Volume I Part 36 (1/2)

_Hab._ South America, from Colombia to Argentina.

192. SYNALLAXIS SUPERCILIOSA, Cab.

(EYEBROWED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis superciliosa+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1883, p. 110 (Tuc.u.man).

_Description._--Above, head on top bright chestnut, lores white, superciliaries yellowish white; sides of head, neck, and back earthy brown inclining to olive; upper wing-coverts chestnut, wing-feathers blackish, the webs of the outer margins dull chestnut; tail chestnut; beneath, upper half of throat white, lower half black tipped with white; breast and belly brownish white; flanks and under tail-coverts pale earthy brown; under wing-coverts fulvous; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 70 inches, wing 20, tail 35.

_Hab._ Tuc.u.man.

This Spine-tail, so far as we know at present, is peculiar to Tuc.u.man, where it was discovered by Herr Schulz.

193. SYNALLAXIS SPIXI, Scl.

(SPIX'S SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis spixi+, _Burm. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 636 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 632 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. P. Z.

S._ 1874, p. 9.

_Description._--Above, crown chestnut; lores and sides of head dark cinereous; hind neck, back, also wing- and tail-feathers olive-brown; upper wing-coverts chestnut; beneath dark cinereous, becoming whitish on the belly, throat blackish; under wing-coverts fulvous chestnut; bill black, feet horn-colour; whole length 67 inches, wing 20, tail 32.

_Hab._ Southern Brazil and Argentina.

I like Azara's name _Chicli_, which, to one acquainted with the habits of this and of the following species, seems very appropriate, suggesting, as I imagine it does, a small creature possessing a sharp two-syllabled note; for although Hartlaub, in his Nomenclature of Azara, gives _S. ruficapilla_ as the species meant by _Chicli_, the account of its habits in the 'Apuntamientos' seems to point to _S. spixi_ or to _S.

albescens_.

Azara says:--”I give it this name because it sings it plainly, in a loud sharp tone, which may be heard at a distance, repeating it so frequently that the pauses last no longer than the sound. It is resident (in Paraguay), solitary and not abundant: inhabits thickets of aloes and thorn, without rising more than two yards above the surface, or showing itself in open places. It moves about incessantly, but does not leave its thicket to visit the woods or open ground, its flight being only from bush to bush; and though it is not timid, it is hard to detect it in its stronghold, and to hear it one would imagine that it was perched overhead on a tree, when it is hidden all the time in the brushwood at the roots.”

This habit of concealing itself so closely inclines me to think that this species, rather than _S. albescens_, was the bird described by Azara, although in both species the language is nearly the same. I have nothing to add to the above account from the 'Apuntamientos,' except that in the love-season this species has a low, strange-sounding little song, utterly unlike its usual strident cry. When singing, it sits motionless on the summit of a low bush in a dejected att.i.tude with head drawn in, and murmurs its mysterious little melody at intervals of half a minute.

194. SYNALLAXIS ALBESCENS, Temm.

(WHITE-THROATED SPINE-TAIL.)

+Synallaxis albescens+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 63; _Scl. P. Z.

S._ 1874, p. 9; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 180 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 611 (Misiones); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt.

Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 207 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above, forehead grey, crown pale chestnut; sides of head and neck, back, and tail pale earthy brown; upper wing-coverts pale chestnut, wing-feathers olive-brown; beneath white, faintly washed with earthy brown; under wing-coverts fulvous: whole length 53 inches, wing 20, tail 22.

_Hab._ S. America, from Veragua to Buenos Ayres.

This species, although by no means abundant in Buenos Ayres, is met with much more frequently than the _S. spixi_, which it closely resembles in size, colour, habits, and language. It is, indeed, an unusual thing for two species so closely allied to be found inhabiting the same district.

In both birds the colours are arranged in precisely the same way; but the chestnut tint on _S. albescens_ is not nearly so deep, the browns and greys are paler, and there is less black on the throat.