Part 17

Altogether the Silver-bill has been a puzzle in the past, and it would now appear, from some recent observations made by Mr. Barrows, that we have not yet got to the end of all the curious points in its habits. Without doubt it is migratory. Its range extends from Paraguay to Patagonia, where it is not common. In Paraguay and the hotter parts of the Argentine country it is probably stationary; in Buenos Ayres, where it is most abundant, many individuals remain all the year in sheltered places, and the migration appears to become more definite the further south we get. Mr. Barrows travelled south across the pampas in the autumn, and says:--"The species was met with at all points visited, but south of the Azul not a single male in the black plumage was seen, though the brown birds (presumably females or young) were met with almost every day for nine weeks, and frequently in large numbers. Of course I began to suspect that the males must moult into a brown suit after nesting, as do our Bobolinks and many other birds, but I shot specimens at various times, and all proved to be either females or young males, and as I was confident that at Concepcion black males were to be found through the year, I was at a loss for an explanation, and am so still."

The male Silver-bill is entirely black, there is nothing in nature blacker than its plumage; and, to enhance the effect, the beak is of a very delicate primrose-yellow, which at a little distance appears white, hence the vernacular name. The eye, and broad free skin surrounding it, which is ruffed like an Elizabethan collar, are of the same faint primrose hue. The secondary wing-quills are pure white, but the white is only displayed when the bird flies. The female has the naked skin encircling the eye, but its colour, as also that of the beak, is much darker than in the male. Entire upper plumage dark brown; secondaries chestnut; lower parts fawn-colour, marked with brown. The young males are at first like the females in colour, and do not acquire the black plumage until the end of the summer.

The bird ranges over the whole of the Argentine Republic, and, according to Gay, is also common throughout Chili, where it is known as the _Colegial_ (Collegian or learned person), on account of its stiff grave manner, black dress, and spectacled appearance.

The male is a solitary bird, and feeds chiefly on the ground, running rapidly about in open places like a _Muscisaxicola_. It is also frequently seen perched conspicuously on the summit of a tall stalk or bush, and occasionally making a dart into the air after passing insects, showing in this habit his relationship with the Tyrant-birds. But he perches on an elevation less to watch for insects than for the purpose of his curious spectacular performance. This highly eccentric habit is strikingly like that of _Cnipolegus hudsoni_; and I have no doubt that all the _Cnipolegi_ possess similar habits. Both birds perch on a conspicuous place, upright, motionless, and looking more like grotesque little automata than living things; they both also leave the perch suddenly, as if shot from it by means of a steel spring. This singularly sudden movement, and the motion of the wings, rapid as in the Humming-bird, or shut and opened alternately and exhibiting the white wing-colour in a series of flashes, seems related to the conspicuous white mark. In both species, also, the wings make a humming sound during flight. The motions of the Silver-bill are, however, in some respects different from those of the _Cnipolegus_. Springing from its perch at intervals, it darts vertically to a height of about fifteen yards, then turns a summersault, uttering at the same moment a shrill-sounding little cry, after which it drops down again and alights on its perch suddenly, as if jerked back to it, and there remains stiff, erect, and motionless as before.

The nest is made of dry grass in a thistle-bush or clump of reeds, and is rather deep and cup-shaped. The eggs are four in number, white, and spotted at the larger end with dark red.

132. MACHETORNIS RIXOSA (Vieill.).

(SHORT-WINGED TYRANT.)

+Machetornis rixosa+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 458 (Paraná); _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 142; _iid. Nomencl._ p. 44; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 173 (Buenos Ayres); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 177 (Buenos Ayres); _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 357 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 142 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above brownish olive; wings and tail brown, the latter terminated by a yellowish band; middle of cap occupied by a scarlet crest; beneath bright yellow, paler on the throat; bill and feet black: whole length 7·2 inches, wing 3·9, tail 3·5. _Female_ similar, but rather duller. Young without the scarlet crest.

