Part 4

The Troglodytidæ, or Wren family, are of wide distribution, and are found alike under the tropics and in temperate latitudes. In South America nearly 100 species altogether are known to occur. Of these two are familiar inhabitants of the whole Argentine Republic, and a third, belonging to the water-loving genus _Donacobius_, is met with in the eastern provinces on the Paraná. A fourth species has been lately described from Tucuman.

11. DONACOBIUS ATRICAPILLUS (Linn.).

(BLACK-HEADED REED-WREN.)

+Donacobius atricapillus+, _Scl. Cat. A. B._ p. 16; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 5; _Sharpe, Cat. B._ vi. p. 364; _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 475. +Donacobius brasiliensis+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 213 (Corrientes).

_Description._--Above dark chocolate-brown; cap black; wings black, with a large white patch on the inner primaries; tail black; lateral rectrices broadly ended with white; beneath ochreous buff; sides of breast and flanks with cross lines of dusky brown: total length 7·5 inches, wing 2·9, tail 3·7. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Guiana, Amazonia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

The genus _Donacobius_ contains two species somewhat intermediate between the Mock-birds and the large Wrens of the genus _Campylorhynchus_. The well-known Brazilian _D. atricapillus_ extends through Paraguay, where Azara found it abundant, into Corrientes and the adjoining provinces of La Plata. It is met with among the reeds on lakes and streams.

12. TROGLODYTES FURVUS (Gm.).

(BROWN HOUSE-WREN.)

+Troglodytes furvus+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 158 (Conchitas); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 7; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1876, p. 157, 1877, p. 32 (Chupat), p. 167 (Buenos Ayres), 1878, p. 392 (Central Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 593 (Buenos Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 36 (Azul, R. Colorado, R. Negro). +Troglodytes platensis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 476; _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 86 (Concepcion). +Troglodytes musculus+, _Sharpe, Cat. B._ vi. p. 255.

_Description._--Above brown; the tail-feathers and outer webs of wing-feathers pencilled with dark wavy lines; beneath very pale brown; bill and feet horn-colour; eye brown: total length 4·8 inches, wing 2·0, tail 1·7. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South America.

The common Argentine Wren is to all English residents the "House-Wren," and is considered to be identical with the species familiar to them in their own country. It is a sprightly little bird, of a uniform brown colour and a cheerful melodious voice; a tireless hunter after small spiders and caterpillars in hedges, gardens, and outhouses, where it explores every dark hole and cranny, hopping briskly about with tail erect, and dropping frequent little curtsies; always prompt to scold an intruder with great emphasis; a great hater of cats.

It was my belief at one time that the Wren was one of the little birds a cat never could catch; but later on I discovered that this was a mistake. At my home on the pampas we once had a large yellow tom cat exceedingly dexterous in catching small birds; he did not, however, eat them himself, but used to bring them into the house for the other cats. Two or three times a day he would appear with a bird, which he would drop at the door, then utter a loud mew very well understood by the other cats, for they would all fly to the spot in great haste, and the first to arrive would get the bird. At one time I noticed that he brought in a Wren almost every day, and, curious to know how he managed to capture so clever a bird, I watched him. His method was to go out into the grounds frequented by Wrens, and seat himself conspicuously amongst the weeds or bushes; and then, after the first burst of alarm had subsided amongst the small birds, one or two Wrens would always take on themselves the task of dislodging him, or, at all events, of making his position a very uncomfortable one. The cat would sit perfectly motionless, apparently not noticing them at all, and by-and-by this stolid demeanour would have its effect, and one of the Wrens, growing bolder, would extend his dashing little incursions to within a few inches of pussy's demure face; then at last, swift as lightning, would come the stroke of a paw, and the little brown body would drop down with the merry brave little spirit gone from it.

The House-Wren is widely distributed in South America, from the tropical forests to the cold uplands of Patagonia, and, possessing a greater adaptiveness than most species, it inhabits every kind of country, moist or dry, and is as much at home on lofty mountains and stony places as in the everglades of the Plata, where it frequents the reed-beds and damp forests. About houses they are always to be found; and though the traveller on the desert pampas might easily imagine that there are no Wrens in the giant grasses, if he makes himself a lodge in this lonely region, a Wren will immediately appear to make its nest in his thatch and cheer him with its song.

