Argentine Ornithology Volume I Part 11

53. SPERMOPHILA CaeRULESCENS (Vieill.).

(SCREAMING FINCH.)

+Spermophila caerulescens+, _Scl. Ibis_, 1871, p. 12; _Scl. et Salv.

Nomencl._ p. 28; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 508 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 92 (Concepcion); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ xii. p. 126. +Sporophila ornata+, _Burm.

La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 488 (Mendoza, Parana). +Spermophila ornata+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 632; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 170 (Buenos Ayres); _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 353 (Salta).

_Description._--Above pale smoky brown; front and lores black; beneath, chin and upper part of throat black, with a distinct white mystacal stripe on each side; fore neck white; broad band across the chest black; abdomen white, slightly varied with grey and black on the flanks; under wing-coverts white; bill pale horn-colour; feet brown: whole length 48 inches, wing 23, tail 19. _Female_ pale olive-brown; wings and tail darker; beneath lighter, tinged with ochraceous; middle of the belly almost white.

_Hab._ Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia.

This species is a summer visitor in Buenos Ayres, and is one of the last to arrive and first to depart of our migrants. These birds are always most abundant in plantations, preferring peach-trees, but do not a.s.sociate in flocks: they are exceedingly swift and active, overflowing with life and energy, their impetuous notes and motions giving one the idea that they are always in a state of violent excitement. The male has a loud, startled chirp, also a song composed of eight or ten notes, delivered with such vehemence and rapidity, that they run into each other and sound more like a scream than a song. There is not a more clever architect than this species; and while many _Synallaxes_ are laboriously endeavouring to show how stately a mansion of sticks a little bird can erect for itself, the Screaming Finch has successfully solved the problem of how to construct the most perfect nest for lightness, strength, and symmetry with the fewest materials. It is a small, cup-shaped structure, suspended hammock-wise between two slender upright branches, and to which it is securely attached by fine hairs and webs. It is made of thin, pale-coloured, fibrous roots, ingeniously woven together--reddish or light-coloured horse-hair being sometimes subst.i.tuted; and so little material is used that, standing under the tree, a person can easily count the eggs through the bottom of the nest.

Its apparent frailness is, however, its best protection from the prying eyes of birds and mammals that prey on the eggs and young of small birds; for it is difficult to detect this slight structure, through which the sunshine and rain pa.s.s so freely. So light is the little basket-nest that it may be placed on the open hand and blown away with the breath like a straw; yet so strong that a man can suspend his weight from it without pulling it to pieces. The eggs are three in number, white and spotted with black, sometimes bluish-brown spots are mingled with the black.

54. PAROARIA CUCULLATA (Lath.).

(CARDINAL FINCH.)

+Paroaria cucullata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 482 (Parana, Tuc.u.man); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 171 (Buenos Ayres); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 19 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 598 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 129 (Concepcion).

_Description._--Above grey; wing- and tail-feathers blackish grey; head all round, crest, and throat brilliant scarlet, the scarlet extending downwards to the chest; below white, the white colour extending up the sides of the neck; nape spotted with white: total length 80 inches, wing 40, tail 35. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina.

This well-known species is perhaps the finest Finch the Argentines have.

The entire upper plumage is clear grey, the under surface pure white; but its chief glory is its crest, which, with the anterior part of the head and the throat, is of the most vivid scarlet. The song has little variety, but is remarkably loud, and has that cheerful ring which most people admire in their caged pets, possibly because it produces the idea in the listener's mind that the songster is glad to be a prisoner. As a cage-bird this Finch enjoys an extraordinary popularity; and a stranger in Buenos Ayres, seeing the numbers that are exposed for sale by the bird-dealers in the markets of that city, might fancy that a Cardinal in a cage is considered a necessary part of the _menage_ of every house in the country. This large supply of caged birds comes from South Brazil, Paraguay, and the north-eastern part of the Argentine country, where the Cardinals are most abundant and unite in large flocks. Probably they are not snared, but taken when young from the nest, as most of the birds exposed for sale are in immature plumage.

The Cardinal in a wild state is found as far south as the province of Buenos Ayres, but it is there a scarce bird. It breeds, Mr. Gibson writes, at the end of October, and makes a shallow nest of twigs, vine-tendrils, and horse-hair. The eggs are four; ground-colour white or tinged with faint brown or greenish, and spotted with brown, more densely at the large end.

55. PAROARIA CAPITATA (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(LESSER CARDINAL FINCH.)

+Paroaria capitata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 482; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 598.