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

This species, found in the open districts throughout South America, from Venezuela to Buenos Ayres, where it is quite common, has very interesting habits. It is seven inches and a half long, has a plump body, short wings, and long legs. The upper plumage is light brown, the throat, breast, and belly yellow, and the male has a concealed crest of a bright orange-red colour.

It resembles the true Tyrants in disposition, in its shrill piercing language, and in the habit of perching and breeding in trees. On the other hand, like the long-legged _Myiotheretes_, that lives on the open plains, it feeds exclusively on the ground, over which it runs with a speed possessed by few perching species. The general impression one forms is that in manners and appearance the Short-winged Tyrant is quite unlike any other species, though all its habits are to be found in one or other of the various groups comprising the _Tyrannidæ_.

These birds have no migration, but pair for life, and always remain on the same spot, and will continue to breed in the same hole for many years, even where they are frequently deprived of their eggs. Azara saw them sometimes uniting in small flocks in Paraguay; in Buenos Ayres they are always seen in pairs, or, after the young have left the nest, in families. They prefer to live near a human habitation, where there are trees: even one tree, in which they can breed and find shelter at night, will be sufficient to attach them to a dwelling, so great is their partiality for the clean-trodden ground where they can freely run about and catch insects. They haunt the cattle-pens, and become extremely familiar with the cows, horses, and sheep, following them to the pasture-grounds, where they are often seen perched on the back of a horse or other domestic animal, or stationed close to its nose on the ground, watching for insects. On the bare ground they run about with wonderful swiftness, and are able to overtake and capture flying insects without rising. The male and female invariably hunt together, and at intervals fly to some favourite perch to indulge in a duet composed of loud, rapid, shrill notes, somewhat metallic in sound. Though able to fly swiftly when in pursuit of a passing hawk or other bird, at other times their flight is strangely slow; the round body, short blunt wings and tail giving the bird a somewhat curious appearance as it progresses laboriously through the air. I have frequently seen them make the most unprovoked assaults on birds of an inoffensive kind; possibly they are in these attacks moved by a playful rather than by a vindictive spirit. I once saw one drop like a stone from a height of fifty yards on to a Pigeon perched on a leafless tree. The Pigeon fell as if shot to the earth; the Tyrant-bird then released his hold; the Pigeon rushed away terrified through the trees, while its persecutor rose high up in the air and resumed its journey.

I have elsewhere spoken of the wars waged by this bird against other species, all seeking to gain possession of the large nest of _Anumbius acuticaudatus_. A hole in the trunk of a tree is also a favourite breeding-place. The nest is neatly built of slender twigs and leaves, and lined with horse-hair. The eggs are slightly oval, and densely marked with dark brown spots or stripes on a white or brownish-white ground.

133. MUSCISAXICOLA MACLOVIANA (Garn.).

(CHIN-SPOTTED TYRANT.)

+Muscisaxicola mentalis+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 541 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 44.

_Description._--Above cinereous, lores blackish, cap brown; tail-coverts and tail black, outer margins of outer tail-feather white; below pale cinereous, passing into white on lower belly, crissum, and under wing-coverts; chin-spot brown: bill and feet black: whole length 6·1 inches, wing 4·1, tail 2·6. _Female_ similar, but chin-spot not so well marked.

_Hab._ Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Patagonia, and Falkland Islands.

This South-Patagonian species is one of a Chilian group of Tyrant-birds which resemble in their habits the _Saxicolæ_ of Europe. The plumage is generally grey, with more or less rufous colour on the crown; they have long legs, and run swiftly on the ground, frequent open sterile situations, and perch only occasionally on trees.

The present bird is about seven inches long; the upper parts are dull grey, except the crown, which is dark chestnut; under surface light grey, and tail nearly black. In the month of June I met with these birds on the Rio Negro, on their arrival there from the south. They went in flocks of a dozen or twenty birds; they had a swift easy flight, were shy and restless in their manner, and uttered low plaintive whistling notes. When a flock alights on the ground the birds all instantly scatter, running rapidly about in all directions over the bare ground. Occasionally one was seen to perch on some slight elevation, and dart like a Flycatcher after passing insects.

