Argentine Ornithology Volume I Part 30

Except when breeding the Bienteveo is a peaceful bird, never going out of its way to make gratuitous attacks on individuals of its own or of other species; but in the pursuit of its prey it is cunning, bold, and fierce. Like the true Tyrant-birds it preys a great deal on large insects when they are abundant in the warm season, and is frequently seen catching its prey in the air. A large beetle or gra.s.shopper it invariably beats against a branch before devouring it. But even in summer, when insect prey is most abundant, it prefers a more substantial diet whenever such is to be had. It frequently carries off the fledglings of the smaller birds from their nests, in the face of the brave defence often made by the parents. It is also fond of fishing, and may be seen perched by the hour on a bank or overhanging branch beside a stream, watching the water like a Kingfisher, and at intervals dashing down to capture the small fry. In shallow pools, where there are tadpoles and other prey, the Bienteveo does not mind getting a little wet, but alights in the water and stands belly-deep watching for its prey. I have seen a Bienteveo standing in the water in the midst of a flock of Glossy Ibises. They are often seen, as Darwin remarks, hovering like a Kestrel over the gra.s.s, and then dashing down to seize their prey. Small snakes, frogs, mice, and lizards all minister to its appet.i.te, and with a capture of this kind it invariably flies to the nearest stone or branch, against which it beats the life of its victim out before devouring it. I once saw one fly out of some weeds carrying a little wriggling snake of a very brittle species and about eight inches long in its beak. Alighting on a gate it proceeded to kill its capture, and at the first blow on the wood the snake flew into two pieces. A mouse gives it a great deal of trouble, for after it has been killed it cannot be devoured until reduced by repeated blows to a soft pulp, after which it is with great labour pulled to pieces and eaten. Snails and _Ampullariae_ are also pounded until the sh.e.l.l breaks. In spring they sometimes join the train of hooded gulls, guira cuckoos, cow-birds, and various other kinds which follow the plough to pick up worms and larvae; but on the ground the Bienteveo is awkward in its motions, for it cannot run like the Tyrant-birds with terrestrial habits, but only hops. At estancia houses, when a cow is slaughtered, it comes in with the fowls, milvago hawks, and dogs, for small pickings, being very fond of fresh meat. It is a common thing to see a Bienteveo following a rural butcher's cart, and waiting for an opportunity to dash in and carry off any small piece of meat or fat it is able to detach. In the autumn they feed very much on ripe fruit, preferring grapes, which they can swallow whole, and figs, which are soft and easily eaten.

In its nidification the Bienteveo also departs widely from the, so to speak, traditional habits of its congeners; for whereas most Tyrants make small shallow nests, this species makes a very big elaborate domed structure, and sometimes takes five or six weeks to complete it. It is placed in a tree, without any attempt at concealment, and is about a foot deep and eight or nine inches broad, and composed of a variety of soft materials, chiefly wool. The entrance is placed near the top.

Outside, the nest has a very disorderly appearance, as there are always long straws and sometimes rags hanging down; the cavity is deeply lined with feathers, and is the _hottest_ nest I know. The eggs are five, very long, pointed, cream-coloured, and spotted, chiefly at the large end, with chocolate and purple.

159. MYIODYNASTES SOLITARIUS (Vieill.).

(SOLITARY TYRANT.)

+Myiodynastes solitarius+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 50; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 178, et 1878, p. 60 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z.

S._ 1882, p. 607 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.

viii. p. 201 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above grey, thickly covered with numerous black shaft-spots; concealed vertical crest yellow; lores and sides of the head black, superciliaries white; wings blackish, primaries slightly edged with rufous, coverts and secondaries margined externally with greyish white; tail blackish, with narrow external margins of ferruginous; below greyish white, with numerous black striations; belly and under wing-coverts tinged with yellowish and but slightly striated; bill brown, feet blackish: whole length 75 inches, wing 44, tail 34.

_Hab._ Brazil, Paraguay, Buenos Ayres.

Durnford tells us that this species is a summer visitor to the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres, but not very common. White met with it in the forests of Campo Santo in November; and Barrows obtained specimens among the Paradise-trees in the Plaza at Concepcion, in the same month of the year.

160. HIRUNDINEA BELLICOSA (Vieill.).

(WARLIKE TYRANT.)

+Hirundinea bellicosa+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 51; _White, P. Z.

S._ 1882, p. 607 (Catamarca). +Hirundinea rupestris+, _Scl.

Ibis_, 1869, p. 198, pl. v. fig. 8.