Even in large towns they are common, and I always remember one flying into a church in Buenos Ayres one Sunday, and, during the whole sermon-time, pouring out its bright lyric strains from its perch high up somewhere in the ornamental wood-work of the roof.

The Wren sings all summer, and also on bright days in winter. The song is not unlike that of the English House-Wren, having the same gushing character, the notes being strong and clear, and uttered with rapidity and precision; but the Argentine bird has greater sweetness and more power.

In spring the male courts his mate with notes high and piercing as the squeals of a young mouse; these he repeats with great rapidity, fluttering his wings all the time like a moth, and at intervals breaking out into song.

The nest is made in a dark hole in a wall or tree, sometimes in the forsaken domed nest of some other bird; and where such sites are not to be found, in a dense thistle or thorn-bush, or in a large tussock of grass. I have also found nests in dry skulls of cows and horses, in an old boot, in the sleeve of an old coat left hanging on a _fence_, in a large-necked bottle, and in various other curious situations. The nest is built of sticks and lined with horse-hair or feathers, and the eggs are usually nine in number, of a pinkish ground-colour, thickly spotted with pale red.

13. TROGLODYTES AURICULARIS, Cab.

(EARED WREN.)

+Troglodytes (Uropsila) auricularis+, _Cab. Journ. f. Orn._ 1883, p. 105, t. ii. fig. 1.

_Description._--In habit and size near the European Wren, _T. parvulus_, but peculiar for the blackish-brown hinder half of the ear-coverts and its broad white superciliaries. Upper surface and flanks brown; throat and middle of belly whitish, tinged with brownish yellow; wings and tail with fine black cross bands; crissum with broader black and white cross bands. (_Cabanis._)

_Hab._ Tucuman.

This is a recent discovery of Herr Schulz in the Sierra of Tucuman. We have not yet met with specimens of it.

14. CISTOTHORUS PLATENSIS (Lath.).

(PLATAN MARSH-WREN.)

+Cistothorus platensis+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 158; _iid. Nomencl._ p. 7; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 168 (Buenos Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 37 (R. Sauce, R. Colorado, R. Negro); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 87 (Carhué); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ vi. p. 244. +Cistothorus fasciolatus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii, p. 476 (Mendoza).

_Description._--Above pale sandy brown, variegated with black streaks; head darker brown, streaked with black; the hind neck paler brown, with narrow black streaks; wing-coverts brown; tail-feathers dark sandy brown, barred with blackish brown; under surface pale sandy buff: total length 4·3 inches, wing 1·85, tail 1·6. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Argentina, Patagonia, and Falkland Islands.

This small Wren is rarely seen, being nowhere common, although widely distributed. It prefers open grounds covered with dense reeds and grasses, where it easily escapes observation. I have met with it near Buenos Ayres city; also on the desert pampas, in the tall pampas-grass. It is likewise met with along the Paraná river, and in Chili, Patagonia, and the Falkland Islands. In the last-named locality Darwin found it common, and says that it has there an extremely feeble flight, so that it may easily be run down and taken.

The Marsh-Wren has a sweet and delicate song, resembling that of the House-Wren (_Troglodytes furvus_), but much less powerful. It does not migrate; and on the pampas I have heard it singing with great animation when the pampas-grass, where it sat perched, was white with frozen dew. Probably its song, like that of _Troglodytes furvus_, varies in different districts; at all events, the pampas bird does not possess so fine a song as Azara ascribes to his "Todo Voz" in Paraguay, which is undoubtedly the same species.

Fam. V. MOTACILLIDÆ, or WAGTAILS.

The Wagtails and Pipits are closely-allied forms, and are usually referred to the same family of Oscines. The Wagtails are restricted to the Old World, although it has been recently ascertained that some of them occasionally occur as stragglers in the northern latitudes of America. Of the almost cosmopolitan Pipits about eight or nine species are sparingly distributed over the prairies and pampas of the New World. One of these is a common resident in the pampas of Argentina, and another (perhaps somewhat doubtful species) is occasionally met with.