Darwin saw this bird as far north on the Atlantic coast as Bahia Blanca. He also found it at Tierra del Fuego, where it lives entirely on the sea-beaches; and in the sterile upper valleys of the Chilian Andes, at a height of ten thousand feet, where the last traces of vegetation occur and where no other bird lives.

134. MUSCISAXICOLA RUFIVERTEX, d'Orb. et Lafr.

(RED-TOPPED TYRANT.)

+Ptyonura rufivertex+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 461 (Mendoza).

_Description._--Above clear cinereous; lores and short superciliaries whitish; well-defined nape-patch bright rufous; wings brownish; upper tail-coverts and tail black, outer margin of outer rectrix white: below clear cinereous white, brighter on lower belly, crissum, and under wing-coverts; bill and feet black: whole length 6·5 inches, wing 4·0, tail 2·8. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Peru, Bolivia, Chili, and Western Argentina.

135. MUSCISAXICOLA MACULIROSTRIS, d'Orb. et Lafr.

(SPOT-BILLED TYRANT.)

+Muscisaxicola maculirostris+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 44; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 395 (Centr. Patagonia). +Ptyonura maculirostris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 462 (Mendoza).

_Description._--Above greyish brown, lores and slight superciliaries whitish; tail-coverts and tail black, the outer web of the outer rectrix white; below pale greyish white, whiter on the belly and crissum; bill black, with the base of the lower mandible yellowish; feet black: whole length 5·5 inches, wing 3·4, tail 2·4. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Chili, Patagonia, Bolivia, Peru, and Western Ecuador.

Prof. Burmeister met with this species near Mendoza, in the mouths of the large torrents above the city. Durnford found it near the river Sengalen in Central Patagonia in December 1877.

136. CENTRITES NIGER (Bodd.).

(RED-BACKED TYRANT.)

+Centrites niger+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 458; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 44; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 395 (Chupat); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 604 (Buenos Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 42 (R. Colorado); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 142 (Entrerios, Pampas).

_Description._--Above and below deep black: whole of back except the rump and scapularies chestnut; bill and feet black; under wing-coverts and wings below black: whole length 5·0 inches, wing 2·8, tail 1·9. _Female_ above brown, back fulvous red; tail black; below ashy brown.

_Hab._ Patagonia, Chili, and Argentina.

The little Red-backed Tyrant comes nearest to _Muscisaxicola mentalis_ in habits, but does not perch on bushes and trees, and is less gregarious than that bird. It is the smallest of all those varied members of the _Tyrannine_ family which have abandoned forests and marshes and the pursuit of insects on the wing, to live on the wintry uplands of Patagonia, and on the sterile plains bordering on the Andes.

The male is only five and a quarter inches long. The entire plumage of the male is intensely black, except the back, which is bright chestnut. The inside of the mouth and tongue are vivid orange-yellow. The chestnut colour on the female is pale, the rest of the plumage grey, except the quills, which are dark.

Its summer home is in the southern portion of Patagonia, but its nesting-habits are not known. In March it migrates north, and is very common everywhere on the pampas throughout the winter. They arrive in small parties of three or four, or in little loose flocks of about a dozen individuals, travelling with a swift low flight. Males, females, and young, grey like the last, arrive together; shortly after arriving the young males become mottled with black, and before leaving acquire the adult plumage. They appear to leave in spring all together, but from a note by Durnford it would appear that the males travel in advance of the females. He says:--"Males of this species were common at Chupat throughout September and during the first few days of October. On the 5th of the latter month I observed the first females, which gradually increased in number."

The Little Red-backs inhabit open unsheltered plains, and have so great a predilection for bare ground on which they can run freely about, that on their arrival on the pampas, where the earth is thickly carpeted with grass, they are seen attaching themselves to roads, sheep-pens, borders of streams, vizcacha villages, and similar places. They are exceedingly restless, running swiftly over the ground, occasionally darting into the air in pursuit of small flies, and all the flock so scattered that there will be a dozen yards between every two birds. Mr. Barrows describes their lively habits very well:--"I think this is one of the most restless birds I ever saw. You cannot depend upon him to be in the same place two consecutive half-seconds. He runs like a Sanderling, and whenever he keeps his feet still by accident, his wings are flirted in a way that shows his anxiety to be off. Several are usually found together, and sometimes a loose flock of a hundred or more is seen. They are very strong on the wing, sometimes mounting rapidly for several hundred feet, if suddenly startled, and after a few moments spent in circling like a Snipe, they drop again almost as suddenly as a shot, and as if from the very clouds."