_Description._--Above sooty brown; wings blackish, with a large ferruginous red blotch occupying the greater portion of the inner primaries and secondaries; rump and greater part of the tail-feathers ferruginous red; apical portion of tail-feathers blackish: beneath ferruginous red, throat greyish; under wing-coverts and inner webs of wing-feathers, except the tips, similar to the belly, but brighter; bill and feet black: whole length 70 inches, wing 43, tail 22. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

This Flycatcher is by no means common in Catamarca. It is seen about the houses in pairs, but not more than one pair at a time at one dwelling, perched upon some projection, whence it darts off into the air at pa.s.sing insects.

"The snap of its beak, as it dashes at the flies, can be heard a long way off. Its cry is peculiar and piteous. There is no perceptible difference in plumage between the male and female."--_White, l. s. c._

161. MYIOBIUS NaeVIUS (Bodd.).

(LITTLE BROWN TYRANT.)

+Myiobius naevius+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 51; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 607 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.

viii. p. 201 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above brown; lores whitish; concealed vertical crest red or yellow; wings blackish, two bands across the coverts and outer margins of external secondaries pale rufous or fulvous, sometimes whitish; tail dark brown: beneath fulvous white; sides of throat, breast, and flanks more or less distinctly flammulated with brown; under wing-coverts pale fulvous; bill brown; lower mandible whitish; feet blackish: whole length 47 inches, wing 25, tail 23.

_Female_ similar, but crest yellow or absent.

_Hab._ Veragua and Cisandean South America down to Argentine Republic.

This small Tyrant-bird is a summer visitor in the Plata district; it is shy and solitary; frequents woods and plantations, and perpetually utters, like the English Redstart, its sorrowful monotonous plaint, as it flits about in the upper foliage of the trees.

The nest is placed in a bush or low tree, and built of various soft materials compactly woven together, and the inside lined with feathers or vegetable down. The eggs are four, pale cream-colour, with large, well-defined spots of dark red.

The total length of this species is less than five inches. The prevailing colour of the plumage is rufous brown on the upper, and whitish brown on the under surface. Beneath the loose feathers of the crown there is a concealed spot of orange-red.

162. PYROCEPHALUS RUBINEUS (Bodd.).

(SCARLET TYRANT.)

+Pyrocephalus rubineus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 51; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 808; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 178 (Buenos Ayres); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 27 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 201 (Entrerios).

+Pyrocephalus parvirostris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 456 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above very dark cinereous, crested head and body below scarlet; bill and feet black: whole length 52 inches, wing 29, tail 23. _Female_ above paler cinereous, below white; breast striated with cinereous; belly more or less rosy red.

_Hab._ S. America, from Colombia down to Buenos Ayres.

It is in vain, I think, to attempt to make more than one species out of this widely-spread bird, though specimens from the west coast are usually smaller.

The Scarlet Tyrant is about five inches and a half long; the neck, back, wings, and tail are black, all the rest of the plumage the most vivid scarlet imaginable. The loose feathers of the crown, which form a crest, are especially brilliant, and seem to glow like a live coal amidst the green foliage. Beside this bright Tyrant-bird even the Rainbow Tanagers look pale, and the "Jewel Humming-birds" decidedly sad-coloured. It is not strange, therefore, that in South America, where it has a very wide range, it is a species well known to the country people, and that they have bestowed on it many pretty names, most of which have reference to its splendid scarlet colour. In the Argentine Republic it is usually called _Churinche_, from its note, also _Federal_ and _Fuegero_; in other countries _Sangre de Toro_ (bull's blood), and, better still, _Sangre_ _Pura_. Little Soldier and Coal of Fire are also amongst its names. The Guarani tribes call it _Guira-pita_ (red-bird); but another Indian name, mentioned by d'Orbigny, is the best--_Quarhi-rahi_, which signifies Sun-born.

The Churinche appears in Buenos Ayres about the end of September, and is usually first seen in localities to which Tyrant-birds are partial, such as low gra.s.sy grounds, with here and there a stalk or bush, and near a wood or plantation. Insects are most abundant in such places; and here the Churinche is seen, perched on a twig, darting at intervals to snap at the flies after the fashion of the Flycatchers, and frequently uttering its low, plaintive note. It is very common in the woods along the Plata; every orchard on the pampas is visited by a few of them; and they are very abundant about Buenos Ayres city. Going south they become rarer; but, strange to say, a few individuals find their way to the sh.o.r.es of the Rio Negro, though before reaching it they must cross a high, barren country quite unsuited to them. The natives of the Carmen have no name for the Churinche, but speak of it as a bird wonderful for its beauty and seldom seen. Amongst the dull-plumaged Patagonian species it certainly has a very brilliant appearance.

