Part 16

118. OCHTHOECA LEUCOPHRYS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(WHITE-BROWED TYRANT.)

+Ochthoeca leucophrys+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 42; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 603 (Catamarca).

_Description._--Above dark cinereous, rump rufescent; wings black, cross-bands on wing-coverts and edges of outer secondaries rufous; tail blackish, outer web of external rectrix white; beneath pale cinereous; lower belly, crissum, and under wing-coverts white; bill and feet black: whole length 5·2 inches, wing 3·0, tail 2·7.

_Hab._ Bolivia and Northern Argentina.

A single specimen of this bird was obtained by White at Fuerte de Andalgala, Catamarca, in September 1880, during a snow-storm.

119. SAYORNIS CINERACEA (Lafr.).

(ASHY TYRANT.)

+Sayornis cineracea+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43. +Aulanax latirostris+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1879, p. 335 (Tucuman).

_Description._--Above dark cinereous; head sooty black; wings and tail blackish, outer margins of the wing-coverts and secondaries and outer web of the external tail-feather white; below sooty black, middle of belly and under wing-coverts white, flanks and crissum dark cinereous; bill and feet black: whole length 9·5 inches, wing 3·4, tail 3·1. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and N. Argentina.

Examples of this wide-ranging species, obtained by Döring in Tucuman, are referred by Dr. Cabanis to his subspecies "_latirostris_," which seems to us hardly distinct from _S. cineracea_.

120. FLUVICOLA ALBIVENTRIS (Spix).

(WHITE-BELLIED TYRANT.)

+Fluvicola albiventris+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 59 (Buenos Ayres).

_Description._--Above black; front half of head, narrow band across the rump, and slight edgings to wing-coverts and outer secondaries white; below white; bill and feet black: whole length 5·5 inches, wing 2·8, tail 2·2. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Amazonia, Bolivia, and Argentine Republic.

The small black-and-white Tyrant is not uncommon in the marshes and on the river-margins in the Plata district, its spring migration extending south to Buenos Ayres. Like the Kingfisher, it haunts the water-side and is found nowhere else. It has a shy, retiring disposition, concealing itself in the close thickets overhanging a stream, so that one does not often see it, notwithstanding its conspicuous white plumage. When disturbed it emits a series of low ticking notes, or darts swiftly out from the thicket, showing itself for a moment over the water before disappearing once more into its hiding-place.

D'Orbigny says it makes a purse-shaped nest, of slender twigs, moss, and feathers neatly interlaced, and lays four white eggs, spotted at the large end with brown.

121. ARUNDINICOLA LEUCOCEPHALA (Linn.).

(WHITE-HEADED TYRANT.)

+Arundinicola leucocephala+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 334 (Corrientes).

_Description._--Black; whole head and neck and a patch on the flanks white; bill horn-colour, base of lower mandible white; feet black: whole length 5·0 inches, wing 2·5, tail 1·8. _Female_ above cinereous; front and sides of head whitish; tail black; beneath white, flanks and under wing-coverts cinerascent.

_Hab._ Colombia and southwards to Argentina.

This species, which is of wide distribution, was met with in Corrientes by d'Orbigny.

122. ALECTRURUS TRICOLOR, Vieill.

(COCK-TAILED TYRANT.)

+Alectrurus tricolor+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43.

_Description._--Above black, rump greyish; sides of the head, scapularies, lesser wing-coverts, and outer margins of secondaries white; tail black, outer rectrix on each side produced, expanded, fan-shaped; below white, patch on each side of the breast (forming an incomplete collar) black; bill horn-colour; feet black: whole length 7·2 inches, wing 2·8; tail, outer rectr. 2·5, middle rectr. 1·5. _Female_: above brown, rump and lesser wing-coverts pale; beneath dirty white, sides of breast brown.

_Hab._ S. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentine Republic.