15. ANTHUS CORRENDERA, Vieill.

(CACHILA PIPIT.)

+Anthus correndera+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 8; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1873, p. 771 (Buenos Ayres); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 32 (Chupat), p. 168 (Buenos Ayres), 1878, p. 392 (Central Patagonia); _Sclater, Ibis_, 1878, p. 362; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 594 (Buenos Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 37 (Azul); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 87 (Concepcion, Entrerios); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 610. +Anthus rufus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 474 (Mendoza, Paraná); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1876, p. 158.

_Description._--Above pale sandy buff, mottled with black centres to the feathers; wing- and tail-feathers dark brown, edged with buff, the penultimate tail-feather with a white tip, the outer tail-feather almost entirely white; neck and breast sandy buff, with large triangular black spots; flanks buff, streaked with black; abdomen and under tail-coverts isabelline; bill dusky grey; feet pink: total length 6·0 inches, wing 2·9, tail 2·3. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Paraguay, Argentina, Patagonia, and Chili.

Azara's only reason for calling this bird _La Correndera_ was because he thought it resembled a Tit-Lark known by that name in his own country, but of which he merely had a confused recollection. It is therefore to be regretted, I think, that _correndera_ has been adopted as a specific name by naturalists instead of "Cachila," the vernacular name of the bird, familiar to every one in the Argentine country. Azara's Spanish bird was probably _Anthus pratensis_, which closely resembles _A. correndera_ in general appearance, and has, moreover, as wide a range in the northern as the last-named species has in the southern hemisphere. In the volume on Birds in the 'Voyage of the Beagle,' it is said that a species of _Anthus_ ranges further south than any other land-bird, being the only land-bird found on Georgia and South Orkney (lat. 61° S.).

In colour and language, possibly also in size, the Cachila is variable. It is a very common bird, widely and plentifully distributed over the pampas, found alike on marshy and dry grounds, but rare in the region of giant grasses. While abundant, it is also very evenly dispersed, each bird spending its life on a very circumscribed plot of earth. Those frequenting marshy or moist grounds are of a yellowish-cream colour, thickly mottled and striped with fuscous and black, and have two narrow parallel pure white marks on the back, very conspicuous when the bird is on the ground. The individuals frequenting high and dry grounds are much paler in hue, appearing almost grey, and do not show the white marks on the back. They also look larger than the birds on marshy lands; but this appearance is probably due to a looser plumage. The most strongly-marked pale and dark-plumaged variations may be found living within a few hundred yards of each other, showing how strictly each bird keeps to its own little "beat"; for this difference in coloration is, no doubt, due entirely to the amount of moisture in the ground they live on.

The Cachilas are resident, living in couples all the year round, the sexes being faithful. Several pairs frequent a small area, and sometimes they unite in a desultory flock; but these gatherings are not frequent. In the evening, at all seasons, immediately after the sun has set, the Cachilas all rise to a considerable height in the air and fly wildly about, chirping for a few minutes, after which they retire to roost.

When approached they frequently rise up several feet from the ground and flutter in the air, chirping sharply, with breast towards the intruder. This is a habit also found in Synallaxine species inhabiting the grassy plains. But, as a rule, the Cachilas are the tamest of feathered creatures, and usually creep reluctantly away on their little pink feet when approached. If the pedestrian is a stranger to their habits they easily delude him into attempting their capture with his hat, so little is their fear of man.

To sing, the Cachila mounts upwards almost vertically, making at intervals a fluttering pause, accompanied with a few hurried notes. When he has thus risen to a great height (but never beyond sight as Azara says) he begins the descent slowly, the wings inclining upwards; and, descending, he pours forth long impressive strains, each ending with a falling inflection or with two or three short throat-notes as the bird pauses fluttering in mid-air, and then renewed successively until, when the singer is within 3 or 4 feet of the earth, without alighting he reascends as before to continue the performance. It is a very charming melody, and heard always on the treeless plains when there is no other bird-music, with the exception of the trilling and grasshopper-like notes of a few Synallaxine species. But in character it is utterly unlike the song of the Sky-Lark with its boundless energy, hurry, and abandon; and yet it is impossible not to think of the Sky-Lark when describing the Cachila, which, in its manners, appearance, and in its habit of soaring to a great height when singing, seems so like a small copy of that bird.