137. PLATYRHYNCHUS MYSTACEUS (Vieill.).

(BROAD-BILLED TYRANT.)

+Platyrhynchus mystaceus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 44; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 605 (Misiones).

_Description._--Above olive, darker on the head; coronal patch bright yellow; lores, eye-region, and ear-coverts pale yellowish; mystacal stripe blackish; wings and tail blackish edged with olive-brown; below clear fulvous, much whiter on the throat; upper mandible blackish, lower whitish; feet pale yellowish: whole length 3·3 inches, wing 2·1, tail 1·1. _Female_ similar, but no coronal patch.

_Hab._ Guiana, Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern La Plata.

A single example of this species was obtained by White in the forest near San Javier, Misiones.

138. EUSCARTHMUS MARGARITACEIVENTRIS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(PEARLY-BELLIED TYRANT.)

+Todirostrum margaritaceiventer+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 316 (Corrientes). +Euscarthmus margaritaceiventris+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 45; _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 357 (Tucuman). +Triccus margaritiventris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 456 (Paraná).

_Description._--Above olive-green, wings and tail blackish edged with olive-green; whole head above, including sides and back of neck, dark cinereous; beneath pearly white, passing into pale cinereous on the sides; under wing-coverts pale yellowish, flanks tinged with olivaceous; bill hazel; feet red: whole length 4·5 inches, wing 2·1, tail 1·9.

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

This species, discovered by d'Orbigny in Corrientes, was also met with near Paraná by Prof. Burmeister, and by Durnford in Tucuman.

139. EUSCARTHMUS GULARIS (Temm.).

(RED-THROATED TYRANT.)

+Euscarthmus gularis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 45; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 605 (Corrientes and Oran).

_Description._--Olive-brown; wings blackish, wing-coverts tipped and outer secondaries edged with yellowish white, forming two distinct bands; remiges and rectrices narrowly margined with olive; head above dark cinereous; lores and sides of the head surrounding the dark ear-coverts rufous; beneath white, sides of the breast greyish; chin and sides of throat rufous, like the lores; flanks and under wing-coverts tinged with yellowish: whole length 3·5 inches, wing 1·8, tail 1·4. _Female_ similar.

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

This bird was observed by White near Oran, and also in Misiones.

140. PHYLLOSCARTES VENTRALIS (Temm.).

(YELLOW-BELLIED TYRANT.)

+Phylloscartes ventralis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 46; _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 198 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above uniform olive; ill-defined superciliaries whitish; ear-coverts dark; wings and tail blackish with olive margins; well-defined spots on the tips of the two rows of wing-coverts and outer webs of secondaries yellowish; below yellow, rather white on the throat and olivaceous on the sides; under wing-coverts pale yellow; bill and feet blackish: whole length 4·5 inches, wing 2·1, tail 2·3.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil and Northern La Plata.

This species is stated to have been met with by Mr. Barrows among the low bushes bordering the streams of Entrerios. Graf v. Berlepsch has recorded its presence in Rio Grande do Sul (Zeitschr. ges. Orn. 1885, p. 131), so that this occurrence is not improbable.

141. HAPALOCERCUS FLAVIVENTRIS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(REED-TYRANT.)

+Arundinicola flaviventris+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 335, pl. xxxi. fig. 1. +Hapalocercus flaviventris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 456 (Mendoza); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 46; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 177 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 395 (Centr. Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 605 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 199 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above mouse-brown; wings and tail rather darker, with edgings like the back; vertex more or less tinged with rufous; beneath yellow; under wing-coverts pale yellow; bill and feet black: whole length 4·0 inches, wing 2·0, tail 2·0. _Female_ similar.

