2.
Hab. Argentina.
This species resembles P. frontalis, but differs in its much smaller size, and in having the upper lesser wing-coverts bright rufous.
It inhabits the thorny woods of the northern districts of the Argentine country, but I have no reason to regret that I have not personally observed this species, since Mr. Barrows’s careful account of its nesting-habits leaves nothing to be desired. He writes:—“An abundant species among the open woods along the Uruguay, and hardly distinguishable at ten paces from half a dozen others. Its nest, however, is unmistakable. The birds begin by fixing a few crooked and thorny twigs among the terminal sprays of some slender branch which juts out horizontally from a tree, or rises obliquely from near its base, and around these twigs as a nucleus more are gathered, until, by the time the nest has reached the proper size, its weight has bent the branch so that its tip points directly to the earth. Nests which are thus begun at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet from the ground are often only two or three feet from it when finished, and a thorough soaking by a heavy rain will sometimes weigh them down until they actually touch. They are more or less oval or cylindrical in shape, and commonly about two feet long by twelve or fifteen inches in diameter, and contain from a peck to a bushel of twigs and thorns. The nest-cavity within is small in proportion to the size of the nest, and occupies its upper part. It is reached by a more or less direct passage-way from below, the external opening being very nearly at the lowest part of the nest, though sometimes a little shelf, or even a pocket, is built on to the side, forming a resting-place in front of the door.
“The nests vary interminably in size and shape, but are pretty constant in the material used; this being almost always irregular and thorny twigs of various trees growing in the neighbourhood, while the interior is formed of less thorny twigs and with some wool and hair. Usually, also, if the material be at hand, a quantity of old dry horse-droppings is placed loosely on the top of the nest, and gradually becomes felted into it, rendering it more nearly waterproof. In place of this I have frequently found quantities of broken straw, weed-stalks, grass, and even chips; all doubtless collected from the ridges of drift which the last overflow of the river had left near at hand. So compactly is the whole nest built, that it often lasts more than one year, and may sometimes serve the same pair two successive summers. More often, however, a new nest is built directly above the old one, which serves as a foundation, and occasionally as many as three nests are seen thus on the same branch-tip, two of them at least being occupied. When other branches of the same tree are similarly loaded, and other trees close at hand also bear the same kind of fruit, the result is very picturesque. The eggs, which are white, are laid from October 1 to January 1, but many of the birds work at nest-building all the winter, sometimes spending months on a single nest.”
Anumbius striaticollis, d’Orb. Voy., Ois. p. 255 (Buenos Ayres). Phacellodomus striaticollis, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 65.
Description.—Above, forehead and crown rufous; lores white; sides of head, neck, and back brown; whole wing chestnut, the feathers tipped with blackish; tail chestnut; beneath white, clearer on the throat and breast, which are marked with slight white shaft-spots; sides of breast and flanks washed with reddish brown; under tail-coverts brown; under wing-coverts cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 8·0 inches, wing 2·9, tail 3·1. Female similar.
Hab. Argentina and Uruguay.
D’Orbigny, who discovered this species in Uruguay, and found it also near Buenos Ayres, remarks that it lives in pairs in the thorny bushes, and resembles its congeners in habits. It is, however, certainly not common in the vicinity of the Argentine capital, for Hudson has never met with it.
Phacellodomus ruber, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 467 (Paraná, Cordova); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 65; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 183 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 210 (Entrerios). Phacellodomus maculipectus, Cab. J. f. O. 1883, p. 109 (?).
Description.—Above olive-brown, front chestnut; tail brownish chestnut; beneath whitish, throat, breast, and flanks washed and mottled with bright reddish brown; under wing-coverts and inner margins of wing-feathers bright cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 7·3 inches, wing 2·6, tail 3·2. Female similar.
Hab. Argentina.
This is a common species throughout the eastern portion of the Argentine country, and extends as far south as the southern boundary of the Buenos Ayrean province.
