Part 22

This species, discovered by d'Orbigny in Bolivia, was met with by White in Catamarca, "on the slopes of the hills, outside the dense wood," and by Prof. Burmeister near Paraná.

191. SYNALLAXIS FRONTALIS, Pelz.

(BROWN-FRONTED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis frontalis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 63; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 8; _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 358 (Salta); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 611 (Salta, Catamarca). +Synallaxis ruficapilla+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 246 (Corrientes); _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 408 (Paraná).

_Description._--Above, earthy brown; cap chestnut; front earthy brown; wing-coverts chestnut, wing-feathers olive-brown, the outer webs edged with chestnut; tail chestnut; beneath, throat blackish, with slight whitish mottlings; breast, sides, and under tail-coverts pale earthy brown, belly brownish white; under wing-coverts fulvous; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 5·6 inches, wing 2·2, tail 3·0.

_Hab._ South America, from Colombia to Argentina.

192. SYNALLAXIS SUPERCILIOSA, Cab.

(EYEBROWED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis superciliosa+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1883, p. 110 (Tucuman).

_Description._--Above, head on top bright chestnut, lores white, superciliaries yellowish white; sides of head, neck, and back earthy brown inclining to olive; upper wing-coverts chestnut, wing-feathers blackish, the webs of the outer margins dull chestnut; tail chestnut; beneath, upper half of throat white, lower half black tipped with white; breast and belly brownish white; flanks and under tail-coverts pale earthy brown; under wing-coverts fulvous; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 7·0 inches, wing 2·0, tail 3·5.

_Hab._ Tucuman.

This Spine-tail, so far as we know at present, is peculiar to Tucuman, where it was discovered by Herr Schulz.

193. SYNALLAXIS SPIXI, Scl.

(SPIX'S SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis spixi+, _Burm. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 636 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 632 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 9.

_Description._--Above, crown chestnut; lores and sides of head dark cinereous; hind neck, back, also wing- and tail-feathers olive-brown; upper wing-coverts chestnut; beneath dark cinereous, becoming whitish on the belly, throat blackish; under wing-coverts fulvous chestnut; bill black, feet horn-colour; whole length 6·7 inches, wing 2·0, tail 3·2.

_Hab._ Southern Brazil and Argentina.

I like Azara's name _Chicli_, which, to one acquainted with the habits of this and of the following species, seems very appropriate, suggesting, as I imagine it does, a small creature possessing a sharp two-syllabled note; for although Hartlaub, in his Nomenclature of Azara, gives _S. ruficapilla_ as the species meant by _Chicli_, the account of its habits in the 'Apuntamientos' seems to point to _S. spixi_ or to _S. albescens_.

Azara says:--"I give it this name because it sings it plainly, in a loud sharp tone, which may be heard at a distance, repeating it so frequently that the pauses last no longer than the sound. It is resident (in Paraguay), solitary and not abundant: inhabits thickets of aloes and thorn, without rising more than two yards above the surface, or showing itself in open places. It moves about incessantly, but does not leave its thicket to visit the woods or open ground, its flight being only from bush to bush; and though it is not timid, it is hard to detect it in its stronghold, and to hear it one would imagine that it was perched overhead on a tree, when it is hidden all the time in the brushwood at the roots."

This habit of concealing itself so closely inclines me to think that this species, rather than _S. albescens_, was the bird described by Azara, although in both species the language is nearly the same. I have nothing to add to the above account from the 'Apuntamientos,' except that in the love-season this species has a low, strange-sounding little song, utterly unlike its usual strident cry. When singing, it sits motionless on the summit of a low bush in a dejected attitude with head drawn in, and murmurs its mysterious little melody at intervals of half a minute.

