Part 24

Mr. Barrows, who observed the Cachalote at Concepcion, says that it is a bird which cannot be overlooked, with an outrageous disposition and voice, and a nest the size of a barrel. He gives the following account of its nidification:--"His nest is built entirely of sticks, and many of them of goodly size, frequently as large round as your little finger and two feet or more long. These are disposed in such a way as to form a structure three or four feet in length by about two in breadth in the widest part, the whole very much resembling a gigantic powder-flask lying on its side among the lower branches of a spreading tree. It is quite loosely built and the nest-cavity is rather indefinite, being any portion of the floor of the nest which the bird selects for the reception of the eggs. These are usually three or four in number, pure white, and are laid from October until January. They can usually be counted through the loose floor of the nest, though sometimes its thickness prevents this."

213. HOMORUS GUTTURALIS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(WHITE-THROATED CACHALOTE.)

+Anabates gutturalis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 467 (Mendoza). +Homorus gutturalis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 65; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 545 (Rio Negro); _id. Ibis_, 1885, p. 284; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 36, et 1878, p. 396 (Chupat, Central Patagonia).

_Description._--Nearly uniform earthy grey, faintly tinged with olivaceous brown above, and much paler beneath; lores and upper part of throat pure white, lower part of throat black, or white and black mixed; under wing-coverts white, faintly tinged with pale cinnamon; beak and feet bluish grey: whole length 9·4 inches, wing 4·0, tail 3·2. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Patagonia.

I found this bird quite common on the dry open plains in the neighbourhood of the Rio Negro in Patagonia. In size, form, and crest it is like the northern Cachalote, but has a white throat, while the rest of the plumage is of a pale earthy brown instead of rufous. Like the Brown Cachalote it is also shy in disposition, and, being so dull in colour and without the bright beak and eye tints, has not the bold, striking appearance of that species; still I do not think any ornithologist can meet with it and fail to be strongly impressed with its personality, if such a word can be applied to a bird.

Dendrocolaptine birds are, as a rule, builders of big nests and very noisy; _H. gutturalis_ is, I believe, the loudest screamer and greatest builder of the family. Male and female live together in the same locality all the year; the young, when able to fly, remain with their parents till the breeding-season, so that the birds are found occasionally in pairs, but more frequently in families of five or six individuals. When feeding they scatter about, each bird attaching itself to a large bush, scraping and prodding for insects about the roots; and at intervals one of the old birds, ascending a bush, summons the others with loud shrill cries, on which they all hurry to the place of meeting, and from the summits of the bushes burst forth in a piercing chorus, which sounds at a distance like screams of hysterical laughter. At one place, where I spent some months, there were some bushes over a mile and a quarter from the house I lived in, where these birds used to hold frequent meetings, and in that still atmosphere I could distinctly hear their extravagant cries at this distance. After each performance they pursue each other, passing from bush to bush with a wild jerky flight, and uttering harsh angry notes.

They select a low, strong, wide-spreading bush to build in; the nest, which is made of stout sticks, is perfectly spherical and four to five feet deep, the chamber inside being very large. The opening is at the side near the top, and is approached by a narrow arched gallery, neatly made of slender sticks resting along a horizontal branch, and about fourteen inches long. This peculiar entrance, no doubt, prevents the intrusion of snakes and small mammals. So strongly made is the nest that I have stood on the dome of one and stamped on it with my foot without injuring it in the least, and to demolish one I had to force my gun-barrel into it, then prize it up by portions. I examined about a dozen of these enormous structures, but they were all met with before or after the laying season, so that I did not see the eggs.

214. ANABAZENOPS OLEAGINEUS, Scl.

(OILY-GREEN ANABAZENOPS.)

+Anabazenops rufo-superciliatus+, _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 613 (Catamarca). +Anabazenops oleagineus+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 654.

_Description._--Above and beneath dark olive-green; lores, superciliaries, and spots on the sides of the head yellowish white; wings blackish, the outer webs of the feathers olive-brown; tail bright chestnut; throat whitish yellow, on the lower part the yellow feathers tipped with olive; breast and belly spotted with same colour as the throat; bend of wing, under wing-coverts, and margins of inner webs of secondaries fulvous yellow; bill and feet blackish: whole length 6·2 inches, wing 3·2, tail 3·0. _Female_ similar.

_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 6·2 inches, wing 3·0, tail 3·0. _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 5·1 inches, wing 2·5, tail 2·4. _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 PICUMNUS (Licht.).

(FLAT-BILLED WOOD-HEWER.)

+Dendrocolaptes picumnus+, _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 10·5 inches, wing 4·7, tail 4·6. _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.]

+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 12·10 inches, wing 5·6, tail 4·6. _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 _Dendrocolaptidæ_, 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 Woodpeckers, 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 Woodpecker, 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 12·0 inches, wing 5·4, tail 4·8. _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 (Tucuman).