It is resident, living in pairs in places where there are scattered thorny trees and bushes, and is never found in deep woods. It never attempts to conceal itself, but, on the contrary, sits exposed on a bush and will allow a person to approach within three or four yards of it. Nor has it the restless manner of most Synallaxine birds which live in the same places with it, but moves in a slow deliberate way, and spends a great deal of time sitting motionless on its perch, occasionally uttering its call or song, composed of a series of long, shrill, powerful notes in descending scale and uttered in a very leisurely manner. It builds a large oblong nest of sticks, about two feet deep, and placed obliquely among the thorny twigs of a bush or low tree. Mr. Barrows writes:—“There are commonly two cavities in the nest, one being half open to the weather, and forming the entrance, the other further back and connected with the former by only a short passage-way, which in many cases is reduced to a simple hole through a broad partition, which alone separates them.” The eggs are four and of a pure white.
The name commonly used for this species is founded on the “Anumbé roxo” of Azara’s ‘Apuntamientos’; but the description given there of the bird’s nesting-habits shows either that some other species was meant—perhaps P. sibilatrix, Döring—or that the nesting-habits of a different bird have been assigned to P. ruber.
Homorus lophotes, Reichb. Handb. p. 172; Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. vol. viii. p. 212 (Entrerios); Hudson, Ibis, 1885, p. 283 (Buenos Ayres). Anabates unirufus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 466 (Cordova). Homorus unirufus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 65; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 612 (Catamarca).
Description.—Above brown, tinged with olive on the back, but clear and rufescent on the hind head and rump; crest-feathers blackish brown; wings blackish; tail chestnut; beneath earthy brown, throat rufous; under wing- and tail-coverts and inner margins of wing-feathers pale rufous; bill pale bluish, feet bluish horn-colour: whole length 9·8 inches, wing 4·6, tail 4·2. Female similar.
Hab. Argentina.
This species interested me greatly during my observations of the Argentine birds, but, owing to its rarity and to its recluse habits, my knowledge of it is very scanty. It is found in the north and north-western parts of the Argentine territory; in the province of Buenos Ayres its presence is confined to the narrow strip of subtropical wood fringing the low shores of the Plata river.
When surprised, its white eye, blue dagger-like beak, and raised crest give it a strikingly bold and angry appearance, the effect of which is heightened by the harsh rasping scream it utters when disturbed. This resentful look is deceptive, however, for the bird is the shiest creature imaginable. Its language has the shrill excited character common to this most loquacious family; and at intervals throughout the day two birds, male and female, meet together and make the woods echo with their screaming concert. For many weeks after I had become familiar with these loud-sounding notes, while collecting in the littoral forest where it is found, the bird was still to me only a “wandering voice”; but I did not give up the pursuit till I had seen it several times and had also secured two or three specimens. I found one nest, though without eggs, a rough-looking domed structure, made with material enough to fill a barrow. I also discovered that the bird feeds exclusively on the ground, close to the boles of low-branching trees, where there is usually an accumulation of fallen bark, dead leaves, and other rubbish. Here the bird digs with its sharp beak for the small insects it preys on. When approached it does not fly away, but runs swiftly to the nearest tree, behind the trunk of which it hides, then scuttles on to the next tree, and so escapes without showing itself.
Mr. Barrows, who observed the Cachalote at Concepcion, says that it is a bird which cannot be overlooked, with an outrageous disposition and voice, and a nest the size of a barrel. He gives the following account of its nidification:—“His nest is built entirely of sticks, and many of them of goodly size, frequently as large round as your little finger and two feet or more long. These are disposed in such a way as to form a structure three or four feet in length by about two in breadth in the widest part, the whole very much resembling a gigantic powder-flask lying on its side among the lower branches of a spreading tree. It is quite loosely built and the nest-cavity is rather indefinite, being any portion of the floor of the nest which the bird selects for the reception of the eggs. These are usually three or four in number, pure white, and are laid from October until January. They can usually be counted through the loose floor of the nest, though sometimes its thickness prevents this.”
Anabates gutturalis, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 467 (Mendoza). Homorus gutturalis, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 65; Hudson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 545 (Rio Negro); id. Ibis, 1885, p. 284; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 36, et 1878, p. 396 (Chupat, Central Patagonia).
