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

densely

marked with dusky reddish brown.

 

Once I observed two young Bay-wings following a Yellow-breast

(_Pseudoleistes virescens_) with their usual peculiar hunger-cry,

and while I watched them they were fed several times by their

foster-parents. Naturally I concluded that the Bay-winged Cow-bird

is sometimes parasitical on other species, but I never saw anything

afterwards to confirm me in that belief, and I believe now that I was

mistaken, and that the young Bay-wings were not _real_ Bay-wings, but

the young of _Molothrus rufoaxillaris_.

97. AGELÆUS THILIUS (Mol.). (YELLOW-SHOULDERED MARSH-BIRD.)

 

+Agelæus thilius+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 492 (Mendoza, S.

      Juan, Catamarca); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 37; _Durnford,

      Ibis_, 1876, p. 159 (Buenos Ayres), 1877, p. 33 (Chupat), p. 174

      (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 394 (Chupat); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882,

602 (Buenos Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 40

      (Colorado); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 134

      (Entrerios); _Scl. Cat. B._ xi. p. 343.

 

    _Description._--Black; lesser upper and under wing-coverts yellow;

    bill and feet black: whole length 5·5 inches, wing 3·6, tail 2·7.

    _Female_: above pale brown striated with black; distinct

    superciliaries white; beneath paler, cineraceous white with

    black striations; smaller, and bill shorter.

 

_Hab._ S. Peru, Chili, Paraguay, and Argentina.

 

This bird is abundant everywhere on the pampas, and does not migrate,

but inhabits marshy situations in summer, building its nest amongst the

rushes, and in winter ranges over the country. The male is entirely

of an intense black, except the shoulders, which are pure yellow; the

female is dull grey with fuscous markings, and, as was long ago remarked

by Azara, the grey-plumaged are very much more numerous than the black

individuals. The young birds are like the females, and possibly do

not acquire the full black plumage until the second year, which would

account for the great number of grey birds.

 

These birds are extremely sociable, being seen in flocks all the year

round, even during the breeding-season; in winter a great many males

separate themselves from the females, and are found associating together

in flocks of from thirty to forty individuals.

 

They feed on the ground, keeping to the moist borders of marshes during

summer; they avoid woods, but occasionally alight on trees, where they

all sing in concert. The song, when an individual is heard singing

alone, is, though limited in its range, very sweet, some of the notes

being remarkable for their purity and expression. The bird sits on a

rush or stalk while singing, and makes a long pause after every note or

two, as if to make the most of its limited repertory. There is in the

song one rich full note, which, to my mind, is unequalled for plaintive

sweetness, and I am therefore surprised that Azara says only of this

species that it sings passably well--'_canta razonablemente_.'

 

The nest is neatly made of dry grasses, and attached to the rushes

growing in the water. The eggs are four, pointed, and spotted at the

larger end with dull brown and black on a white ground.

98. AGELÆUS FLAVUS (Gm.). (YELLOW-HEADED MARSH-BIRD.)

 

+Xanthosomus flavus+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 632 (Buenos

      Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 37; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 59

      (Buenos Ayres); _Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 41

      (Carhué); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 134

      (Entrerios). +Agelæus flavus+, _Scl. Cat. B._ xi. p. 346.

 

    _Description._--Black; head and rump, bend of the wing, and body

    beneath bright yellow; bill and feet black: whole length 6·7 inches,

    wing 4·2, tail 3·2. _Female_: above brown, slightly striated;

    eyebrows, rump, and body beneath yellowish; bill and feet brown.

 

_Hab._ Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

 

Azara called this bird _Cabeza amarilla_, or Yellow-head. It is found

throughout the eastern provinces of the Argentine country, ranging south

to about the thirty-sixth degree of latitude, and is also common in the

Banda Oriental.

 

The dull-plumaged birds are always very much more numerous than the

bright-coloured males, though Azara strangely asserts that the sexes

are alike. In Buenos Ayres, where it is called "Naranjo" by the country

people in allusion to its orange tints, it is very well known on account

of its yellow plumage, which looks so wonderfully brilliant in the

sunshine, and its partiality for cultivated districts, where it follows

the plough to pick up worms, and frequents the orchard to sing,

associating with the common Cow-bird and Yellow-breast. It remains all

the year, and is very sociable, going in flocks of from twenty to fifty

individuals, which when they settle on the trees all sing in concert,

pouring out their few peculiar notes with great power and emphasis.

