Part 5

Azara, describing this species, says it is one of the commonest in deep woods, where it moves about among the terminal twigs, without ever rising to the tops of the trees or flying down to the brush or the ground. It is active, and extremely restless in manner; and in searching after and taking the small insects and spiders on which it lives it climbs about the twigs, assuming every position, and frequently suspending itself, head downwards, by its feet. It has a full pleasing voice of considerable power, heard incessantly in the woods, particularly in the love-season. The nest is a slender beautiful structure, even surpassing that of the Humming-birds, constructed of thin dry leaves outside, smoothly attached to the rest with spiders' webs, while the inside is formed of fine fibres and cotton.

22. HYLOPHILUS POECILOTIS, Max.

(BROWN-HEADED WOOD-BIRD.)

+Hylophilus poecilotis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 12; _Scl. Ibis_, 1881, p. 300; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Misiones); _Gadow, Cat. B._ viii. p. 308.

_Description._--Crown of head and nape rich rufous-brown; all the rest of the upper parts, including the entire tail and wing-coverts and the outer webs of the remiges, rich olive-green; cheeks and upper throat whitish; ear-coverts blackish, with white central streaks; under wing-coverts, axillaries, inner margin of remiges, and under tail-coverts lemon-yellow; rest of underparts dull yellow, washed with olive on the breast and flanks, and inclining to pale ochreous on the abdomen; bill dark flesh-colour; feet hazel: total length 4·5 inches, wing 2·2, tail 2·2. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

This South-Brazilian species was met with by White near San Javier, in the province of Misiones, in June 1881.

23. CYCLORHIS OCHROCEPHALA.

(OCHRE-HEADED GREENLET-SHRIKE.)

[Plate III. Fig. 1.]

+Cyclorhis viridis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 472; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 13; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 58 (Punta Lara); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Buenos Ayres); _Gadow, Cat. B._ viii. p. 318. +Cyclorhis ochrocephala+, _Tsch. Arch. f. Nat._ 1845, pt. i. p. 362; _Berl. et Jher. Zeitschr. ges. Orn._ 1885, p. 116.

_Description._--Above olive-green; cap brownish ochraceous, more or less rufescent; front and superciliaries chestnut-red; sides of head clear grey, beneath pale buff; breast and flanks yellow; throat greyish white; bill reddish grey, feet grey; eye reddish: total length 7·0 inches, wing 3·4, tail 2·8. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Middle districts of Argentina.

This species is not uncommon in the woods along the shores of the Plata, and may be easily known to any person penetrating them by its loud "cheerful soliloquy," for that phrase of Mr. Barrows, the North-American writer on birds, well describes the artless, light-hearted song which it utters at intervals while it roams about in the deep foliage, and which reminds one of the careless whistling of a boy, whistling merely to express his gaiety, but without having any particular tune in his mind. It is migratory, and extends its range south of Buenos Ayres.

24. CYCLORHIS ALTIROSTRIS, Salvin.

(DEEP-BILLED GREENLET-SHRIKE.)

[Plate III. Fig. 2.]

+Cyclorhis altirostris+, _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 352; _Gadow, Cat. B._ viii. p. 319. +Cyclorhis viridis+, _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 88 (Concepcion, Entrerios); _Berl. et Jher. Zeitschr. ges. Orn._ 1885, p. 116.

_Description._--Above olive-green; head more or less rufescent; front and superciliaries chestnut-red; sides of head grey, beneath pale ochraceous; breast and sides yellow; throat greyish; bill short and thick, pale reddish, with a black blotch at the base of the lower mandible; feet reddish: total length 6·5 inches, wing 3·3, tail 3·0. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Paraguay and Northern Argentina.

This species was met with by Durnford near Salta in June 1878. He describes the iris as "light rufous; upper mandible dark slate, under mandible, legs, and feet pale slate."

Mr. Salvin founded his _C. altirostris_ upon Durnford's specimens, but Graf v. Berlepsch is of opinion that this species is the "_Habia verde_" of Azara, and should consequently bear the name "_viridis_" of Vieillot. This is perhaps correct, but at the same time it would only make fresh confusion to transfer to this species the name hitherto usually applied to the preceding bird. We prefer, consequently, to let it stand under Mr. Salvin's name "_altirostris_."

Fam. VIII. HIRUNDINIDÆ, or SWALLOWS.

The cosmopolitan family of Swallows, of which about eighty species are known, is well developed in the New World, where some thirty representatives occur in various parts. In Argentina the occurrence of eight Swallows has been recorded. Three of them belong to the group of Purple Martins (_Progne_), which is restricted to the New World, and of the remainder four are members of genera entirely restricted to the Neotropical Region. The genus _Petrochelidon_, of which one species is met with in La Plata, has alone representatives in the Eastern Hemisphere.