_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 11·10 inches, wing 5·5, tail 4·0. _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.).

(NARROW-BILLED WOOD-HEWER.)

+Picolaptes angustirostris+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 69; _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 433 (Cordova). +Lepidocolaptes atripes+, _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 21 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above, head and neck blackish, with oblong whitish shaft-spots on the crown and neck; broad superciliaries white, extending nearly to the back and broken at their lower ends into shaft-spots; rest of upper surface dull brown, brighter on the rump; wing-feathers pale obscure chestnut; outer webs and broad tips of primaries blackish; tail chestnut; beneath white, clearer on the throat; sides of breast and belly thickly marked with faint blackish stripes; under wing-coverts cinnamon; bill pale horn-colour; feet grey: whole length 8·2 inches, wing 3·8, tail 2·5. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Paraguay and Argentina.

This is the only member of the genus _Picolaptes_ as yet met with within the limits of the Argentine Republic. Azara found it abundant in Paraguay, and on this account named it the Common Climber, "_Trepador comun_." In Buenos Ayres it is a summer visitant, appearing at the end of September. It is a solitary bird, never seen away from the woods, and invariably utters a loud melancholy cry when passing from one tree to another. It always alights on the trunk close to the ground, clinging to the bark in a vertical position, supported by the tail, and with head thrown far back in order to give free play to the extremely long beak. Having thus alighted, it progresses upwards by short hops, exploring the crevices in the wood for small insects, until it reaches the branches, when it flies off to the next tree.

Fam. XVIII. FORMICARIIDÆ, or ANT-BIRDS.

The Formicariidæ, or Ant-birds, are another very important constituent of the Neotropical Avifauna, but are less generally diffused than the Dendrocolaptidæ, the greater number of the forms being restricted to the hot forests of South and Central America. In the Argentine Republic we meet with only four species of the widely-spread genus _Thamnophilus_, and of them only one appears to extend as far south as Buenos Ayres.

222. THAMNOPHILUS LEACHI (Such).

(LEACH'S BUSH-BIRD.)

+Thamnophilus leachi+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 69; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 614 (Misiones).

_Description._--Black, thickly and conspicuously spotted above with white or pale yellowish; on the wings the spots occur on the outer webs of the feathers; upper tail-coverts faintly edged with grey; tail black, unspotted; feathers on the lower breast and belly slightly edged with grey; bill and feet black: whole length 10·5 inches, wing 3·4, tail 5·0. _Female_: spots larger and yellow, on the crown lengthening to stripes and tinged with rufous; inner webs of the wing-feathers also spotted on their margins; whole under surface thickly spotted with pale yellow.

_Hab._ Brazil and N. Argentina.

White met with a single individual of this fine Bush-bird at Concepcion, Misiones. It was observed on the ground feeding on a swarm of black ants.

223. THAMNOPHILUS MAJOR, Vieill.

(LARGER BUSH-BIRD.)

+Thamnophilus major+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 69; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 614 (Salta); _Salvin, Ibis_. 1880, p. 359 (Salta). +Thamnophilus stagurus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 471 (Paraná, Tucuman).

_Description._--Above black, upper wing-coverts crossed by a row of white spots; the outer rectrix on each side tipped and barred with white, the other rectrices, excepting the middle pair, spotted with white on their inner webs; beneath pure white; bill black, feet grey: whole length 8·0 inches, wing 3·6, tail 2·8. _Female_ above rufous, beneath white, lower flanks and under tail-coverts tinged with ochraceous; tail wholly rufous.

_Hab._ Paraguay and N. Argentina.

White found this species common in the gardens round the town of Oran. He noted the iris as "crimson."

Azara's account of this species is prefaced by the following remarks on the birds of this genus known to him in Paraguay:--"These birds inhabit only the dense and tangled thickets, and never show themselves outside of their hiding-places, except for a few moments in the early morning and in the evening; but at no time do they perch high on the trees, but keep always within a few feet of the earth. They live in pairs; feed solely on insects caught in the bushes which they frequent, or on the ground, on which, however, the bird alights only to pick up its prey, and then returns to the twig to devour it. They are stationary, and fly only from one thicket to another. Many of the species have a similar voice or song, which is singular, powerful, and heard only in the love-season. The call is a trill of a single note rapidly reiterated, and loud enough to be heard half a mile away; the cry being accompanied by vibratory motions of the wings."

224. THAMNOPHILUS CÆRULESCENS, Vieill.

(SLATY-BLUE BUSH-BIRD.)

+Thamnophilus cærulescens+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 472 (Paraná, Mendoza, Tucuman); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 70; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 614 (Corrientes, Misiones); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 21 (Entrerios); _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 361 (Salta).