Description.—Nearly uniform earthy grey, faintly tinged with olivaceous brown above, and much paler beneath; lores and upper part of throat pure white, lower part of throat black, or white and black mixed; under wing-coverts white, faintly tinged with pale cinnamon; beak and feet bluish grey: whole length 9·4 inches, wing 4·0, tail 3·2. Female similar.
Hab. Patagonia.
I found this bird quite common on the dry open plains in the neighbourhood of the Rio Negro in Patagonia. In size, form, and crest it is like the northern Cachalote, but has a white throat, while the rest of the plumage is of a pale earthy brown instead of rufous. Like the Brown Cachalote it is also shy in disposition, and, being so dull in colour and without the bright beak and eye tints, has not the bold, striking appearance of that species; still I do not think any ornithologist can meet with it and fail to be strongly impressed with its personality, if such a word can be applied to a bird.
Dendrocolaptine birds are, as a rule, builders of big nests and very noisy; H. gutturalis is, I believe, the loudest screamer and greatest builder of the family. Male and female live together in the same locality all the year; the young, when able to fly, remain with their parents till the breeding-season, so that the birds are found occasionally in pairs, but more frequently in families of five or six individuals. When feeding they scatter about, each bird attaching itself to a large bush, scraping and prodding for insects about the roots; and at intervals one of the old birds, ascending a bush, summons the others with loud shrill cries, on which they all hurry to the place of meeting, and from the summits of the bushes burst forth in a piercing chorus, which sounds at a distance like screams of hysterical laughter. At one place, where I spent some months, there were some bushes over a mile and a quarter from the house I lived in, where these birds used to hold frequent meetings, and in that still atmosphere I could distinctly hear their extravagant cries at this distance. After each performance they pursue each other, passing from bush to bush with a wild jerky flight, and uttering harsh angry notes.
They select a low, strong, wide-spreading bush to build in; the nest, which is made of stout sticks, is perfectly spherical and four to five feet deep, the chamber inside being very large. The opening is at the side near the top, and is approached by a narrow arched gallery, neatly made of slender sticks resting along a horizontal branch, and about fourteen inches long. This peculiar entrance, no doubt, prevents the intrusion of snakes and small mammals. So strongly made is the nest that I have stood on the dome of one and stamped on it with my foot without injuring it in the least, and to demolish one I had to force my gun-barrel into it, then prize it up by portions. I examined about a dozen of these enormous structures, but they were all met with before or after the laying season, so that I did not see the eggs.
Anabazenops rufo-superciliatus, White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 613 (Catamarca). Anabazenops oleagineus, Scl. P. Z. S. 1883, p. 654.
Description.—Above and beneath dark olive-green; lores, superciliaries, and spots on the sides of the head yellowish white; wings blackish, the outer webs of the feathers olive-brown; tail bright chestnut; throat whitish yellow, on the lower part the yellow feathers tipped with olive; breast and belly spotted with same colour as the throat; bend of wing, under wing-coverts, and margins of inner webs of secondaries fulvous yellow; bill and feet blackish: whole length 6·2 inches, wing 3·2, tail 3·0. Female similar.
Hab. South Brazil and Argentina.
White obtained examples of this species on the Sierra of Totoral. He says it is a very wild bird and exceedingly scarce.
Sittosomus olivaceus, White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 613 (Salta). Sittasomus erithacus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 66.
Description.—Above olive-green, tinged with chestnut on the back, rump, and upper wing-coverts; wings black, the basal part of the inner webs of the secondaries fulvous yellow, forming a well-marked transverse bar; outer webs and broad tips of inner secondaries and whole of outer secondaries chestnut; tail and upper tail-coverts chestnut; beneath yellowish olive, brighter on the throat and breast; under wing-coverts fulvous yellow; under tail-coverts pale chestnut; bill and feet black: whole length 6·2 inches, wing 3·0, tail 3·0. Female similar.