The Cachila rears two broods in the year; the first is hatched about the middle of August, that is, one to three months before the laying-season of other Passerine species. By anticipating the breeding-season their early nests escape the evil of parasitical eggs; but, on the other hand, frosty nights and heavy rains are probably as fatal to as many early broods as the instinct of the _Molothrus bonariensis_, or Cow-bird, is to others at a later period.

The second brood is reared in December, the hottest month, and in that season a large proportion of their nests contain parasitical eggs.

The nest is placed in a slight hollow in the ground, under a tussock of grass, and is sometimes elaborately made and lined with horsehair and fine grass, and sometimes with a few materials loosely put together. During the solstitial heats I have frequently found nests with frail shades, built of sticks and grass, over them, the short withered grass affording an insufficient protection from the meridian sun. The eggs are four, elongated, with a dirty white and sometimes a dull bluish ground, thickly spotted with dusky brown and drab. In some eggs the spots are confluent, the whole shell being of a dull brownish-drab colour.

The manners of this species, where I have observed it, are always the same; it lives on the ground on open plains, where the herbage and grass is short, and never perches on trees. The song varies considerably in different districts.

16. ANTHUS FURCATUS, d'Orb. et Lafr.

(FORKED-TAIL PIPIT.)

+Anthus furcatus+, _d'Orb. Voy._ p. 227 (Patagonia); _Darwin, Zool. Voy. 'Beagle'_, iii. p. 85 (La Plata); _Sclater, Ibis_, 1878, p. 364; _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 37 (Azul, Carhué-pampas); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 605.

_Description._--Similar to _A. correndera_, but with a smaller bill, shorter and more curved hind claw, less spotted under surface, and different marking of the second outer rectrix, which has a clear and distinct white line along the inner side of the shaft: total length 6·0 inches, wing 3·2, tail 2·4.

_Hab._ Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.

One of the Pipits procured at Conchitas belongs to this species, if distinct from the former. I think I recollect it as a resident on the pampas, closely resembling the Cachila in flight and language, but much shyer, and usually found concealed under Tulu grass on dry grounds.

Fam. VI. MNIOTILTIDÆ, or WOOD-SINGERS.

The Mniotiltidæ, or Wood-singers, are a well-known and very characteristic family of the New World, where they occupy the position of our Sylviidæ. They number some 130 or 140 species, distributed all over America down to La Plata, but most abundant in the southern portions of North America, where the favourite and beautiful genus _Dendroeca_, with about 100 species, plays an important part. In Argentina only four species have as yet been met with.

17. PARULA PITIAYUMI (Vieill.).

(PITIAYUMI WOOD-SINGER.)

+Parula pitiayumi+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 8; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1876, p. 158, 1877, p. 168 (Buenos Ayres); _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 352 (Tucuman); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 594 (Catamarca, Misiones); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 87 (Concepcion, Entrerios); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 259, pl. xi. fig. 1. +Sylvicola venusta+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 473 (Paraná, Tucuman).

_Description._--Above clear blue; mantle and upper back olive-yellow; central tail-feathers blue, all the others, also the quills, blackish; cheeks and under surface of body bright yellow; lower abdomen and under tail-coverts white; upper mandible black, lower yellow; eye brown: total length 4·0 inches, wing 2·05, tail 1·55. _Female_ similar, but much paler in colour.

_Hab._ South America.

This is a southern representative of a small group of Wood-warblers, which is extensively diffused in the New World.

The upper plumage of this small bird is mostly cerulean-blue, the breast and belly yellow. Its Guarani name, according to Azara, is "_Pitiayume_," which means little yellow-breast. I have never heard it sing or utter any note beyond a very feeble chirp as it hops about through the foliage in quest of small caterpillars. Its migration extends south to Buenos Ayres, where it is seen in woods and thickets in pairs or singly; but it is a rare bird, and I have been unable to find out anything about its nesting-habits.

18. GEOTHLYPIS VELATA (Vieill.).

(VEILED WOOD-SINGER.)