This species generally resembles the one next described, and has, like it, a black, white, and grey plumage. But the tail, although strange, is constructed on a different pattern. The total length of the bird is five and a half inches, the tail being only two and a half. The two outer tail-feathers have remarkably stout shafts, with broad coarse webs, and look like stumps of two large feathers originally intended for a bigger bird, and finally cut off near their base and given to a very small one. In the male these two feathers are carried vertically and at right angles to the plane of the body, giving the bird a resemblance to a diminutive cock; hence the vernacular name 'Gallito,' or Little Cock, by which it is known.

I have not observed this species myself, but Azara has the following paragraph about its habits:--"The male sometimes rises slowly and almost vertically, with tail raised, and rapidly beating its wings, and looking while ascending in this way more like a butterfly than a bird; and when it has reached a height of ten or twelve yards, it drops obliquely to the earth and perches on a stalk." He adds that the males are solitary, but several females are sometimes seen near together, and that the females are greatly in excess of the males.

123. ALECTRURUS RISORIUS (Vieill.).

(STRANGE-TAILED TYRANT.)

+Alectrurus guira-yetapa+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 60 (Buenos Ayres). +Alectrurus risorius+, _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 140 (Entrerios). +Alectrurus psalurus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 457 (S. Luis).

_Description._--Above black, rump grey; front varied with white; wings black, scapularies, outer margins of wing-feathers and coverts white; tail black, two outer rectrices much elongated, denuded at the base, with a broad inner and no outer vane; below white, broad band across the breast black; throat in the breeding-season bare of feathers and of a bright orange; bill yellowish; feet black: whole length 11·0 inches, wings 3·0; tail, outer rectrices 8·0, middle 2·0. _Female_: above brown, wings varied with white; beneath white; breast-band pale brown; tail with the two outer rectrices slightly elongated and denuded, terminated with spatulations on the inner vane.

_Hab._ S. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentine Republic.

Azara named this species _Cola estraña_ (Strange-tail), but mentions incidentally that its Guarani name is 'guira-yetapá' (Scissor-tail), a term which the Indians apply indiscriminately to several species having the same sort of tail.

The Guira-yetapá is a very curious little bird, with a black, white, and grey plumage and the beak of a true Tyrant; but it differs from all its congeners in having the skin of the chin, throat, and sides of the head bare of feathers, and these parts in the breeding-season are a bright orange colour. It is a feeble flier, its wings being very short, while the two outer tail-feathers are abnormally long and peculiar in form. Mr. Barrows says:--"The remarkable condition of the outer pair of tail-feathers is interesting. In the male these two feathers reach a length of nearly ten inches, the rest of the tail being about three inches in length. The vane on the _inner_ side of each is wanting for the first two inches, and then suddenly develops to a width of nearly two inches, which it maintains almost to the tip, when it gradually narrows. The vane on the _outer_ side of the shaft is only about one-quarter of an inch wide, and is folded so tightly against the shaft that it is quite inconspicuous. In the only two males of this species which I have seen flying, these long feathers seemed to be carried folded together _beneath_ the rest of the tail, and stretching out behind like a rudder or steering-oar, their vanes at right angles to the plane of the rest of the tail."

Mr. Gibson gives a different account, and says the flight is singularly feeble, resembling the fluttering passage of a butterfly through the air, while the tail streams out behind.

It inhabits Paraguay, Uruguay, and the eastern portion of the Argentine Republic, ranging as far south as the pampas in the neighbourhood of Patagonia. It is usually seen singly or in pairs; Azara says he saw a flock of thirty individuals, but as they were all _females_, it may be that in this species, as in _Lichenops perspicillata_, the females are sometimes gregarious, and the males always solitary. It frequents open places, such as the borders of marshes, or plains covered with tall grasses, and perches in a conspicuous place, from which it darts at passing insects like a Flycatcher.

Mr. Gibson found its nest on the ground amongst herbage, and describes it as a neat structure of dried grass, containing three white eggs with a faint cream-coloured tinge.

124. CYBERNETES YETAPA (Vieill.).

(YETAPA TYRANT.)