25. PROGNE FURCATA, Baird[3].

(PURPLE MARTIN.)

+Progne purpurea+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 548 (Patagonia); _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 605; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 14; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 32 (Chupat), 1878, p. 392 (Central Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Buenos Ayres). +Progne elegans+, _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 89 (Bahia Blanca). +Progne furcata+, _Baird, Rev. A. B._ p. 278; _Sharpe, Cat. A. B._ x. p. 175.

_Description._--Uniform deep purple-blue; on each side of the back a small concealed tuft of white feathers; tail-feathers black, washed with blue: total length 7·7 inches, wing 5·55, tail 3·3. _Female_: upper parts dull purple; head, neck, and lower parts blackish brown.

_Hab._ Argentina and Patagonia.

The Purple Martin is occasionally seen in the eastern provinces of La Plata when migrating, but has not been found nesting anywhere so far north as Buenos Ayres. I met with it breeding at Bahia Blanca on the Atlantic coast, and on the Rio Negro, where it is very common. It arrives in Patagonia late in September, and leaves before the middle of February. On the 14th of that month I saw one flock flying north, but it was the last. It breeds in holes under the caves of houses or in walls, and its nest is like that of _P. chalybea_; but many also breed in holes in the steep banks of the Rio Negro. They do not, however, excavate holes for themselves, but take possession of natural crevices and old forsaken burrows of the Burrowing Parrot (_Conurus patachonicus_). In size, flight, manners, and appearance the Purple Martin closely resembles the following species, the only difference being in the dark plumage of the under surface. The language of the two birds is also identical; the loud excited scream when the nest is approached, the various other notes when the birds sweep about in the air, and the agreeably modulated and leisurely-uttered song are all possessed by the two species without the slightest difference in strength or intonation. This circumstance appears very remarkable to me, because, though two species do sometimes possess a few notes alike, the greater part of their language is generally different; also because birds of the same species in different localities vary more in language than in any other particular. This last observation, however, applies more to resident than to migratory species.

[3] [I here follow Mr. Sharpe in considering the Purple Martin of Argentina and Patagonia separable from the closely allied northern species of North America. But I am altogether sceptical about its occurrence in Chili, which Dr. Philippi expressly diaries (P. Z. S. 1868 p. 534) and for which I know of no good authority.--P. L. S.]

26. PROGNE CHALYBEA (Gm.).

(DOMESTIC MARTIN.)

+Progne chalybea+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 606 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 14; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 88 (Concepcion); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 178. +Progne domestica+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 477; _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 177.

_Description._--Entire upper parts deep purple-blue; lesser and median wing-coverts the same; wing- and tail-feathers black, glossed with steel-blue; throat, fore neck, and chest ash colour; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts pure white; bill and feet black: total length 8 inches, wing 5·7, tail 3·2. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Central and South America.

This species, distinguished from the Purple Martin by its white underparts, ranges from Mexico to Buenos Ayres, the extreme limit of its range being about 250 miles south of that city. It was well called _Golondrina domestica_ by Azara, being preeminently domestic in its habits. It never breeds in banks as the Purple Martin often does, or in the domed nests of other birds in trees, a situation always resorted to by the Tree-Martin, and occasionally by the Common Swallow; but is so accustomed to the companionship of man as to make its home in populous towns as well as in country-houses. It arrives in Buenos Ayres about the middle of September, and apparently resorts to the same breeding-place every year. A hole under the eaves is usually selected, and the nest is roughly built of dry grass, hair, feathers, and other materials. When the entrance to its breeding-hole is too large, it partially closes it up with mud mixed with straw; if there be two entrances it stops up one altogether. The bird does not often require to use mud in building; it is the only one of our Swallows that uses such a material at all. The eggs are white, long, pointed, and five in number.

In the season of courtship this Martin is a noisy pugnacious bird, and always, when quitting its nest, utters an exceedingly loud startling cry several times repeated. It also has a song, uttered both when resting and on the wing, composed of several agreeably modulated notes, and in that thick rolling intonation peculiar to our Swallows. This song does not sound loud when near, yet it can be distinctly heard when the bird appears but a speck in the distance. I may here remark that, with the exception of the _Petrochelidon pyrrhonota_, which possesses a sharp squeaky voice, like the Swallows of Europe, all our Hirundines have soft voices: their usual twittering when they are circling about resembles somewhat the chirping of the English House-Sparrow in tone, but besides these notes they possess a song more pleasing to the ear.

Before leaving in February these birds congregate in parties of from twenty to four or five hundred, usually on the broad leafy top of an old ombú tree.

27. PROGNE TAPERA (Linn.).

(TREE-MARTIN.)

+Progne tapera+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 606 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 14; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 168 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Catamarca); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 89 (Concepcion); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 180. +Cotyle tapera+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 477.

