Argentine Ornithology Volume I Part 40

_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.

215. SITTOSOMUS ERITHACUS (Licht.).

(ROBIN-LIKE WOOD-HEWER.)

+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 62 inches, wing 30, tail 30. _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.

216. GLYPHORHYNCHUS CUNEATUS (Licht.).

(WEDGE-BILLED WOOD-HEWER.)

+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 51 inches, wing 25, tail 24. _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.

217. DENDROCOLAPTES PIc.u.mNUS (Licht.).

(FLAT-BILLED WOOD-HEWER.)

+Dendrocolaptes pic.u.mnus+, _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 105 inches, wing 47, tail 46. _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."

218. DRYMORNIS BRIDGESI, Eyton.

(BRIDGES'S WOOD-HEWER.)

[Plate X.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: DRYMORNIS BRIDGESI.]

+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 1210 inches, wing 56, tail 46. _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 _Dendrocolaptidae_, 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 Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, 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 Woodp.e.c.k.e.r, 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."

219. XIPHOCOLAPTES ALBICOLLIS (Vieill.).

(WHITE-THROATED WOOD-HEWER.)

+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 120 inches, wing 54, tail 48. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Brazil and N. Argentina.

White obtained examples of this large Wood-hewer in Misiones.

220. XIPHOCOLAPTES MAJOR (Vieill.).

(CHESTNUT WOOD-HEWER.)

+Xiphocolaptes major+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 68; _White, P. Z.

S._ 1882, p. 613 (Salta); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1880, p. 359 (Tuc.u.man).

_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 1110 inches, wing 55, tail 40.

_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.

221. PICOLAPTES ANGUSTIROSTRIS (Vieill.).