+Cybernetes yetapa+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 604 (Itapua, Misiones).

_Description._--Above hoary grey, with lineiform blackish shaft-stripes; wings black, with large chestnut-brown patch occupying the outer webs of the inner primaries; tail of twelve much graduated feathers, black; outer web of external rectrices white; beneath same as above, but rather paler; throat and crissum white; patch on each side of the neck, and collar across the neck dark chestnut-brown; under wing-coverts and inner webs of wing-feathers white; bill pale brown; feet black: whole length 16·0 inches, wing 5·0; tail, extreme rectrix 12·5, middle 2·6. _Female_ similar, but less bright.

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

Azara found this singular species not uncommon in Paraguay, and since his brief notice of it in the 'Apuntamientos' nothing concerning its habits has been recorded. It has a somewhat laboured flight, he says; lives in pairs or families, frequenting low or marshy grounds, where it perches on the summit of the reeds or bushes, and flies down to the ground to capture insects. It also occasionally dashes after passing insects, taking them on the wing. It has a loud whistle, which it utters frequently without any variation.

125. SISOPYGIS ICTEROPHRYS (Vieill.).

(YELLOW-BROWED TYRANT.)

+Sisopygis icterophrys+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 141; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 176 (Buenos Ayres); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 29 (Buenos Ayres): _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 604 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 141 (Entrerios). +Tænioptera icterophrys+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 460 (Paraná).

_Description._--Above bright olive-green, head rather greyish, lores and superciliary stripes yellow; wings blackish, broad ends of coverts and outer edges of secondaries dirty white; tail blackish; beneath bright yellow, sides of breast and flanks olivaceous; under wing-coverts whitish; bill dark horn-colour; feet black: whole length 6·1 inches, wing 3·5, tail 2·7. _Female_ similar, but less bright.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Northern La Plata, and highlands of Bolivia and Peru.

This small and pretty Tyrant-bird is quite common in the woods along the Plata, and is also seen a great deal in orchards and groves in the cultivated districts. In Buenos Ayres it is a summer visitor, appearing there in October, and is a shy, solitary bird, which catches insects on the wing, and rarely visits the ground.

The nest is placed in a tree, ill-concealed, and very shallow: it is built of fine sticks, and lined with fine grass, horse-hair, and feathers. The eggs are four, pointed, pale cream-colour, with large dark red spots, chiefly at the larger end.

The only language of this species is a very low plaintive whistle, uttered as a faint protest when the nest is approached.

The upper plumage is olive-green; the entire under surface and a stripe on the side of the head pure yellow; wing and tail-quills dark. Total length 6-1/4 inches.

126. CNIPOLEGUS ANTHRACINUS, Heine.

(ASHY-BLACK TYRANT.)

+Cnipolegus anthracinus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 356 (Salta); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 24 (Patagonia). +Cnipolegus aterrimus+, _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 604 (Misiones). +Cnipolegus hudsoni+, _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 39 (Cordova)? +Myiarchus fasciatus+, _Leybold, J. f. O._ 1865, p. 402 (Mendoza), [female].

_Description._--Above dull black, a broad bar across the vanes of the inner webs of the wing-feathers white; bill plumbeous; feet black: whole length 6·3 inches, wing 3·5, tail 3·0. _Female_ ashy brown; rump, upper tail-coverts, and basal portions of tail bright rufous; wings blackish, with two white transverse stripes; beneath pale fulvous, white on the belly; bill and feet black.

_Hab._ Northern Argentina.

Unfortunately very little is yet known about the habits of these interesting little Tyrant-birds, for which I should like to suggest the common name "_Spectacular_," for reasons I shall say more about when I come to describe the _Lichenops perspicillatus_, a species which undoubtedly belongs to this peculiar well-defined group. The plumage of the male is, in most cases, intensely black, and there is a pure white bar on the remiges, hidden when the bird is perched, and when it flies made doubly conspicuous by the peculiar motion of the wings. In all the known species the female has a dull brown plumage, lined or mottled with dusky tints, and with some portion of the wing-quills marked with rufous or chestnut colour.