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

This little bird is rarely met with in the desert pampas, but throughout the settled portion of the Buenos-Ayrean province it is one of the most common species of the _Tyrannidæ_. It arrives from the north in September, and is very regular in its migrations, although apparently a very feeble flier. It frequents open grounds abounding in thistles, tall weeds, or bushes, and is consequently most abundant about houses. It is extremely active, and occasionally darts after a passing insect and captures it on the wing, especially soft insects, like moths and butterflies, to which it is most partial. It subsists principally, however, on small caterpillars and spiders, for which it searches diligently among the leaves, after the manner of the Wren. Although belonging to the songless division of the Passeres, this small Tyrant-bird possesses a formal song, which the male utters with great frequency, the only other member of the Tyrant-family that I am acquainted with which really sings being the Scarlet Tyrant (_Pyrocephalus rubescens_). The music of the Reed-Tyrant is weak but curious; it is composed of five brief percussive notes, distinctly metallic in sound, which may be imitated by gently and slowly striking _fa la mi sol fa_ on the highest keys of the piano. To utter this quaint little song the bird perches itself on the summit of a weed or bush, where it solicits attention with a little chipping prelude, and then jerks its head vigorously with each note, delivering its few drops of sound with all the assurance of a master in the art of melody.

In October it builds a deep elaborate nest of fine dry grass, thistle-down, webs, feathers, and other soft materials, usually in the fork of a weed or thistle three or four feet from the ground. It lays four cream-coloured eggs, the colour deepening to grey at the larger end.

142. HABRURA PECTORALIS (Vieill.).

(THIN-TAILED TYRANT.)

+Pachyrhamphus minimus+, _Gould, Zool. Voy. Beagle_, iii. p. 61, pl. xv. (Monte Video). +Habrura minima+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 40; _Cab. Journ. f. Orn._ 1878, p. 197 (Cordova); _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1879, p. 460 (Cordova).

_Description._--Above sandy brown, with a dark-greyish tinge on the head, which is subcrested and has the vertical feathers white at their bases; lores and eye-region whitish; wings and tail blackish, edged with sandy brown, which forms in some specimens well-marked wing-bands; beneath pale sandy ochraceous, more rufous on the flanks; throat more or less freckled with black; bill and feet dark brown: whole length 4·0 inches, wing 1·9, tail 1·7. _Female_ similar, but without the black markings on the throat.

_Hab._ Northern La Plata, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and British Guiana.

Examples of this species were obtained by Dr. Döring near Cordova.

143. CULICIVORA STENURA (Temm.).

(NARROW-TAILED TYRANT.)

+Culicivora stenura+, _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 605 (Misiones).

_Description._--Above sandy brown, striated with black; head nearly black; lores and superciliaries white; wings and tail blackish with slight brownish edgings; below pale sandy buff, more brownish on the sides of the neck and flanks; bill and feet black: whole length 3·7 inches, wing 1·7; tail, ext. rectr. 1·3, med. 1·9.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil.

An example of this species is stated by White to have been obtained by him at Itapua, Misiones, in July 1881, but there was possibly an error in its identification.

144. STIGMATURA BUDYTOIDES (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(WAGTAIL TYRANT.)

+Stigmatura budytoides+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 46; _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 357 (Tucuman, Salta).

_Description._--Above greyish olive; lores and short superciliary streak yellowish; wings blackish brown, tips of wing-coverts and outer margins of secondaries white; tail blackish, all the lateral rectrices crossed by a broad, white, median and second terminal band; under surface pale yellow; bill and feet black: whole length 5·0 inches, wing 2·1, tail 2·5.

_Hab._ Bolivia, Peru, Interior of Brazil, Northern La Plata.

Examples of this species were obtained by Durnford in Tucuman and Salta.

145. STIGMATURA FLAVO-CINEREA (Burm.).

(LONG-TAILED TYRANT.)

+Phylloscartes flavo-cinereus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. 455 (Mendoza); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 42 (R. Negro, R. Colorado). +Stigmatura flavo-cinerea+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 542 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 46; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 606 (Catamarca).