: Argentine Ornithology, Volume I (of 2) by P. L Sclater, W. H Hudson (books to read in your 20s female .txt) 📖

59. POOSPIZA NIGRORUFA (d'Orb. et Lafr.). (BLACK-AND-CHESTNUT WARBLING FINCH.)

 

+Poospiza nigrorufa+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 484 (Paraná);

      _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 171

      (Buenos Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 38 (Rio

      Sauce); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 129

      (Concepcion).

 

    _Description._--Entire upper parts black, faintly washed with olive;

    superciliary stripe pale straw-colour; two outer tail-feathers

    on each side tipped with white; throat and under surface bright

    chestnut; centre of abdomen white; under tail-coverts pale buff:

    total length 5·8 inches, wing 2·5, tail 2·2. _Female_: upper parts

    not so dark as in male; underparts light buff, mottled and striped

    with blackish.

 

_Hab._ South Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

 

This sweet-voiced little songster appears in Buenos Ayres at the end

of September; it is a common bird in grounds abounding in bushes and

scattered trees, and, in its bright ruddy breast and dark upper

plumage, has some resemblance to the English Robin; only it has a very

conspicuous straw-coloured line above the eye. Its voice also, in purity

and sweetness of tone, is not unlike that of the Robin; but the

song, composed of six unvarying notes, is uttered in a deliberate,

business-like manner at regular intervals, and is monotonous. Never more

than two birds are seen together; they feed on the ground in humid

situations, the male frequently seeking a perch to sing. The nest is

made on the round, or in a close bush near the surface; the eggs have a

pale bluish ground-colour, irregularly marked with black and very dark

brown spots, and in some instances clouded with faint grey.

60. POOSPIZA WHITII, Scl. (WHITE'S WARBLING FINCH.)

 

+Poospiza whitii+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 43, pl. ix.

 

    _Description._--Above clear grey, very faintly washed with olive;

    tail black, the outer feathers on each side tipped with white, as in

    _P. erythrophrys_; patch between bill and eye, the anterior half of

    superciliary stripe, and chin white; hinder part of superciliary

    stripe and under surface chestnut; middle of belly white; under

    tail-coverts buff: total length 5·5 inches, wing 2·4, tail 2·6.

    _Female_ similar, but breast pale rufous; abdomen white; sides grey

    and buff.

 

_Hab._ Province of Cordova, Rep. Arg.

 

This species has only been obtained by the late Mr. E. W. White. He met

with specimens of it at Cosquin, Cordova, in June, July, and August,

It has been dedicated to its discoverer, who has so largely

augmented our knowledge of the Argentine avifauna, and whose premature

death was a veritable loss for science.

61. POOSPIZA ERYTHROPHRYS, Scl. (RED-BROWED WARBLING FINCH.)

 

+Poospiza erythrophrys+, _Scl. Ibis_, 1881, p. 599, pl. xvii. fig. 1;

      _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 599 (Catamarca).

 

    _Description._--Above grey, faintly washed with olive; greater

    wing-coverts tipped with white; wing-feathers blackish, edged with

    grey; tail blackish grey, the two outer feathers on each side tipped

    with white, and on the outer feather the white extending down

    the outer web to the base of the tail; superciliary stripe and

    whole under surface light chestnut, paler on the abdomen; under

    tail-coverts buff: total length 5·5 inches, wing 2·5, tail 2·3.

 

_Hab._ Northern Argentina.

 

This pretty species is another of White's discoveries. He first met

with it in the Sierra of Totoral, Catamarca, and subsequently about 20

miles north of Buenos Ayres.

62. POOSPIZA ASSIMILIS, Cab. (RED-FLANKED WARBLING FINCH.)

 

+Poospiza assimilis+, _Cab. Mus. Hein._ i. p. 137; _White, P. Z. S._

      1882, p. 599 (Misiones). +Poospiza lateralis+, _Barrows, Bull.

      Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 130 (Concepcion).

 

    _Description._--Above grey, slight superciliary mark whitish; middle

    of back and wings washed with rufous; rump bright rufous; tail

    blackish, two lateral pairs of rectrices broadly tipped with white;

    beneath grey, white in the middle of the belly; flanks and crissum

    bright rufous; under wing-coverts greyish white; bill horn-colour,

    lower mandible yellowish; feet pale brown; whole length 5·0 inches,

    wing 2·5, tail 2·4.

 

_Hab._ Northern Argentina.

 

White found this species abundant amongst the thick weeds and grass in

the outskirts of Concepcion. He took it for _P. thoracica_, from which

it differs in its rufous rump. It is more like _P. lateralis_.

63. POOSPIZA ORNATA (Landb.). (PRETTY WARBLING FINCH.)

 

+Phrygilus ornatus+, _Landb. Journ. f. Orn._ 1865, p. 405. +Poospiza

      ornata+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30.

 

    _Description._--Above grey; back more or less varied with chestnut;

    long superciliaries ochreous white; wings blackish, coverts edged

    with white, tail black, lateral rectrices broadly tipped with white;

    beneath dark chestnut, lighter on the middle of the belly; bill and

    feet dark brown; whole length 5·2 inches, wing 2·4, tail 2·3.

    _Female_ similar, but paler in colour, especially below.

 

_Hab._ Mendoza.

64. POOSPIZA TORQUATA (d'Orb. et Lafr.). (RINGED WARBLING FINCH.)

 

+Poospiza torquata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 484 (Mendoza);

      _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 599

      (Santiago del Estero); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 38

      (R. Colorado).

 

    _Description._--Above grey; wings blackish, the greater wing-coverts

    tipped with white; tail-feathers black, the two outer on each side

    tipped with white; from the bill, a broad white stripe extends

    above the eye to the nape; crown grey; sides of head black; beneath

    white, the chest crossed with a broad black band; under tail-coverts

    rufous: total length 5·3 inches, wing 2·5, tail 2·3.

 

_Hab._ Bolivia and Argentina.

 

White met with a male of this species in September 1881, at San Pedro,

in the province of Santiago. Burmeister found it near Mendoza in the

valleys of Sierra de Uspallata.

65. POOSPIZA MELANOLEUCA (Vieill.). (WHITE-AND-GREY WARBLING FINCH.)

 

+Poospiza melanoleuca+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 484 (Entrerios);

      _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 30; _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 354, pl.

fig. 2 (Tucuman); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 599 (Salta);

      _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 130 (Entrerios).

 

    _Description._--Above, head and neck blackish; back grey; wings and

    tail blackish, three outer rectrices on each side tipped with white;

    beneath white; sides washed with grey, breast and belly also faintly

    tinged with grey: whole length 5·1 inches, wing 2·3, tail 2·0.

    _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ Argentina.

 

White says that in Salta "this bird frequents the gardens in the

vicinity of the houses, where it vigorously pursues the ants amongst the

branches of the trees." Mr. Barrows says that near Concepcion it had the

general motions and appearance of a Titmouse, thus differing widely from

the other members of the genus.

66. PHRYGILUS GAYI (Eyd. et Gerv.). (GAY'S FINCH.)

 

+Phrygilus gayi+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 487 (Mendoza);

      _Scl. et Salv.