Hab. South America from Colombia to Northern Argentina.
This is a straggler from the north, a specimen of which was obtained by White near Oran in 1880.
Glyphorhynchus cuneatus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 67; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 613 (Misiones).
Description.—Above olive-brown, superciliaries and small spots on the side of the head yellowish white, rump and upper tail-coverts chestnut; wings blackish, outer webs of wing-feathers olive-brown, basal part of inner webs of secondaries yellowish white, forming a transverse bar; tail chestnut; beneath earthy olive-brown, whitish yellow on the throat, and with spots of the same colour on the upper part of the breast; under wing-coverts white; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 5·1 inches, wing 2·5, tail 2·4. Female similar.
Hab. South America from Colombia to Northern Argentina.
This is another northern form of which White obtained specimens in Misiones. He says it is not uncommon there in the thick woods, also in the orange-groves about the Jesuit ruins of St. Javier.
Dendrocolaptes picumnus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 67; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 613 (Misiones).
Description.—Above olivaceous brown; head blackish, thickly covered with yellowish-buff elongated shaft-spots; rump and upper tail-coverts tinged with chestnut; wing-feathers chestnut, tinged with olivaceous; tail chestnut; beneath pale earthy olive-brown, paler on the throat, the shafts of the feathers of the breast buffy white, forming long lines, the feathers of the belly and under tail-coverts transversely barred with blackish; under wing-coverts yellowish white, spotted with blackish; bill and feet black: whole length 10·5 inches, wing 4·7, tail 4·6. Female similar.
Hab. Brazil and Northern Argentina.
White obtained specimens of this species at Concepcion, “in the thickest parts of the woods, near the river, climbing up the trees, around which it turned in corkscrew fashion.”
Drymornis bridgesi, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 67; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 613 (Catamarca); Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 20 (Entrerios). Nasica gracilirostris, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 466 (Rio Quinto).
Description.—Above and below brown, brightest on the rump, and palest beneath; long superciliaries extending down the neck, and a mystacal stripe formed of white spots with faint black edgings; wing-feathers blackish; tail chestnut; on the throat a broad white band extending to the breast; breast and belly marked with large oblong white spots, which are margined with narrow black edgings; under wing-coverts and inner margins of secondaries bright cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 12·10 inches, wing 5·6, tail 4·6. Female similar.
Hab. North and West Argentina.
Eyton, when he described this species from Bridges’s specimens, gave its habitat as Bolivia. It may inhabit the southern part of that Republic, but it is more probable that Bridges’s examples were obtained in Northern Argentina, which he likewise visited. Bridges’s Wood-hewer is the only member of its genus, and is one of the largest of the whole family Dendrocolaptidæ, measuring some 13 or 14 inches in length, inclusive of the great curved beak. Although found throughout the northern portion of the Argentine Republic, its habits are as yet imperfectly known, but the following extracts show that they must be very interesting, and that the bird is remarkably versatile. Mr. Barrows writes:—“These birds are somewhat gregarious, being oftenest seen in small parties of six to ten. They sometimes cling against the bark of a tree in the manner of Woodpeckers, but also spend much of their time on the ground. I think they use their curved bill much oftener for probing in the ground than for searching the bark of trees, as many of those shot had the base of the bill and the frontal feathers plastered with mud. In the stomach of the first one killed I found the silken sac, three fourths of an inch in diameter, or the eggs of a large spider, which makes holes ten or twelve inches deep in the hard soil everywhere.”
White obtained examples of this species at Catamarca, and also notices its strangely contrasted habits. He writes:—“The cry of this bird is much the same as that of a Woodpecker, and it clings to the algarroba trees in a similar way; but in the afternoon it is seen scattered about on the sandy ground in the pursuit of insects.”
Xiphocolaptes albicollis, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 68; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 613 (Misiones).
