Volume I Part 33 (1/2)

Fam. XVI. PHYTOTOMIDae, or PLANT-CUTTERS.

The peculiar form _Phytotoma_, remarkable for its toothed Fringilline bill, was a.s.sociated by the older authors with the Finches. But modern researches have shown that it is not an Oscinine genus, and that its true place is near the _Cotingidae_; indeed, some authors have placed it within the limits of that family.

Of the four known species of Plant-cutters, all restricted to South America, one is a well-known denizen of the Argentine Republic.

175. PHYTOTOMA RUTILA, Vieill.

(RED-BREASTED PLANT-CUTTER.)

[Plate VIII.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PHYTOTOMA RUTILA ? et ?]

+Phytotoma rutila+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 451 (Parana, Mendoza, Cordova, Tuc.u.man, Catamarca); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 60; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 537 (Rio Negro); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 203 (Entrerios); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 609 (Catamarca).

_Description._--Above plumbeous, with slight darker shaft-spots; front of head bright red; wings and tail blackish, two well-marked wing-bars and tips of all lateral rectrices white; beneath bright red; flanks plumbeous; under wing-coverts whitish: whole length 70 inches, wing 35, tail 33. _Female_: above grey, densely striated with black; beneath dirty white, with dense black striations, belly and crissum fulvous.

_Hab._ Argentine Republic.

I found this curious little bird quite common in Patagonia, where the natives call it _Chingolo grande_, on account of its superficial resemblance to the common Song-Sparrow (_Zonotrichia pileata_). The colouring of the s.e.xes differs considerably, the forehead and under surface of the male being deep brick-red; the upper parts dull grey, with a bar on the wing and the tips of the rectrices white; while in the female the upper parts are yellowish grey, obscurely mottled, and the breast and belly buff, with dark spots. In both s.e.xes the eye is yellow, and the feathers of the crown pileated to form a crest.

This bird is usually seen singly, but sometimes a.s.sociates in small flocks; it is resident, and a very weak flier, and feeds on tender buds and leaves, berries and small seed. The male is frequently seen perched on the summit of a bush, and, amidst the dull-plumaged species that people the grey thickets of Patagonia, the bright red bosom gives it almost a gay appearance. When singing, or uttering its alarm notes when the nest is approached, its voice resembles the feeble bleatings of a small kid or lamb. When approached it conceals itself in the bush, and when flying progresses by a series of short jerky undulations, the wings producing a loud humming sound.

The nest is made in the interior of a th.o.r.n.y bush, and built somewhat slightly of fine twigs and lined with fibres. The eggs are four, bluish-green in colour, with brownish flecks.

This species is found throughout the Argentine country, in dry, open situations, abounding with a scanty tree and bush vegetation.

Suborder III. _TRACHEOPHONae._

Fam. XVII. DENDROCOLAPTIDae, or WOOD-HEWERS.

The _Dendrocolaptidae_ are an important family in American Ornithology, numbering some 220 species, and distributed in greater or less abundance over every part of the Neotropical Region from Mexico to Patagonia.

Within Argentine limits 46 species occur.

While green is the characteristic colour of the _Tyrannidae_, brown is the favoured hue of the _Dendrocolaptidae_, both the forest-loving and campos-frequenting members of the group being nearly without exception arrayed in various shades of that sombre colour, to which a ferruginous tail is a very frequent appendage.

The _Dendrocolaptidae_ fall into four subfamilies, all of which have representatives in Argentina. These are (1) the _Furnariinae_, or Oven-birds, which are terrestrial in habits and have their feet adapted for this mode of life; (2) the _Sclerurinae_, or Leaf-sc.r.a.pers, known by their spiny tail, which keep to the ground inside the forests; (3) the _Synallaxinae_, or Sharp-tails, mostly bush-frequenting birds; and (4) the _Dendrocolaptinae_, or Wood-hewers, which have the habits of our Creepers (_Certhia_), and use their tail as a climbing-organ. All the members of this great family feed exclusively on insects.

Subfam. I. _FURNARIINae._

176. GEOSITTA CUNICULARIA (Vieill.).

(COMMON MINER.)

+Geositta cunicularia+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 405 (Mendoza, Parana); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 61; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 178 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 395 (Chupat); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 203 (Entrerios). +Geositta tenuirostris+, _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 609 (Salta).