_Description._--Above grey, black on the crown, and a patch of white and black feathers on the middle of the back; wings black, the coverts thickly spotted and the inner webs of the remiges edged with white; tail black, all the feathers, except the middle pair, tipped with white, the outer rectrix on each side has also a long white spot in the middle part of the outer web; beneath cinereous, white on the belly; bill and feet black: whole length 5·6 inches, wing 2·7, tail 2·3. _Female_: above earthy olive-green, yellowish on the crown; wing-coverts and tail as in the male; wing-feathers olive-brown; beneath yellowish olive-grey, brightening into ochraceous on the belly and flanks.

_Hab._ Paraguay and Argentina.

Mr. Barrows says concerning this species that it is "frequently seen, especially during the winter" (on the Lower Uruguay). A nest, taken November 24th, "was almost precisely like that of our Red-eyed Vireo (_V. olivaceus_), being pensile in the fork of a horizontal spray, only four feet from the ground. It contained three fresh eggs, white, with spots and dashes of light brown."

White says that these birds frequent the banks of streams, and have a deep bass call-note, rather mournful and slow.

225. THAMNOPHILUS RUFICAPILLUS, Vieill.

(RED-CAPPED BUSH-BIRD.)

+Thamnophilus argentinus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 472 (Paraná, Tucuman); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 70; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 183 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 21 (Entrerios). +Thamnophilus ruficapillus+, _Pelz. Orn. Bras._ p. 79; _Berl. et Jher. Zeitschr. ges. O._ 1885, p. 49.

_Description._--Above olivaceous brown, tinged with rufous, brighter on the crown; lores yellowish white, superciliaries and sides of head whitish grey; wing-feathers dark olive-brown, the inner webs edged with ochraceous; tail black, all the rectrices, except the middle pair, slightly tipped and broadly spotted on the inner webs with white; beneath greyish white, the feathers from the lower throat to the belly transversely barred with black; bill and feet black: whole length 6·2 inches, wing 2·7, tail 2·6. _Female_: above the same as the male, except the tail, which is rufous brown; beneath whitish, tinged with ochraceous, and with scarcely perceptible greyish mottlings.

_Hab._ Paraguay and Argentina.

This species is very common in the eastern provinces of Argentina, and extends south to Buenos Ayres. It is a shy, solitary bird, found in woods and thickets along the shores of La Plata; and utters occasionally a singular low rasping note, its only language. The nest is a slight shallow structure placed in a low tree; the eggs are white, thinly spotted with reddish brown. Probably this species is to some extent migratory, as I have only observed it in the summer season.

Fam. XIX. PTEROPTOCHIDÆ, or TAPACOLAS.

The Pteroptochidæ form a small but very peculiar family of Tracheophonine Passeres, mostly restricted to Chili and the south-western extremity of the South-American Continent, but also represented in the Andes of Ecuador and Colombia and in the high plateau of Central Brazil. They are ground-birds, remarkable for their large and robust feet with long claws, their strangely formed bills, and the elevated position in which the tail is carried in the living bird.

In the Argentine Republic four species of Pteroptochidæ are known to occur, only one of which, however, is a well-known bird. Two of the remaining three are recent discoveries, and the fourth a Chilian species, which extends over the Andes into the western borders of Argentina.

226. SCYTALOPUS SUPERCILIARIS, Cab.

(WHITE-EYEBROWED SCYTALOPUS.)

+Scytalopus superciliaris+, _Cab. Journ. f. Orn._ 1883, p. 105, t. ii. fig. 3 (Tucuman).

_Description._--Nearest to _S. indigoticus_ of Brazil, but without the white colour on the breast and belly, only the throat being clear white; superciliaries striped white; front and sides of the head and neck, breast and belly grey; rest of the upper surface, together with the flanks and crissum, light brown, with fine blackish cross-markings; bill blackish, feet light-coloured.

_Hab._ Sierra of Tucuman.

This species is one of Schulz's recent discoveries in the Sierra of Tucuman, where he found it west of Sauciyaca, frequenting the deep ravines.

227. RHINOCRYPTA LANCEOLATA, Geoffr. et d'Orb.

(GALLITO.)

+Rhinocrypta lanceolata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii, p. 471 (Mendoza, San Juan, Catamarca); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 70; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 614 (Catamarca).

_Description._--Above, head and upper neck reddish brown with a fine white shaft-stripe on each feather, the stripes being most conspicuous on the crest-feathers; lower neck, back, rump, and wings greyish olive; tail blackish; beneath, throat and upper part of breast, grey, becoming pure white on the middle of the belly; sides of belly and flanks bright chestnut; lower part of belly and flanks and under tail-coverts like the back; bill horn-colour, feet black: whole length 8·2 inches, wing 3·3, tail 3·0. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Western and Southern Argentina and Patagonia.