+Geothlypis velata+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 9; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 594 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 87 (Concepcion, Entrerios); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 363, pl. ix. fig. 5.

_Description._--Above yellowish green; the wing-coverts like the back; wing-feathers dusky brown, edged with olive-yellow; tail-feathers olive-green; crown of head to the occiput blue-grey; from the forehead a black mark extends to the eye and downward to the cheek; throat and under surface bright yellow; bill black; feet pale brown; eye brown: total length 5·6 inches, wing 2·4, tail 2·4. _Female_ similar, but without the black on the face.

_Hab._ Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

This is again the only species of a North- and Central-American genus which ranges so far south as Buenos Ayres. It visits us in summer, and is found singly or in pairs in woods and large plantations. It feeds both on the ground and in trees, and, while gleaning amongst the leaves, frequently pauses to utter its loud cheerful song, composed of seven or eight clear notes uttered with rapidity and emphasis.

19. BASILEUTERUS AURICAPILLUS, Sw.

(GOLDEN-CROWNED WOOD-SINGER.)

+Basileuterus auricapillus+, _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 393. +Basileuterus vermivorus+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1865, p. 283; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 10; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 594 (Misiones).

_Description._--Above olive-yellow, lightest on the rump and upper tail-coverts; tail-feathers ashy brown, with yellowish margins; quills dusky; crown of head light orange-chestnut; nape and hind neck pale ashy grey; on each side of the crown a broad black stripe extending from the bill to the hind neck, also a streak of ashy white above the eye; under surface bright yellow; axillaries and under wing-coverts white; bill and feet brownish: total length 4·5 inches, wing 2·2, tail 2·05. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South America.

This species, which is widely spread over the northern portion of South America, was found in Paraguay by Azara, and in the province of Misiones by White.

20. SETOPHAGA BRUNNEICEPS, d'Orb. et Lafr.

(BROWN-CAPPED WOOD-SINGER.)

+Setophaga brunneiceps+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 473 (Tucuman); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 11; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Catamarca); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 428.

_Description._--General colour dull olive-yellowish; wing-coverts dark slaty grey; quills blackish; upper tail-coverts slaty grey, washed with olive; tail-feathers blackish--the outer pair white, the next pair white edged with black on the outer web, the third pair with a large white mark at the end; crown of head deep chestnut; neck slaty grey; under surface of body bright yellow; under tail- and wing-coverts white: total length 5·0 inches, wing 2·45, tail 2·4. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Bolivia and Northern Argentina.

White obtained a pair of these birds on the Sierra of Totoral, Catamarca, in July 1880. He describes them as quick in their movements and difficult to shoot. The species was originally discovered by d'Orbigny in Bolivia.

Fam. VII. VIREONIDÆ, or GREENLETS.

Three of the groups of the peculiar American family of Greenlets, allied to our Shrikes, have representatives within the Argentine Republic. The genera _Vireo_ and _Hylophilus_ both extend, each in the shape of one of its South-Brazilian members, into the woodlands of the Paraná; while _Cyclorhis_, another genus also widely spread over South and Central America, has two representatives within our area. One of these latter is well known in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres; the other is only found in the extreme north of the Republic.

21. VIREOSYLVIA CHIVI (Vieill.).

(CHIVI GREENLET.)

+Contramaestre gaviero+, _Azara, Apunt._ ii. p. 34. +Sylvia chivi+, _Vieill. N. D._ xi. p. 174. +Vireosylvia chivi+, _Baird, Rev. A. B._ p. 337; _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 160 (Buenos Ayres); _Berl. et Jher. Zeitschr. ges. Orn._ 1885, p. 115. +Vireo chivi+, _Gadow, Cat. B._ viii. p. 295.

_Hab._ South America, from Colombia down to Buenos Ayres.

A single specimen of this Greenlet was found in a collection made by Mr. Haslehurst near Buenos Ayres. As the species occurs in Rio Grande do Sul (_Berlepsch_) and Paraguay (_Azara_), its occasional appearance in Eastern Argentina is quite probable. Whether the bird is really distinct from the widespread _Vireo olivaceus_ seems to be a question which is not yet finally settled.