Argentine Ornithology Volume I Part 28

146. SERPOPHAGA SUBCRISTATA (Vieill.).

(SMALL-CRESTED TYRANT.)

+Serpophaga subcristata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 454 (Entrerios); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 47; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 177 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 606 (Misiones); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 199 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above cinereous, usually with a slight olivaceous tinge on the rump; crest-feathers white at their bases, tipped with cinereous, and slightly varied with black; wings blackish, wing-coverts tipped with whitish, forming two handsome bands; outer secondaries externally margined with the same colour; tail dark ashy; beneath ashy white, with more or less yellowish tinge on the belly and under wing-coverts; bill horn-colour; feet black: whole length 45 inches, wing 20, tail 21. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, Northern La Plata, and Bolivia.

This species is one of the smallest members of our _Tyrannidae_, its total length being only four and a half inches. The s.e.xes are alike; the upper plumage is grey, with a greenish tinge on the back; the breast paler grey, becoming pale yellow on the belly. There is a white concealed spot under the loose feathers of the crown.

It is quite common in Buenos Ayres, and, probably, has a partial migration, as it is most abundant in summer. In its habits it closely resembles the species last described, being always found in pairs, living in thickets, where they hop incessantly about, exploring the leaves for small caterpillars, and always conversing in low, chirping, and twittering notes. They also sing together a little confused song.

The nest is fastened to the slender twigs of a low bush, and is a deep, cup-shaped and beautiful structure, composed of a great variety of soft materials bound together with spiders' webs, the interior lined with feathers or vegetable down, and the outside with lichen. The eggs are two, bluntly pointed, and of a cream-colour.

147. SERPOPHAGA NIGRICANS (Vieill.).

(BLACKISH TYRANT.)

+Serpophaga nigricans+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. 454 (Parana); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 47; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 177 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 606 (Misiones); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 199 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above dull brownish cinereous; wings and tail blackish, the coverts and outer secondaries with slight edgings like the back; crest slight, with a well-marked white basal spot; beneath paler and rather purer cinereous; under wing-coverts pale cinereous; bill and feet dark horn-colour: whole length 47 inches, wing 23, tail 11. _Female_ similar, but vertical spot not so well marked.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, La Plata, and N. Patagonia.

This species differs markedly in habits, language, and appearance from the last. In both s.e.xes the colour is a uniform slaty grey; the tail, which the bird incessantly opens and flirts like a fan, is black; as in _S. subcristata_ there is a hidden spot of white under the loose feathers forming the crest.

It frequents the borders of running streams, seldom being found far from a water-course; and it alights as often on stones or on the bare ground as on trees. Male and female are always seen together, for it pairs for life, and the migration, if it has any, is only partial. It flits restlessly along the borders of the stream it frequents, making repeated excursions after small winged insects, taking them in the air, or s.n.a.t.c.hing them up from the surface of the water, and frequently returning to the same stand. While thus employed it perpetually utters a loud, complaining _chuck_, and at intervals the two birds meet, and, with crests erect and flirting their wings and tails, utter a series of trills and hurried sharp notes in concert.

The nest is generally placed beneath an overhanging bank, attached to hanging roots or gra.s.s, a few inches above the water; but it is sometimes placed in a bush growing on the borders of a stream. It is a neat, cup-shaped, but rather shallow structure, thickly lined inside with feathers. The eggs are four, pointed, white or pale cream-colour, with black and grey spots at the large end.

148. ANaeRETES PARULUS (Kittl.).

(t.i.t-LIKE TYRANT.)

+Anaeretes parulus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 455 (Mendoza); _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv.

Nomencl._ p. 47; _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 30 (Cordova); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 395 (Centr. Patagonia); _Doring, Exp.

al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 43 (R. Negro, R. Colorado).

_Description._--Above cinereous, with an olivaceous tint on the lower back; head black, front varied with white, elongated vertical crest black, sometimes varied with white; wings blackish, with slight whitish tips to the coverts and whitish margins to the outer secondaries; tail blackish, outer webs of external rectrices whitish; below pale straw-colour, white on the throat; throat and breast with numerous and well-marked black striations; bill and feet black: whole length 40 inches, wing 19, tail 18. _Female_ similar, but crest shorter.

_Hab._ Argentine Republic, including Patagonia, Chili, Bolivia, Peru, and Andes of Ecuador.

This small bird is only four and a half inches long; in both s.e.xes the colour on the upper parts is dull grey, on the throat and breast ash-coloured; the belly pale yellow. It has the distinction of a slender curling Lapwing-like crest, composed of a few narrow, long, black feathers. The eye is white. It is found in the th.o.r.n.y thickets on the dry plains of Mendoza, and is also common in Patagonia. In its habits it closely resembles _Serpophaga subcristata_; lives always in pairs, perpetually moves about in a singularly deliberate manner while searching through the bush for small insects, the two birds always talking together in little chirping notes, and occasionally bursting out into a little shrill duet. It builds a deep, neat nest of fine dry gra.s.s and lined with feathers, in a low thorn, and lays two white eggs.

149. ANaeRETES FLAVIROSTRIS, Scl. et Salv.

(YELLOW-BILLED t.i.t-TYRANT.)

+Anaeretes flavirostris+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1876, p. 355; 1879, p. 613.

_Description._--Above brownish olive; head black, mixed with white and surmounted by narrow elongated black crest-feathers; wings blackish, outer web of external rectrix whitish; beneath pale stramineous, throat and breast white, densely striated with black; under wing-coverts white; bill yellowish, with a black tip; feet black: whole length 42 inches, wing 21, tail 20.