Description.—Above, head black, with clear whitish-yellow shaft-spots; lores and long superciliaries white; neck, back, and upper wing-coverts olive-brown; rump and upper tail-coverts washed with bright chestnut; wing-feathers dark chestnut, the outer webs glossed with olivaceous; tail chestnut; beneath pale olive-brown, buffy white on the throat and with similar shaft-spots on the breast; feathers of the belly and under tail-coverts transversely barred with black; under wing-coverts cinnamomeous yellow barred with black; bill and feet black: whole length 12·0 inches, wing 5·4, tail 4·8. Female similar.
Hab. Brazil and N. Argentina.
White obtained examples of this large Wood-hewer in Misiones.
Xiphocolaptes major, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 68; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 613 (Salta); Durnford, Ibis, 1880, p. 359 (Tucuman).
Description.—Above and below nearly uniform chestnut, tinged with olivaceous on the crown and throat; narrow shaft-spots on the breast-feathers whitish, forming faint lines; beak pale horn-colour; feet bluish grey: whole length 11·10 inches, wing 5·5, tail 4·0. Female similar.
Hab. North Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia.
This large and powerful Wood-hewer is confined to the hottest portion of the Argentine Republic, and also inhabits Paraguay and Bolivia. White met with it at Oran, in the province of Salta, and writes concerning its habits:—“Common here in the dense forest, where their continued hard pecking at the lofty tree-trunks is very accentuated. Two or three at a time maintain a continued race up a magnificent clear stem as far as the branches, when they fly to the bottom of the next and do likewise.”
This species is nearly a foot in length, the beak being about two inches long, curved and very powerful. The tail is stiff, being used as a support in climbing, and the claws are strong and sharply hooked. The colour of the whole plumage is nearly uniformly bright rufous.
Picolaptes angustirostris, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 69; White, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 433 (Cordova). Lepidocolaptes atripes, Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 21 (Entrerios).
Description.—Above, head and neck blackish, with oblong whitish shaft-spots on the crown and neck; broad superciliaries white, extending nearly to the back and broken at their lower ends into shaft-spots; rest of upper surface dull brown, brighter on the rump; wing-feathers pale obscure chestnut; outer webs and broad tips of primaries blackish; tail chestnut; beneath white, clearer on the throat; sides of breast and belly thickly marked with faint blackish stripes; under wing-coverts cinnamon; bill pale horn-colour; feet grey: whole length 8·2 inches, wing 3·8, tail 2·5. Female similar.
Hab. Paraguay and Argentina.
This is the only member of the genus Picolaptes as yet met with within the limits of the Argentine Republic. Azara found it abundant in Paraguay, and on this account named it the Common Climber, “Trepador comun.” In Buenos Ayres it is a summer visitant, appearing at the end of September. It is a solitary bird, never seen away from the woods, and invariably utters a loud melancholy cry when passing from one tree to another. It always alights on the trunk close to the ground, clinging to the bark in a vertical position, supported by the tail, and with head thrown far back in order to give free play to the extremely long beak. Having thus alighted, it progresses upwards by short hops, exploring the crevices in the wood for small insects, until it reaches the branches, when it flies off to the next tree.
The Formicariidæ, or Ant-birds, are another very important constituent of the Neotropical Avifauna, but are less generally diffused than the Dendrocolaptidæ, the greater number of the forms being restricted to the hot forests of South and Central America. In the Argentine Republic we meet with only four species of the widely-spread genus Thamnophilus, and of them only one appears to extend as far south as Buenos Ayres.
Thamnophilus leachi, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 69; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 614 (Misiones).
Description.—Black, thickly and conspicuously spotted above with white or pale yellowish; on the wings the spots occur on the outer webs of the feathers; upper tail-coverts faintly edged with grey; tail black, unspotted; feathers on the lower breast and belly slightly edged with grey; bill and feet black: whole length 10·5 inches, wing 3·4, tail 5·0. Female: spots larger and yellow, on the crown lengthening to stripes and tinged with rufous; inner webs of the wing-feathers also spotted on their margins; whole under surface thickly spotted with pale yellow.
Hab. Brazil and N. Argentina.
White met with a single individual of this fine Bush-bird at Concepcion, Misiones. It was observed on the ground feeding on a swarm of black ants.