_Description._--Entire upper parts dull brown; tail-feathers blackish brown; throat ashy white; fore neck and chest ashy brown in the centre and dark brown on the sides, as are also the flanks; abdomen white; bill and feet horn-colour: total length 7 inches, wing 5·5, tail 2·6. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina.

The Tree-Martin is more slender and has a greater extent of wing than the Purple Martins; and, instead of the beautiful dark purple (their prevailing colour), its entire upper plumage is dusky brown, the under surface white. But if these differences of structure and hue merely serve to show that it is not a very near relative of the other species, those exhibited in its habits remove it very far indeed from them.

The Tree-Martin is a very garrulous bird, and no sooner arrives early in September, than we are apprised of the circumstance by the notes which the male and female incessantly sing in concert, fluttering and waving their wings the while, and seeming quite beside themselves with joy at their safe arrival; for invariably they arrive already mated. Their language is more varied, the intonation bolder and freer than that of our other Swallows. The length of the notes can be varied at pleasure; some are almost harsh, others silvery or liquid, as of trickling drops of water; they all have a glad sound; and many have that peculiar character of some bird-notes of shaping themselves into words.

This Martin is never seen to alight on the ground or on the roofs of houses, but solely on trees; and when engaged in collecting materials for its nest, it sweeps down and snatches up a feather or straw without touching the surface. It breeds only in the clay-ovens of the Oven-bird (_Furnarius rufus_). I, at least, have never seen them breed in any other situation after observing them for a great many summers. An extraordinary habit! for, many as are the species that possess the parasitical tendency of breeding in other birds' nests, none of them confine themselves to the nest of a single species excepting the bird I am describing. It must, however, be understood that my knowledge of this bird has been acquired in Buenos Ayres, where I have observed it; and as this Martin possesses a wider range in South America than the Oven-birds, it is more than probable that in other districts it builds in different situations.

On arriving in spring each pair takes up its position on some tree, and usually on a particular branch; a dead branch extending beyond the foliage is a favourite perch. Here they spend much of their time, never appearing to remain long absent from it, and often, when singing their notes together, fluttering about it with a tremulous uncertain flight, like that of a hovering butterfly. About three weeks after first arriving they begin to make advances towards the Oven-bird's nest that stands on the nearest post or tree; and if it be still occupied by the rightful owners, after much time has been spent in sporting about and reconnoitring it, a feud begins which is often exceedingly violent and protracted for many days.

In seasons favourable to them the Oven-birds build in autumn and winter, and breed early in spring; so that their broods are out of their clay-houses by the end of October or earlier; when this happens, the Swallow that breeds in November quietly takes possession of the forsaken fortress. But accidents will happen, even to the wonderful fabric of the Oven-bird. It is sometimes destroyed and must be rebuilt; or its completion has perhaps been retarded for months by drought, or by the poor condition of the birds in severe weather; or the first brood has perhaps perished, destroyed by an opossum or other enemy. November, and even December, may thus arrive before some pairs have hatched their eggs; and it is these unfortunate late breeders that suffer from the violence of the marauding Swallows. I have often witnessed the wars of these birds with the deepest interest; and in many ovens that I have opened I have found the eggs of the Oven-birds buried under the nests of the Swallows. After the Swallows have taken up a position near the coveted oven, they occasionally fly towards and hover about it, returning again to their stand. By-and-by, instead of returning as at first, they take to alighting at the entrance of the coveted home; this is a sort of declaration of war, and marks the beginning of hostilities. The Oven-birds, full of alarm and anger, rush upon and repel them as often as they approach; they retire before this furious onset, but not discomfited, and only warbling out their gay seemingly derisive notes in answer to the outrageous indignant screams of their enemies. Soon they return; the scene is repeated; and this desultory skirmishing is often continued for many days.

But at length the lawless invaders, grown bolder, and familiar with his strength and resources, will no longer fly from the master of the house; desperate struggles now frequently take place at the entrance, the birds again and again dropping to the ground clutched fiercely together, and again hurrying up only to resume the combat. Victory at last declares itself for the aggressors, and they busy themselves carrying in materials for their nest, screaming their jubilant notes all the time as if in token of triumph. The brave and industrious Oven-birds, dispossessed of their home, retire to spend their childless summer together, for the male and female never separate; and when the autumn rains have supplied them with wet clay, and the sense of defeat is worn off, they cheerfully begin their building-operations afresh.

This is not, however, the invariable result of the conflict. To the superior swiftness of the Martin the Oven-bird opposes greater strength, and, it might be added, a greater degree of zeal and fury than can animate its adversary. The contest is thus nearly an equal one; and the Oven-bird, particularly when its young are already hatched, is often able to maintain its own. But the Martins never suffer defeat; for, when unable to take the citadel by storm, they fall back on their dribbling system of warfare, which they keep up till the young birds leave the nest, when they take possession before it has grown cold.

