Volume I Part 39 (1/2)

+Phacellodomus sibilatrix+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1879, p. 461; _White, P.

Z. S._ 1882, p. 612 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn.

Cl._ viii. p. 209 (Entrerios).

_Description._--Above dull olive-brown, paler on the sides of the head; front and lesser wing-coverts chestnut-red; wing-feathers blackish, edged with olive-brown; tail light chestnut, the middle pair of feathers and the inner webs of the two next pairs brown, like the back; beneath dirty brownish white, washed with ochraceous on the flanks; under wing-coverts bright cinnamon: whole length 53 inches, wing 22, tail 22.

_Hab._ Argentina.

This species resembles _P. frontalis_, but differs in its much smaller size, and in having the upper lesser wing-coverts bright rufous.

It inhabits the th.o.r.n.y woods of the northern districts of the Argentine country, but I have no reason to regret that I have not personally observed this species, since Mr. Barrows's careful account of its nesting-habits leaves nothing to be desired. He writes:--”An abundant species among the open woods along the Uruguay, and hardly distinguishable at ten paces from half a dozen others. Its nest, however, is unmistakable. The birds begin by fixing a few crooked and th.o.r.n.y twigs among the terminal sprays of some slender branch which juts out horizontally from a tree, or rises obliquely from near its base, and around these twigs as a nucleus more are gathered, until, by the time the nest has reached the proper size, its weight has bent the branch so that its tip points directly to the earth. Nests which are thus begun at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet from the ground are often only two or three feet from it when finished, and a thorough soaking by a heavy rain will sometimes weigh them down until they actually touch. They are more or less oval or cylindrical in shape, and commonly about two feet long by twelve or fifteen inches in diameter, and contain from a peck to a bushel of twigs and thorns. The nest-cavity within is small in proportion to the size of the nest, and occupies its upper part. It is reached by a more or less direct pa.s.sage-way from below, the external opening being very nearly at the lowest part of the nest, though sometimes a little shelf, or even a pocket, is built on to the side, forming a resting-place in front of the door.

”The nests vary interminably in size and shape, but are pretty constant in the material used; this being almost always irregular and th.o.r.n.y twigs of various trees growing in the neighbourhood, while the interior is formed of less th.o.r.n.y twigs and with some wool and hair. Usually, also, if the material be at hand, a quant.i.ty of old dry horse-droppings is placed loosely on the top of the nest, and gradually becomes felted into it, rendering it more nearly waterproof. In place of this I have frequently found quant.i.ties of broken straw, weed-stalks, gra.s.s, and even chips; all doubtless collected from the ridges of drift which the last overflow of the river had left near at hand. So compactly is the whole nest built, that it often lasts more than one year, and may sometimes serve the same pair two successive summers. More often, however, a new nest is built directly above the old one, which serves as a foundation, and occasionally as many as three nests are seen thus on the same branch-tip, two of them at least being occupied. When other branches of the same tree are similarly loaded, and other trees close at hand also bear the same kind of fruit, the result is very picturesque.

The eggs, which are white, are laid from October 1 to January 1, but many of the birds work at nest-building all the winter, sometimes spending months on a single nest.”

210. PHACELLODOMUS STRIATICOLLIS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(RED-WINGED THORN-BIRD.)

+Anumbius striaticollis+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 255 (Buenos Ayres).

+Phacellodomus striaticollis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 65.

_Description._--Above, forehead and crown rufous; lores white; sides of head, neck, and back brown; whole wing chestnut, the feathers tipped with blackish; tail chestnut; beneath white, clearer on the throat and breast, which are marked with slight white shaft-spots; sides of breast and flanks washed with reddish brown; under tail-coverts brown; under wing-coverts cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 80 inches, wing 29, tail 31. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Argentina and Uruguay.

D'Orbigny, who discovered this species in Uruguay, and found it also near Buenos Ayres, remarks that it lives in pairs in the th.o.r.n.y bushes, and resembles its congeners in habits. It is, however, certainly not common in the vicinity of the Argentine capital, for Hudson has never met with it.

211. PHACELLODOMUS RUBER (Vieill.).

(RED THORN-BIRD.)

+Phacellodomus ruber+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 467 (Parana, Cordova); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 65; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 183 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p.

210 (Entrerios). +Phacellodomus maculipectus+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1883, p. 109 (?).

_Description._--Above olive-brown, front chestnut; tail brownish chestnut; beneath whitish, throat, breast, and flanks washed and mottled with bright reddish brown; under wing-coverts and inner margins of wing-feathers bright cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 73 inches, wing 26, tail 32. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Argentina.

This is a common species throughout the eastern portion of the Argentine country, and extends as far south as the southern boundary of the Buenos Ayrean province.

It is resident, living in pairs in places where there are scattered th.o.r.n.y trees and bushes, and is never found in deep woods. It never attempts to conceal itself, but, on the contrary, sits exposed on a bush and will allow a person to approach within three or four yards of it.

Nor has it the restless manner of most Synallaxine birds which live in the same places with it, but moves in a slow deliberate way, and spends a great deal of time sitting motionless on its perch, occasionally uttering its call or song, composed of a series of long, shrill, powerful notes in descending scale and uttered in a very leisurely manner. It builds a large oblong nest of sticks, about two feet deep, and placed obliquely among the th.o.r.n.y twigs of a bush or low tree. Mr.

Barrows writes:--”There are commonly two cavities in the nest, one being half open to the weather, and forming the entrance, the other further back and connected with the former by only a short pa.s.sage-way, which in many cases is reduced to a simple hole through a broad part.i.tion, which alone separates them.” The eggs are four and of a pure white.

The name commonly used for this species is founded on the ”_Anumbe roxo_” of Azara's 'Apuntamientos'; but the description given there of the bird's nesting-habits shows either that some other species was meant--perhaps _P. sibilatrix_, Doring--or that the nesting-habits of a different bird have been a.s.signed to _P. ruber_.

212. h.o.m.oRUS LOPHOTES, Reichenb.