194. SYNALLAXIS ALBESCENS, Temm.

(WHITE-THROATED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis albescens+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 63; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 9; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 180 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 611 (Misiones); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 207 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above, forehead grey, crown pale chestnut; sides of head and neck, back, and tail pale earthy brown; upper wing-coverts pale chestnut, wing-feathers olive-brown; beneath white, faintly washed with earthy brown; under wing-coverts fulvous: whole length 5·3 inches, wing 2·0, tail 2·2.

_Hab._ S. America, from Veragua to Buenos Ayres.

This species, although by no means abundant in Buenos Ayres, is met with much more frequently than the _S. spixi_, which it closely resembles in size, colour, habits, and language. It is, indeed, an unusual thing for two species so closely allied to be found inhabiting the same district. In both birds the colours are arranged in precisely the same way; but the chestnut tint on _S. albescens_ is not nearly so deep, the browns and greys are paler, and there is less black on the throat.

I am pretty sure that in Buenos Ayres it is migratory, and as soon as it appears in spring it announces its arrival by its harsh, persistent, two-syllabled note, wonderfully strong for so small a bird, and which it repeats at intervals of two or three seconds for half an hour without intermission. When close at hand it is quite as distressing as the grinding noise of a Cicada. This painful noise is uttered while the bird sits concealed amid the foliage of a tree, and is renewed at frequent intervals, and continues every day until the Spine-tail finds a mate, when all at once it becomes silent. The nest is placed in a low thorn-bush, sometimes only two or three feet above the ground, and is an oblong structure of sticks, twelve or fourteen inches in depth, with the entrance near the top, and reached by a tubular passage made of slender sticks, and six or seven inches long. From the top of the nest a crooked passage leads to the cavity near the bottom; this is lined with a little fine grass, and nine eggs are laid, pear-shaped and pale bluish white in colour. I have found several nests with nine eggs, and therefore set that down as the full number of the clutch, though I confess it seems very surprising that this bird should lay so many. When the nest is approached, the parent birds remain silent and concealed at some distance. When the nest is touched or shaken, the young birds, if nearly fledged, have the singular habit of running out and jumping to the ground to conceal themselves in the grass.

I have no doubt that this species varies greatly in its habits in different districts, and probably also in the number of eggs it lays. Mr. Barrows, an excellent observer, says it lays three or four light blue eggs. He met with it at Concepcion, in the northern part of the Argentine Republic, and writes that it is "an abundant species in thorny hedges or among the masses of dwarfed and spiny bushes, which cling to each other so tenaciously amid the general desolation of the sandy barrens." The nests which he describes vary also in some particulars from those I have seen. "Entrance is gained by the bird," he says, "through a long tube, which is built on to the nest at a point about half way up the side. This tube is formed by the interlocking of thorny twigs, and is supported by the branches and twigs about it. It may be straight or curved; its diameter externally varies from two to four inches, and its length from one to two feet. The passage-way itself is but just large enough to admit the birds one at a time, and it has always been a mystery to me how a bird the size of a Chipping-Sparrow could find its way through one of these slender tubes, bristling with thorns, and along which I found it difficult to pass a smooth slender twig for more than five or six inches. Yet they not only pass in and out easily, but so easily that I was never yet able to surprise one in the nest, or to see the slightest disturbance of it by the bird's hurried exit."

The bird has a very wide range in South America, and Mr. Salmon observed its breeding-habits in Antioquia in Colombia. There also the bird varies the form of its nest, making it as large as that of an English Magpie, and roofing the top with a mass of large leaves to protect it from the heavy rains. The eggs, he says, are very pale greenish blue, nearly white; but he does not give the number.

195. SYNALLAXIS WHITII, Scl.

(WHITE'S SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis whitii+, _Scl. Ibis_, 1881, p. 600, pl. xvii. fig. 2; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 611 (Salta).

_Description._--Above dark brown, lores, and superciliaries white; wings and tail chestnut red; beneath cinnamomeous, paler on the middle of the belly; large spot in the middle of the throat black; inner margins of wing-feathers and under wing-coverts cinnamomeous; bill black, feet pale hazel: whole length 5·7 inches, wing 2·5, tail 2·6.