_Hab._ Bolivia and N. Argentina.

A specimen of this species was procured, at Cosquin, near Cordova, by White.

150. CYANOTIS AZARae, Naum.

(MANY-COLOURED TYRANT.)

+Cyanotis azarae+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 47; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 177 (Buenos Ayres, Centr. Patagonia); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 32 (Buenos Ayres); _Doring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p.

43 (R. Colorado, R. Negro); _Barrows, Nutt. Bull. Orn. Cl._ viii.

p. 200 (Entrerios, Carhue, Pampas).

_Description._--Above dark bronzy green; head black; superciliaries yellow; vertical spot crimson; wings black; broad tips of the lesser wing-coverts and broad edgings of some of the secondaries white, forming a large white bar on the wing; tail black, greater part of outer pair of rectrices and outer web and broad tip of next pair and narrow tips of third pair white; beneath bright ochreous yellow; chin whitish; crissum crimson; incomplete band across the lower breast black; under wing-coverts white; bill black; feet dark flesh-colour: whole length 42 inches, wing 21, tail 17. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ La Plata, Chili, and Western Peru.

This charming little bird is variously called by the country people All-coloured or Seven-coloured. Azara called it "The King"--a name which this species deserves, he says, not only on account of the crown of loose feathers on its head, but because it is exceeded by few birds in beauty. It is the most beautiful bird found in Chili, says Gay; and Darwin, who is seldom moved to express admiration, calls it "an exquisitely beautiful little bird." There are many species possessing a more brilliant plumage, none with so great a variety of distinct colours; for on its minute body, which is less than that of the House-Wren, are seen black, white, green, blue, orange, yellow, and scarlet; and all these hues are disposed and contrasted in such a manner as to produce a very pleasing effect--the olive-green and delicate, yellow predominating, while the vivid scarlet is a mere spot, like the bright gem or ornament which serves to set off and enhance the beauty of the dress. The whole under plumage is pure lovely yellow, while a broad mark of velvet-black extends belt-wise from the bend of each wing, but without meeting in the centre of the bosom. The sides of the head are deep blue; over the blue runs a bright yellow stripe, surmounted with the loose, slender, almost hair-like feathers of the crown, which stand partially erect, and are blue mixed with black, with vivid scarlet in the centre. Above, from the back of the head to the tail, the colour is deep green. The wings are black, crossed with a white band; tail also black, the two outer quills pure white, and the succeeding two partially white, the white colour appearing only when the bird flies. Moreover, as though this diversity of colour were not enough, the soles of the black feet are bright orange, the eye of the male delicate sky-blue, while the female has white eyes.

While on the subject of the colouring of this species, I will mention a curious phenomenon which I have observed many times. When the bird is flying away from the spectator in a strong sunlight, and is at a distance of from twenty to thirty yards from him, the upper plumage, which is dark green, sometimes appears bright blue. At first I thought that a distinct species of _Cyanotis_, cerulean blue in colour, existed, but finally became convinced that the green feathers of the _C. azarae_ appear blue in certain lights. This seems strange, as the feathers of the back are not glossed.

The Many-coloured Tyrant is, apparently, a very feeble flier, rising reluctantly when frightened from the rushes, and fluttering away to a distance of a few yards, when it again drops down. Yet it is strictly migratory. Darwin met with it at Maldonado in the month of June, and therefore concluded that it does not migrate; but he mentions that it was very rare. I have also occasionally seen one in winter on the pampas, but many migratory species leave a few stragglers behind in the same way. At the end of September they suddenly appear all over the pampas, in every swamp and stream where there are beds of rushes; for in such situations only is the bird found: and this migration extends far into Patagonia. They are always seen in pairs amongst the dense rushes, where they perch on the smooth stems, not near the summit, but close down to the surface of the water, and perpetually hop from stem to stem, deftly picking up small insects from the surface of the water. They also occasionally leave the rushes and search for insects in the gra.s.s and herbage along the border. They are very inquisitive, and if a person approach the rush-bed, they immediately come out of their concealment, both birds uttering their singular notes--a silvery, modulated sound, not meant for a song apparently, and yet I do not know any sweeter, purer sound in nature than this. All through the close-growing dark rushes the pretty little melodists may be heard calling to each other in their delicate, gurgling notes.

The nest is a marvel of skill and beauty. As a rule it is attached to a single polished rush, two or three feet above the water and about the middle of the stem. It is cup-shaped inside, and about four inches long, circular at the top, but compressed at the lower extremity, and ending in a sharp point. It is composed entirely of soft bits of dry yellow rush, cemented together with gum so smoothly that it looks as if made in a mould. The eggs are two in number, oval, and dull creamy white, sometimes with a ring of colour at the large end.

151. LEPTOPOGON TRISTIS, Scl. et Salv.

(SORRY TYRANT.)

+Leptopogon tristis+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1876, p. 254; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 606 (Misiones).

_Description._--Above olive; cap rather darker; wings and tail blackish, margined with olive, the two rows of wing-coverts and three or four outer secondaries with clear yellowish-white apical spots; beneath pale sulphur-yellow; under wing-coverts yellow; inner margins of wing-feathers whitish: bill horn-colour; feet brown: whole length 44 inches, wing 21, tail 21.

_Hab._ Northern La Plata and Bolivia.

This bird was obtained by White near San Javier, Misiones, "amongst the lofty trees on the river-banks." White believed that he also met with it in the Sierra de Totoral.

152. ELAINEA ALBICEPS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(WHITE-CRESTED TYRANT.)

+Elainea modesta+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 454. +Elainea albiceps+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 48; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 60 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.