The Ashy-black Tyrant inhabits the Mendoza district, and is also a summer visitor in Patagonia, where it was obtained by Dr. Döring. Speaking of its habits, he says the male is solitary, perches on the summit of a bush or dry twig, emits at intervals a song or call composed of two syllables, plaintive and flute-like in character, and uttered while the bird rises up a few feet into the air. During this performance the white bands on the wings are displayed conspicuously and a humming sound is produced.

127. CNIPOLEGUS HUDSONI, Scl.

(HUDSON'S BLACK TYRANT.)

+Cnipolegus hudsoni+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 541, pl. xxxi. (Rio Negro).

_Description._--Uniform dull black; a broad bar across the bases of the inner webs of the wing-feathers white; two outer primaries much pointed at their extremities; bill plumbeous, feet black: whole length 6·0 inches, wing 2·8, tail 2·6.

This species is at once distinguishable from the preceding (_C. anthracinus_) by its smaller size and the peculiar narrowed outer remiges.

_Hab._ Northern Patagonia.

This species is found in the western provinces of the Argentine Republic, and, like _C. anthracinus_, which it closely resembles, is a summer visitor in Patagonia, where it makes its appearance in October. The plumage is intense black, with the inner webs of the remiges at their base white, but the wing-band, which is over an inch in breadth, shows only when the bird flies. There is also a small white spot on the flank, scarcely visible, and excepting for this speck the bird at rest appears entirely black. When it flies the white band appears suddenly, producing a curious effect, for the wings are opened and shut successively and with great rapidity, making the white band appear like a succession of flashes. All the movements of the bird are eccentric to a degree. It selects a dead twig on the summit of a bush, and this perch it occupies during many hours every day. Occasionally it darts after a passing insect, but I believe it feeds principally on the ground, like _Lichenops perspicillatus_. At intervals it quits its perch very suddenly and revolves round it with the rapidity of a moth whirling round the flame of a candle, the wings producing a loud humming sound, and the bird uttering a series of sharp clicking notes. During this performance the white wing-band appears like a pale mist surrounding the bird. This fantastical dance over, it resumes its perch, and, until moved to a second display, sits as motionless as a bird carved out of jet.

128. CNIPOLEGUS CYANIROSTRIS (Vieill.).

(BLUE-BILLED TYRANT.)

+Cnipolegus cyanirostris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 457 (Mendoza): _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 141 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Uniform dull black; inner webs of the wing-feathers margined with dull white; bill plumbeous, feet dark brown: whole length 5·7 inches, wing 3·0, tail 5·6. _Female_ dark cinnamomeous brown, brighter on the head and rump; wings blackish, wing-coverts and secondaries edged with pale rufous; tail blackish brown, outer margins of outer rectrices and inner webs of all the rectrices, except the two middle, bright rufous; below pale fulvous, densely striated with blackish; bill and feet brown.

_Hab._ S. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and La Plata.

In size this species of Black Tyrant is but slightly smaller than the one described, and the colour is also of an intense black, but the white wing-band is less conspicuous, the borders only of the inner webs of the quills being white. It also differs in having a bright blue beak and red eyes. Azara discovered it in Paraguay, and described the brown-plumaged female as a distinct species. He merely says that it sits on the summit of a bush and darts after passing insects, but it will, no doubt, be found to possess some curious performing habits like the other species of the genus.

Mr. Barrows met with this species on the Lower Uruguay, in the month of September, and Burmeister obtained it near Mendoza.

129. CNIPOLEGUS CABANISI, Schulz.

(CABANIS'S TYRANT.)

+Cnipolegus cabanisi+, _Schulz, Journ. f. Orn._ 1882, p. 462.

_Description._--Nearly uniform olivaceous slate-colour; below rather paler; wings and tail black: whole length 6·0 inches, wing 3·4, tail 3·1. _Female_ brownish olive, below paler; wings blackish, slightly edged with rufous; tail black, with broad rufous margins to the inner webs, and narrow similar margins to the outer webs; bill and feet brown.