_Hab._ Northern Argentina.

White obtained a single example of this new species near Oran in November 1880. It is most nearly allied to _S. scutata_ of Brazil.

196. SYNALLAXIS PHRYGANOPHILA (Vieill.).

(PRETTY-THROATED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis phryganophila+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 409 (Paraná); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 17; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 611 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 207 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above, front brown, crown chestnut, superciliaries white; sides of head, neck, back, and tail pale fulvous brown, with broad blackish striations on the neck and back; upper wing-coverts pale chestnut; wing-feathers blackish, the outer webs edged with pale fulvous brown; beneath, upper half of throat sulphur-yellow, lower half black, with a white patch on each side of the black; breast and belly whitish, washed with earthy brown, slightly fulvous on the breast and flanks; under wing-coverts fulvous white; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 8·5 inches, wing 2·4, tail 4·6.

_Hab._ Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay.

This pretty Spine-tail is nowhere common in the Argentine country, and in Buenos Ayres it is exceedingly scarce. It is rather large for a _Synallaxis_, the total length being nine inches. The two middle feathers of the acuminated tail greatly exceed the others in length, measuring five inches. The plumage is very pale brown, marked with fuscous; the crown and wing-coverts rufous. The beauty of the bird is in the throat, which has three strongly contrasted colours, distinguishing it from all other _Synallaxes_. In the angle of the beak the colour is sulphur-yellow, under this is a patch of velvet-black, and on each side of the yellow and black a pure white patch.

Mr. Barrows has the following very interesting note on its nesting-habits:--"A nest containing four white eggs, faintly tinted with blue, was found in a thorny tree, and some eight feet from the ground. The nest was quite similar to the one just described (of _S. albescens_), but the cavity in which the eggs were laid was near the _top_ of the body of the nest, while the passage-way descended from it to the base of the nest, and there becoming external rose gradually to the level of the eggs at a distance of almost three feet."

197. SYNALLAXIS STRIATICEPS (Lafr. et d'Orb.).

(STRIPED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis striaticeps+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 469 (Paraná); _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 544 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 21; _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 358 (Salta); _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 39 (Cordova); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 208 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above earthy brown, darker on the crown, which has slight greyish striations; broad superciliaries white; upper wing-coverts pale chestnut; wing-feathers blackish, glossed with olive; tail pale chestnut; beneath white; under wing-coverts pale fulvous; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 5·9 inches, wing 2·4, tail 2·4. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Patagonia.

This species has a wide range south of the Equator, being found in Bolivia, Uruguay, and throughout the Argentine Republic, including Patagonia. In its habits it differs widely from other _Synallaxes_, and in structure and coloration is also unlike its relatives.

The beak is longer and more curved, the claws more crooked, and the tail stiffer than in other _Synallaxes_, and this difference in structure corresponds to a different mode of life. The Striped Spine-tail creeps on the trunk and larger branches of trees, seeking its insect-food in the crevices of the bark, and when seen clinging to the trunk, supported by its tail in a vertical position, with head thrown far back, and progressing upwards by short quick hops, it looks wonderfully like a small _Picolaptes_ with shortened beak. It is very restless, and while searching for insects constantly utters a short, trilling, querulous-sounding note.

It builds an open nest in the fork of a branch, of soft grasses and hair, thickly lined with feathers, and lays four or five pure white eggs.

198. SYNALLAXIS ORBIGNII, Reichenb.

(D'ORBIGNY'S SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis orbignii+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 22, et 1879, p. 461; _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 358 (Salta). +Synallaxis humicola+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 468 (Mendoza, Paraná). +Synallaxis crassirostris+, _Leybold, J. f. O._ 1865, p. 401. +Synallaxis flavigularis+, _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 45.