The Martin makes its own nest chiefly of large feathers, and lays four eggs, long, pointed, and pure white.

It will be remarked that in all its habits above mentioned this bird differs widely from the two preceding species. It also differs greatly from them in its manner of flight. The Purple Martins move with surprising grace and celerity, the wings extended to their utmost; they also love to sail in circles high up in the air, or about the summits of tall trees, and particularly during a high wind. At such times several individuals are usually seen together, and all seem striving to outvie each other in the beauty of their evolutions.

The Tree-Martin is never seen to soar about in circles; and though when hawking after flies and moths it sweeps the surface of the grass with amazing swiftness, at other times it has a flight strangely slow and of a fashion peculiar to itself: the long wings are depressed as much as those of a Wild Duck when dropping on to the water, and are constantly agitated with tremulous flutterings, short and rapid as those of a butterfly.

Neither is this bird gregarious like all its congeners, though occasionally an individual associates for a while with Swallows of another species; but this only when they are resting on fences or trees, for as soon as they take flight it leaves them. Once or twice, when for some mysterious cause the autumnal migration has been delayed long past its usual time, I have seen them unite in small flocks; but this is very rare. As a rule they have no meetings preparatory to migration, but skim about the fields and open plains in un-Swallow-like solitude, and suddenly disappear without having warned us of their intended departure.

28. PETROCHELIDON PYRRHONOTA (Vieill.).

(RED-BACKED ROCK-MARTIN.)

+Petrochelidon pyrrhonota+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 14; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 169; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Buenos Ayres); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 193. +Cotyle pyrrhonota+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 477 (Tucuman).

_Description._--Above glossy dark steel-blue; lower back and rump cinnamon-rufous; the upper tail-coverts brown, with grey margins; wings black; tail black, with greenish gloss; crown steel-blue; forehead sandy buff; cheeks and sides of face chestnut, spreading to the sides of the hind neck; chin chestnut; the lower throat steel-blue; fore neck, chest, and sides of body and flanks light ashy brown; centre of breast and abdomen white, tinged with brown; under tail-coverts, also under wing-coverts and axillaries, ashy brown: total length 5·3 inches, wing 4·35, tail 2·05. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South America.

This species does not breed in Buenos Ayres, and is only seen there in spring, flying south or south-west, and again in much larger numbers on its return journey in autumn. On the Rio Negro, in Patagonia, I did not meet with it, and suppose its summer resort must be south of that locality; and, judging from the immense numbers visible in some seasons, I should think that they must, in their breeding-place in Patagonia, occupy a very extensive area. They do not seem to be as regular in their movements as other Swallows here; some years I have observed them passing singly or in small parties during the entire hot season: usually they begin to appear, flying north, in February; but in some years not until after the middle of March. They are not seen passing with a rapid flight in close flocks, but straggle about, hawking after flies: first one bird passing, then two or three, and a minute or two later half a dozen, and so on for a greater part of the day. So long as the weather continues warm they journey in this leisurely manner; but I have known them to continue passing till April, after all the summer migrants had left us, and these late birds flew by with great speed in small close flocks, directly north, as if their flight had been guided by the magnetic needle.

While flying this species continually utters sharp twitterings and grinding and squealing notes of various lengths.

29. TACHYCINETA LEUCORRHOA (Vieill.).

(WHITE-RUMPED SWALLOW.)

+Hirundo leucorrhoa+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, pp. 606, 845 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 14; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 32 (Chupat), 1878, p. 392 (Central Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 596 (Corrientes); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 89 (Concepcion). +Cotyle leucorrhoea+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 478 (Paraná). +Tachycineta leucorrhous+, _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 114.

_Description._--Above glossy dark green; rump white; quills black, washed with green; upper tail-coverts dark green; tail-feathers black with greenish gloss; base of forehead white, extending a little backward over the lores; cheeks and whole under surface white; flanks and sides washed with smoky brown; axillaries and under tail-coverts pale smoky brown; bill and feet black: total length 5·5 inches, wing 4·45, tail 2·0. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

This is the most abundant and best known of our Swallows; a pretty bird in its glossy coat of deep green, and rump and under surface snowy white; exceedingly restless in its disposition, quick and graceful in its motions; social, quarrelsome, garrulous, with a not unmusical song, beginning with long, soft, tremulous notes, followed by others shorter and more hurried, and sinking to a murmur. They are the last of all our migrants to leave us in autumn, and invariably reappear in small numbers about the houses on every warm day in winter. Probably many individuals in Buenos Ayres remain through the winter in sheltered situations, to scatter over the surrounding country whenever there comes a warm bright day. I once saw three together, skimming over the plains, on one of the coldest days I ever experienced on the pampas, the thermometer having stood at 29° Fahr. that morning.