 

Even in the breeding-season these companies do not always break up, and

frequently several pairs have nests near together. The nest is usually

built in a cardoon thistle, two or three feet above the ground, and is

made of dry grass. The eggs are four, pointed, white or with a bluish

tinge, and speckled irregularly with deep brown, the spots being closer

and sometimes confluent at the broad end.

 

Concerning the plumage of this species Mr. Barrows writes:--"Late in

March, 1881, we found this species in large flocks on the Pigué, and it

was a beautiful sight to see a hundred or more fluttering about among

the snowy plumes of the pampas grass, and displaying their rich black

and yellow dress. Unlike most other birds obtained at that time, their

plumage seemed nearly as bright and fresh as in summer."

99. AGELÆUS RUFICAPILLUS, Vieill. (RED-HEADED MARSH-BIRD.)

  +Agelæus ruficapillus+, _Scl. Cat. B._ xi. p. 347. +Xanthosomus

      ruficapillus+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 159 (Buenos

      Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 37; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 602

      (Salta, Catamarca). +Chrysomus frontalis+, _Burm. La-Plata

      Reise_, ii. p 492 (Paraná).

 

    _Description._--Glossy blue-black; crown of head and middle of

    throat dark chestnut; bill and legs black: whole length 7·5 inches,

    wing 3·7, tail 2·9.

 

_Hab._ Argentina and Paraguay.

 

The sexes are alike in this species: the crown of the head is rufous,

and with this exception the whole plumage a rich glossy blue-black. The

beauty of the bird and its delicate, plaintive voice would no doubt make

it a favourite with man if he saw more of it, only it lives and breeds

in marshes, and does not come near his habitations. The Red-heads are

gregarious and migratory. The flock can scarcely be said to break up in

the breeding-season, as the birds all make their nests near together in

the reeds. The nest is placed about one or two feet above the water, is

about six inches in depth, and made of leaves and aquatic grasses woven

together. The eggs are four, pointed, with a white or pale bluish

ground, and spotted with black at the larger end.

 

The song of the Red-head is quite unique in character. It begins with a

low, hollow-sounding note, then the voice changes to a clear, sorrowful

tone, rising in a rapid succession of short notes, and falling again in

longer ones.

 

After the breeding-season the birds fly about in flocks of two or three

hundred individuals, and sing in concert on the trees.

 

Their chirp has a peculiar metallic sound, and can be imitated by

tapping on the edge of a copper bell with the finger-nail. 

100. LEISTES SUPERCILIARIS, Bp. (RED-BREASTED MARSH-BIRD.)

 

+Leistes superciliaris+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1870, p. 333 (Buenos

      Ayres); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 38; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877,

175 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 602 (Salta);

      _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 136 (Entrerios); _Scl.

      Cat. B._ xi. p. 349. +Trupialis guianensis+, _Burm. La-Plata

      Reise_, ii. p. 490 (Banda Oriental).

 

    _Description._--Brownish black; superciliaries pale brown; bend of

    the wing and body beneath from the chin to the middle of the belly

    bright scarlet; bill and legs black; length 7·0 inches, wing 4·0,

    tail 2·5. _Female_ pale brown, above variegated with black, below

    stained with red on the breast; flanks and lower belly striated with

    black; tail cinereous brown, with black cross bars.

 

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

 

The most interesting point concerning this species is the very great

difference in habits, as well as appearance, existing between the sexes.

In form it resembles the Starling of Europe, but is a trifle smaller and

has a shorter tail. The male is black, the upper parts faintly mottled

with yellowish grey; there is a straw-coloured stripe over the eye; the

throat and breast bright crimson. The female is a smaller bird, and in

colour dull fulvous grey, mottled with fuscous; the red tint on the

breast scarcely perceptible.

 

These birds are migratory, and appear everywhere in the eastern part of

the Argentine country early in October, arriving singly, after which

each male takes up a position in a field or open space abounding with

coarse grass and herbage, where he spends most of the time perched on

the summit of a tall stalk or weed, his glowing crimson bosom showing at

a distance like some splendid flower above the herbage. At intervals

of two or three minutes he soars vertically up to a height of twenty

or twenty-five yards to utter his song, composed of a single long,

powerful, and rather musical note, ending with an attempt at a flourish,

during which the bird flutters and turns about in the air; then, as

if discouraged at his failure, he drops down, emitting harsh guttural

chirps, to resume his stand. Meanwhile, the female is invisible, keeping

closely concealed under the long grass. But at length, attracted perhaps

by the bright bosom and aerial music of the male, she occasionally

exhibits herself for a few moments, starting up with a wild, zigzag

flight, like