_Description._--Above pale earthy brown, superciliaries whitish; wing-feathers blackish, the basal part of the secondaries pale chestnut, forming a transverse band; four middle tail-feathers blackish, the lateral pale chestnut; beneath whitish brown; middle of throat pale rufous; under wing-coverts fulvous; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 6·5 inches, wing 2·2, tail 3·2.

_Hab._ Bolivia and Argentina.

This Spine-tail has been noticed by various observers in Northern Argentina, and, if we are correct in referring _S. flavigularis_ of Döring to the same species, occurs also in the Rio Negro district.

199. SYNALLAXIS MODESTA, Eyton.

(MODEST SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis modesta+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 544 (Rio Negro), et 1874, p. 23. +Synallaxis flavogularis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 468 (Mendoza).

_Description._--Above earthy brown, superciliaries whitish; wings blackish, the basal half of secondaries pale clear brown, forming a transverse bar; tail black, the outer webs of all the rectrices pale chestnut; beneath whitish brown, with a large fulvous spot on the throat; under wing-coverts fulvous; bill and feet pale brown: whole length 6·0 inches, wing 2·4, tail 2·5. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Argentina, Patagonia, Chili.

This species so closely resembles the following in size and dull earthy-brown colour, that where seen in the thickets it is impossible to distinguish them. In habits they also seem alike; but this bird is, I think, less retiring, for I have seen it associating with other species of _Synallaxis_.

On comparing specimens together, however, it is easy to separate the present bird from _S. sordida_ by noticing the colour of the external rectrices, which are black, externally edged with rufous, instead of being wholly rufous.

200. SYNALLAXIS SORDIDA, Less.

(SORDID SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis sordida+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 23; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 396 (Centr. Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 39 (Cordova); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 208 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above earthy brown; wing-feathers blackish brown, their basal parts pale chestnut-brown, forming a transverse bar; tail blackish, the three outer rectrices and outer web of the fourth rectrix on each side wholly pale chestnut-brown; beneath pale earthy brown, clearer on the belly, and with a bright fulvous spot on the throat; under wing-coverts pale cinnamomeous; bill and feet blackish: whole length 6·5 inches, wing 2·3, tail 2·8. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Patagonia and East Argentina.

This species, which, on close comparison, is at once distinguishable from _S. modesta_ by the absence of any black colour on the three exterior pairs of tail-feathers, ranges from the extreme north of the Argentine Republic to Patagonia, where it is quite common, and is invariably found in dry situations abounding in thorny vegetation.

It does not migrate, and lives with its mate in thorny bushes, but does not attempt to conceal itself, and sits much on the summit of a bush, where the male in spring utters at intervals a clear trilling call. In its inactive disposition, slow deliberate movements, also in its language, it strikingly resembles the _Phacellodomus ruber_. In its nidification it also comes nearest to that species. The nest is a large structure of sticks, eighteen inches to two feet long, placed upright among the twigs at the summit of a bush. From the top where the entrance is placed, a winding passage leads down to the chamber at the bottom of the nest; this is lined with soft dry grass and feathers, and four pure white eggs are laid.

201. SYNALLAXIS SULPHURIFERA, Burm.

(YELLOW-MARKED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis sulphurifera+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 544 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 24; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 180, et 1878, p. 61 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 208 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above brown, slightly olivaceous; wings blackish; lesser wing-coverts, margins of the feathers of the greater wing-coverts, and outer webs of the basal halves of the wing-feathers pale chestnut; tail-feathers chestnut-brown, ends much elongated and pointed; beneath white, throat and breast mottled with grey, spot in middle of throat sulphur-yellow; flanks washed with brown; bend of wing and under wing-coverts fulvous; bill and feet pale horn-colour: whole length 6·3 inches, wing 2·1, tail 3·0. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South Argentina and Patagonia.