_Hab._ Tucuman.

This is one of Herr Schulz's discoveries in Tucuman. He met with it, in the month of January, in the mountainous districts of that province.

130. CNIPOLEGUS CINEREUS, Scl.

(CINEREOUS TYRANT.)

+Cnipolegus cinereus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Döring, Journ. f. Orn._ 1878, p. 197 (Cordova); _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 357, pl. x. (Tucuman, Salta).

_Description._--Dark cinereous, paler and more olivaceous on the back and wings; edges of wing-coverts and secondaries rather lighter; below paler, throat and breast blackish, like the head; inner margins of wing-feathers whitish; outer primaries acuminated; bill plumbeous, feet black: whole length 4·6 inches, wing 2·2, tail 2·3. _Female_ brownish cinereous; cap and rump rufous; wings blackish, tips of coverts and edges of outer secondaries whitish; tail blackish, inner webs of all the lateral rectrices, except the tips, rufous; beneath whitish.

_Hab._ Northern Argentina.

131. LICHENOPS PERSPICILLATUS (Gm.).

(SILVER-BILL TYRANT.)

+Lichenops perspicillatus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 457 (La Plata to Mendoza); _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 141 (Buenos Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 432 (Buenos Ayres); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 21 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 604 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 141 (Entrerios, Azul).

_Description._--Uniform black; primaries pure white, with black tips and bases; fleshy ring around the eye and bill yellow, feet black: whole length 5·6 inches, wings 3·5, tail 2·4. _Female_ above dark brown, with light brown edgings to the feathers; remiges chestnut, with dark-brown tips; wing-coverts dark brown with fulvous tips; beneath fulvous white, breast with dark striations; under wing-coverts fulvous; bill yellowish, feet black.

_Hab._ Southern Bolivia, S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, La Plata, Chili, and Patagonia.

Naturalists have said a great deal about the well-known Silver-bill (the most important member of my "_Spectacular_" group), the question as to whether the black and red birds are sexes or two distinct species having long remained unsettled. Azara, writing in the last century, under the heading _Pico de Plata_, rightly described the red bird as the female of the black; but, unfortunately, in another part of his work he described the female again as a different species, naming it _Suiriri chorreado_. Darwin also separated the sexes, and gave the name of _Lichenops erythropterus_ to the red-plumaged bird. The following extract gives only a portion of his argument, and is interesting to read, even now, when the question has been finally set at rest, as it shows how much the two birds differ:--"The tail of _L. erythropterus_ is squarer and contains only ten feathers instead of twelve: the wing is 4/10 of an inch shorter; and the secondaries relative to the primaries are also shorter. The red colour on the primaries represents but does not correspond with the white on the black feathers of _L. perspicillatus_; and the secondaries in the two birds are quite differently marked. In _L. erythropterus_ the third, fourth, and fifth primaries are the longest, and are equal to each other; the second is only a little shorter than the third. In _L. perspicillatus_ the third is rather shorter than the fourth and fifth; and the second is proportionately shorter relative to the third, so that the outer part of the wing in this species is more pointed than in _L. erythropterus_. The outer claw in the latter species is only in a small degree straighter than in the former; and this, considering that _L. perspicillatus_ is generally perched, and when on the ground can only hop, and that _L. erythropterus_ feeds there entirely, and walks, is very remarkable."

When one considers the habits of the two birds, even where they are most abundant and seen continually, it is indeed difficult to believe that they are of the same species. They are never seen associating together, even in the love-season, and when I have watched a pair actually engaged in constructing their nest, they appeared to keep as far apart as possible. More than that, the male, while unfriendly towards all other species, appears to cherish a special antipathy against the red bird; and when one comes near him never fails to pursue it with the greatest virulence from the neighbourhood. He is also strictly solitary, but the red birds frequently unite in small parties, especially in autumn, when I have often seen as many as a dozen together.