Volume I Part 30 (1/2)

Except when breeding the Bienteveo is a peaceful bird, never going out of its way to make gratuitous attacks on individuals of its own or of other species; but in the pursuit of its prey it is cunning, bold, and fierce. Like the true Tyrant-birds it preys a great deal on large insects when they are abundant in the warm season, and is frequently seen catching its prey in the air. A large beetle or gra.s.shopper it invariably beats against a branch before devouring it. But even in summer, when insect prey is most abundant, it prefers a more substantial diet whenever such is to be had. It frequently carries off the fledglings of the smaller birds from their nests, in the face of the brave defence often made by the parents. It is also fond of fis.h.i.+ng, and may be seen perched by the hour on a bank or overhanging branch beside a stream, watching the water like a Kingfisher, and at intervals das.h.i.+ng down to capture the small fry. In shallow pools, where there are tadpoles and other prey, the Bienteveo does not mind getting a little wet, but alights in the water and stands belly-deep watching for its prey. I have seen a Bienteveo standing in the water in the midst of a flock of Glossy Ibises. They are often seen, as Darwin remarks, hovering like a Kestrel over the gra.s.s, and then das.h.i.+ng down to seize their prey. Small snakes, frogs, mice, and lizards all minister to its appet.i.te, and with a capture of this kind it invariably flies to the nearest stone or branch, against which it beats the life of its victim out before devouring it. I once saw one fly out of some weeds carrying a little wriggling snake of a very brittle species and about eight inches long in its beak. Alighting on a gate it proceeded to kill its capture, and at the first blow on the wood the snake flew into two pieces. A mouse gives it a great deal of trouble, for after it has been killed it cannot be devoured until reduced by repeated blows to a soft pulp, after which it is with great labour pulled to pieces and eaten. Snails and _Ampullariae_ are also pounded until the sh.e.l.l breaks. In spring they sometimes join the train of hooded gulls, guira cuckoos, cow-birds, and various other kinds which follow the plough to pick up worms and larvae; but on the ground the Bienteveo is awkward in its motions, for it cannot run like the Tyrant-birds with terrestrial habits, but only hops. At estancia houses, when a cow is slaughtered, it comes in with the fowls, milvago hawks, and dogs, for small pickings, being very fond of fresh meat. It is a common thing to see a Bienteveo following a rural butcher's cart, and waiting for an opportunity to dash in and carry off any small piece of meat or fat it is able to detach. In the autumn they feed very much on ripe fruit, preferring grapes, which they can swallow whole, and figs, which are soft and easily eaten.

In its nidification the Bienteveo also departs widely from the, so to speak, traditional habits of its congeners; for whereas most Tyrants make small shallow nests, this species makes a very big elaborate domed structure, and sometimes takes five or six weeks to complete it. It is placed in a tree, without any attempt at concealment, and is about a foot deep and eight or nine inches broad, and composed of a variety of soft materials, chiefly wool. The entrance is placed near the top.

Outside, the nest has a very disorderly appearance, as there are always long straws and sometimes rags hanging down; the cavity is deeply lined with feathers, and is the _hottest_ nest I know. The eggs are five, very long, pointed, cream-coloured, and spotted, chiefly at the large end, with chocolate and purple.

159. MYIODYNASTES SOLITARIUS (Vieill.).

(SOLITARY TYRANT.)

+Myiodynastes solitarius+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 50; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 178, et 1878, p. 60 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z.

S._ 1882, p. 607 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.

viii. p. 201 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above grey, thickly covered with numerous black shaft-spots; concealed vertical crest yellow; lores and sides of the head black, superciliaries white; wings blackish, primaries slightly edged with rufous, coverts and secondaries margined externally with greyish white; tail blackish, with narrow external margins of ferruginous; below greyish white, with numerous black striations; belly and under wing-coverts tinged with yellowish and but slightly striated; bill brown, feet blackish: whole length 75 inches, wing 44, tail 34.

_Hab._ Brazil, Paraguay, Buenos Ayres.

Durnford tells us that this species is a summer visitor to the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres, but not very common. White met with it in the forests of Campo Santo in November; and Barrows obtained specimens among the Paradise-trees in the Plaza at Concepcion, in the same month of the year.

160. HIRUNDINEA BELLICOSA (Vieill.).

(WARLIKE TYRANT.)

+Hirundinea bellicosa+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 51; _White, P. Z.

S._ 1882, p. 607 (Catamarca). +Hirundinea rupestris+, _Scl.

Ibis_, 1869, p. 198, pl. v. fig. 8.

_Description._--Above sooty brown; wings blackish, with a large ferruginous red blotch occupying the greater portion of the inner primaries and secondaries; rump and greater part of the tail-feathers ferruginous red; apical portion of tail-feathers blackish: beneath ferruginous red, throat greyish; under wing-coverts and inner webs of wing-feathers, except the tips, similar to the belly, but brighter; bill and feet black: whole length 70 inches, wing 43, tail 22. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.

This Flycatcher is by no means common in Catamarca. It is seen about the houses in pairs, but not more than one pair at a time at one dwelling, perched upon some projection, whence it darts off into the air at pa.s.sing insects.

”The snap of its beak, as it dashes at the flies, can be heard a long way off. Its cry is peculiar and piteous. There is no perceptible difference in plumage between the male and female.”--_White, l. s. c._

161. MYIOBIUS NaeVIUS (Bodd.).

(LITTLE BROWN TYRANT.)

+Myiobius naevius+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 51; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 607 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.

viii. p. 201 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above brown; lores whitish; concealed vertical crest red or yellow; wings blackish, two bands across the coverts and outer margins of external secondaries pale rufous or fulvous, sometimes whitish; tail dark brown: beneath fulvous white; sides of throat, breast, and flanks more or less distinctly flammulated with brown; under wing-coverts pale fulvous; bill brown; lower mandible whitish; feet blackish: whole length 47 inches, wing 25, tail 23.

_Female_ similar, but crest yellow or absent.

_Hab._ Veragua and Cisandean South America down to Argentine Republic.