I have found this _Synallaxis_, which was first described by Prof. Burmeister, from specimens obtained near Buenos Ayres, in the swamps along the Plata river; also on the Rio Negro, in Patagonia, where, however, it is very scarce. It inhabits the dense rush-beds growing in the water, where the _Limnornis curvirostris_ is also found. It closely resembles that species in habits and language, and also assimilates to it in colour and in the rather long, curved beak, sharp claws, stout body, and short stiff tail. It is stationary, pairs for life, and lives always closely concealed in its chosen bed of close-growing rushes. When a person approaches their hiding-place the two birds creep up to the summit of the rushes, protesting in peculiar, loud, angry rattling notes. The _Limnornis_, which also pairs for life, has precisely the same habit.

Durnford describes the nest, found in a rush-bed, as a circular or domed structure of grass, with the aperture at the side; the eggs white.

202. SYNALLAXIS PATAGONICA (Lafr. et d'Orb.).

(PATAGONIAN SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis patagonica+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 544 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 24; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 35 (Chupat).

_Description._--Above greyish earthy brown; wing-feathers blackish brown, basal halves of secondaries very pale clear brown, forming a transverse band; tail blackish, edged with greyish brown; outer web of outer feather on each side pale brown; beneath cinereous, with an obscure blackish spot on the throat; belly and flanks dull buff; under wing-coverts cinnamomeous; bill and feet blackish: whole length 6·0 inches, wing 2·2, tail 2·5. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Patagonia.

This dull-coloured little bird, which is found in Patagonia and also near the Andes in the north-western provinces of the Argentine Republic, is one of those species which diverge greatly in habits from the typical _S. ruficapilla_ and its nearest allies. The body is stout, the tail, square and short, is carried vertically as in the House-Wren.

The Patagonian Spine-tail is a resident in the Rio Negro district. It is a silent, shy, solitary little bird, which lives on the ground and seeks its food after the manner of the Cachalote (_Homorus_). Being small and feeble, however, it does not hunt about the roots of trees and large bushes like the larger and more powerful _Homorus_, but keeps under the diminutive scrubby plants in open sterile situations. About the roots of these wiry little bushes, only twelve to eighteen inches high, the bird searches for small insects, and when disturbed has a feeble jerky flight, which carries it to a distance of about twenty yards. It flies with great reluctance, and when approached runs swiftly away, leaving a person in doubt as to whether he has seen a mouse or a little obscure bird. The only note I have heard it utter is a faint creaking sound when alarmed or flying.

203. SYNALLAXIS HUDSONI, Scl.

(HUDSON'S SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis hudsoni+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1874, p. 25; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 36, et 1878, p. 396 (Chupat, Central Patagonia); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 209 (Azul, Sierra de la Ventana). +Synallaxis sclateri+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1878, p. 196.

_Description._--Above fulvous brown, mottled with black, each feather being marked with a large black spot; on the upper part of the back the feathers are faintly edged with whitish grey; wings blackish, basal halves of feathers pale clear brown, forming a transverse bar, the terminal part of the feathers slightly edged on the outer webs and tips with ochraceous; tail blackish, the outer pair of rectrices and broad tips of the next two pairs on each side very pale brown, the two middle feathers broadly margined on both webs with pale greyish brown; beneath pale ochraceous brown, with a pale sulphur-yellowish gular spot; flanks with a few black marks; under wing-coverts light cinnamon; bill and feet pale horn-colour: whole length 7·8 inches, wing 3·2, tail 3·5. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Argentina.

This Spine-tail, which Sclater has named after me, is the Argentine representative of _S. humicola_ of Chili. It is common on the pampas, and is sometimes called by the gauchos "_Tiru-riru del campo_," on account of its resemblance in the upper plumage and in language to _Anumbius acuticaudatus_, which is named "_Tiru-riru_," in imitation of its call-note. The addition of _del campo_ signifies that it is a bird of the open country. It is, in fact, found exclusively on the grassy pampas, never perching on trees, and in habits is something like a Pipit, usually being taken for one when first seen. It is quite common everywhere on the pampas, and specimens have also been obtained in Cordova, Uruguay, and Patagonia.