A very few days after their arrival the Churinches pair; and the male selects a spot for the nest--a fork in a tree from six to twelve feet from the ground, or sometimes a horizontal bough. This spot the male visits about once a minute, sits on it with his splendid crest elevated, tail spread out, and wings incessantly fluttering, while he pours out a continuous stream of silvery gurgling notes, so low they can scarcely be heard ten paces off, and somewhat resembling the sound of water running from a narrow-necked flask, but infinitely more rapid and musical. Of the little bird's homely, grey, silent mate the observer will scarcely obtain a glimpse, she appearing as yet to take little or no interest in the affairs that so much occupy the attention of her consort, and keep him in a state of such violent excitement. He is exceedingly pugnacious, so that when not fluttering on the site of his future nest, or snapping up some insect on the wing, he is eagerly pursuing other male Churinches, apparently bachelors, from tree to tree. At intervals he repeats his remarkable little song, composed of a succession of sweetly modulated metallic trills uttered on the wing. The bird usually mounts upwards from thirty to forty yards, and, with wings very much raised and rapidly vibrating, rises and drops almost perpendicularly half a yard's s.p.a.ce five or six times, appearing to keep time to his notes in these motions. This song he frequently utters in the night, but without leaving his perch; and it then has a most pleasing effect, as it is less hurried, and the notes seem softer and more prolonged than when uttered by day. About a week after the birds have arrived, when the trees are only beginning to display their tender leaves, the nest is commenced.

Strange to say, the female is the sole builder; for she now lays by her indifferent mien, and the art and industry she displays more than compensate for the absence of those beauties and accomplishments that make her mate so pleasing to the sight and ear. The materials of which the nest is composed are almost all gathered on trees; they are lichens, webs, and thistle-down: and the dexterity and rapidity with which they are gathered, the skill with which she disposes them, the tireless industry of the little bird, who visits her nest a hundred times an hour with invisible webs in her bill, are truly interesting to the observer.

The lichens firmly held together with webs, and smoothly disposed with the tops outside, give to the nest the colour of the bark it is built on.

After the Churinche's nest is completed, the Bienteveo (_Pitangus bolivia.n.u.s_) and the Common Cow-bird (_Molothrus bonariensis_) are the troublers of its peace. The first of these sometimes carries off the nest bodily to use it as material in building its own; the female Cow-bird is ever on the look out for a receptacle for her eggs. Seldom, however, does she succeed in gaining admittance to the Churinche's nest, as he is extremely vigilant and violent in repelling intruders. But his vigilance at times avails not; the subtle bird has watched and waited till, seizing a moment when the little Scarlet Tyrant is off his guard, she drops her surrept.i.tious egg into his nest. When this happens, the Churinches immediately leave their nest. The nest is sometimes lined with feathers, but usually with thistle-down; the eggs are four, pointed, and spotted at the broad end with black; usually each egg has also a few large grey spots. The young are at first grey, marked with pale rufous, but soon become entirely grey, like the female. In about a month's time the belly of the males begins to a.s.sume a pale mauve-red; this spreads upwards towards the breast and throat; and finally the crest also takes on this colour. The Churinches raise two broods in a season--but if the nest is destroyed, will lay as many as four times.

The Scarlet Tyrant is the first of our summer visitors to leave us. As early as the end of January, and so soon as the young of the second brood are able to feed themselves, the adults disappear. Their going is not gradual, but they all vanish at once. The departure of all other migratory species takes place after a very sensible change in the temperature; but at the end of January the heat is unmitigated--it is, in fact, often greater than during December.

When the adults have gone, the silent young birds remain. Within a month's time the s.e.xes of these may be distinguished. After another month the males begin to sing, and are frequently seen pursuing one another over the fields. It is only at the end of April, three months after the old birds have disappeared, that the young also take their departure. This is one of the strangest facts I have encountered in the migration of birds. The autumnal cold and wet weather seems to be the immediate cause of the young birds' departure; but in the adults, migration appears to be an instinct quite independent of atmospheric changes.

163. EMPIDONAX BIMACULATUS (Lafr. et d'Orb.).

(WING-BANDED TYRANT.)

+Empidochanes argentinus+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1868, p. 196. +Empidonax brunneus+, _Ridgw. N. A. B._ ii. p. 363 (Parana). +Empidonax bimaculatus+, _Scl. Ibis_, 1887, p. 65.

_Description._--Above umber-brown, more or less rufescent; lores with a whitish spot; wings blackish, all the coverts broadly tipped with pale rufous, forming two transverse bars; outer margins of external secondaries of the same colour; tail brown, but not rufescent; beneath dirty cinereous white, throat and belly brighter, and with a yellowish tinge; under wing-coverts and inner margins of wing-feathers ochraceous; upper mandible dark brown, lower whitish; feet pale brown: whole length 50 inches, wing 26, tail 34.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Bolivia, and N. Argentina.

This obscure species occurs in the northern wooded districts of Argentina.

164. CONTOPUS BRACHYRHYNCHUS, Cab.