_Description._--Above black; head bright scarlet, the black and red divided by white, crescent-shaped marks on the neck, narrowing to a point on the nape; throat black, the black extending downward to the chest; below white; bill and feet yellowish horn-colour: total length 66 inches, wing 30, tail 26.

_Hab._ Paraguay and Bolivia.

Dr. Burmeister tells us this species is not uncommon near Parana, where it occurs in small flocks on the river-bank, and is often seen on the stones at the river's edge.

56. CORYPHOSPINGUS CRISTATUS (Gm.).

(RED-CRESTED FINCH.)

+Coryphospingus cristatus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30; _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 354 (Salta); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 598 (Salta).

_Description._--Above black, washed with red; rump crimson; wing- and tail-feathers black; forehead black; crest vivid scarlet; whole under surface fine crimson: total length 55 inches, wing 26, tail 23. _Female_ above brown, with scarlet tinge on the rump; beneath salmon-colour, whitish on the throat.

_Hab._ Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

Both Durnford and White obtained specimens of this bird in the province of Salta; White's examples were met with in open country, dotted with thickets of low brushwood, to which the bird resorts.

57. LOPHOSPINGUS PUSILLUS (Burm.).

(DARK-CRESTED FINCH.)

+Lophospiza pusilla+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 483.

+Lophospingus pusillus+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1878, p. 195 (Cordova).

+Coryphospingus pusillus+, _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 354, pl. ix.

fig. 1 (Tuc.u.man).

_Description._--Above grey; sides of head and crest blackish; broad superciliaries white; wings blackish, edged with whitish grey; tail blackish, lateral rectrices with broad white tips; beneath greyish white, clearer on the throat and middle of the belly; bill dark horn-colour; lower mandible whitish; feet pale brown: whole length 50 inches, wing 25, tail 24.

_Hab._ Northern Argentina.

58. DONACOSPIZA ALBIFRONS (Vieill.).

(LONG-TAILED REED-FINCH.)

+Donacospiza albifrons+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 632 (Buenos Ayres), _iid. Nomencl._ p. 30; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 171 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 38 (Cordova); _Doring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 38 (Pampas). +Poospiza albifrons+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 484 (Parana).

_Description._--Above yellowish grey, the back striped with blackish; lesser wing-coverts clear grey; greater coverts and wing-feathers black, edged with brown; head nearly the same as the back, somewhat grey on the cheek, the crown and nape washed with olive-brown; superciliary stripe and under surface buff; bill and feet horn-colour: total length 60 inches, wing 25, tail 30.

_Hab._ Paraguay, Uruguay, and La Plata.

The slender body, great length of tail, and the hue of the plumage, a.s.similating to that of sere decaying vegetation, might easily lead one into mistaking this Finch for a _Synallaxis_ where these birds are abundant.

I have met with it in the marshy woods and reed-beds along the sh.o.r.es of the Plata, but it is a shy, rare bird in Buenos Ayres. I have followed it about, hoping to hear it utter a song or melodious note, but it had only a little chirp. I would not, however, on this account p.r.o.nounce it to be the one silent member of a voiceful family, as my acquaintance with it is so very slight.

59. POOSPIZA NIGRORUFA (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(BLACK-AND-CHESTNUT WARBLING FINCH.)

+Poospiza nigrorufa+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 484 (Parana); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 171 (Buenos Ayres); _Doring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 38 (Rio Sauce); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 129 (Concepcion).

_Description._--Entire upper parts black, faintly washed with olive; superciliary stripe pale straw-colour; two outer tail-feathers on each side tipped with white; throat and under surface bright chestnut; centre of abdomen white; under tail-coverts pale buff: total length 58 inches, wing 25, tail 22. _Female_: upper parts not so dark as in male; underparts light buff, mottled and striped with blackish.

_Hab._ South Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

This sweet-voiced little songster appears in Buenos Ayres at the end of September; it is a common bird in grounds abounding in bushes and scattered trees, and, in its bright ruddy breast and dark upper plumage, has some resemblance to the English Robin; only it has a very conspicuous straw-coloured line above the eye. Its voice also, in purity and sweetness of tone, is not unlike that of the Robin; but the song, composed of six unvarying notes, is uttered in a deliberate, business-like manner at regular intervals, and is monotonous. Never more than two birds are seen together; they feed on the ground in humid situations, the male frequently seeking a perch to sing. The nest is made on the round, or in a close bush near the surface; the eggs have a pale bluish ground-colour, irregularly marked with black and very dark brown spots, and in some instances clouded with faint grey.