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

campos

of Southern Brazil, which only just comes within our limits.

 

The Snipes and Plovers and their allies, constituting the Order

Limicolæ, are again in excess in the Argentine Avifauna, not less than

25 out of a known total of 73 Neotropical species having been already

met with within our limits. A large proportion, however, of these birds

are merely winter visitors, and breed only in the far north. On the

other hand, the Slender-billed Plover (_Oreophilus ruficollis_) and the

Winter Plover (_Eudromias modesta_) are species highly characteristic of

the Patagonian subregion, and come to the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres

from a contrary direction. Another especially characteristic Patagonian

family of this order is the Thinocoridæ or Seed-Snipes, of which two

species occur within our limits.

 

Of the Gaviæ, or Gulls and Terns, of the Argentine Republic, nine

species are already known out of a total of 53 Neotropical members of

the group, and additions no doubt will be made to the list when the

coast-birds of La Plata come to be better known.

 

The seventeenth order of Birds, Pygopodes, is represented in the

Argentine Ornis by five species of Grebes. Two of these are widely

diffused over all America, the remaining three are Antarctic species

belonging to the Patagonian subregion. As only nine species of this

groups are known to occur in the whole Neotropical Region, the Pygopodes

are highly in excess in the Argentine Avifauna.

 

The Impennes, or Penguins, which form the eighteenth order of birds,

according to the arrangement of the 'Nomenclator,' are a group specially

characteristic of high Antarctic latitudes. Nine species of Penguins

occur on the coasts of Antarctic America, but one of these only is as

yet known to reach so far north as our limits.

 

We now come to the Crypturi or Tinamous, an order of birds commonly

supposed to be Gallinaceous, and generally confounded with "Partridges"

and "Pheasants" in the vernacular. They are, however, in some points of

essential structure more nearly allied to the Struthiones, although they

doubtless fill the same place in the economy of Neotropical Nature as

the true Gallinaceous birds in other lands. The Tinamous are spread all

over the Neotropical Region and number about 36 species. Eight of these

occur within the Argentine Republic; and amongst them we may pick out

the Martineta Tinamou (_Calodromas elegans_) and the three species of

the genus _Nothura_ as being specially characteristic Patagonian types.

 

Lastly, we come to the final order of the Neotropical Ornis in the shape

of the Rheas, or the American representatives of the Ostrich-type of

bird-life. The Rhea is, above all other birds, a most characteristic

representative of the Avifauna of the Patagonian subregion. It is true

that it ranges far north throughout the campos of Inner Brazil, where

the outlying members have become developed into an almost distinct

species or subspecies, _Rhea americana macrorhyncha_. But south of

the Rio Negro of Patagonia another very distinct type of Rhea, almost

subgenerically different, is met with and extends thence to the Straits

of Magellan. _Rhea_ has also been lately ascertained to occur on the

western side of the Andes in the Chilian province of Tarapaco; so

that this fine form of bird-life is diffused nearly over the entire

Patagonian subregion, and is well entitled to be termed one of the most

characteristic features of the Patagonian Avifauna.

 

In conclusion, therefore, we may sum up our present knowledge of the

Argentine Avifauna somewhat as follows:--

 

The Argentine Avifauna comprises 434 species of birds, referable to 54

families and genera.

 

All the twenty Orders of the Neotropical Avifauna have representatives

within its boundaries, except the _Opisthocomi_ or Hoatzins, which are

restricted to the Amazonian subregion.

 

The most numerous families of the Argentine Avifauna are, among the

Passeres, the Finches with 46 species, the Tyrants with 63 species, and

the Wood-hewers with 46 species. Among the remaining Orders, the Diurnal

Birds of Prey with 19 species, the Waterfowl with 22 species, the Rails

with 13 species, the Snipes with 15 species, and the Tinamous with 8

species, are likewise well represented.

 

Genera characteristic and proportionately numerous in species in the

Argentine Avifauna are _Poospiza_ and _Phrygilus_ among the Finches,

_Tænioptera_ and _Cnipolegus_ among the Tyrants, _Synallaxis_ among the

Wood-hewers, _Fulica_ among the Rails, and _Nothura_ among the Tinamous.

Less numerous in species, but highly characteristic forms of the

Argentine Ornis, are _Thinocorus_, _Rhynchotis_, and _Rhea_.

 

The following ten genera, mostly monotypic, are, so far as we know at

present, restricted to the limits of the Argentine Avifauna or its

immediate confines:--_Donacospiza_ and _Saltatricula_ (Fringillidæ);

_Coryphistera_, _Anumbius_, _Limnornis_, and _Drymornis_

(Dendrocolaptidæ); _Rhinocrypta_, with two species (Pteroptochidæ);

_Spiziapteryx_ (Falconidæ); _Chunga_ (Cariamidæ); and _Calodromas_

(Tinamidæ). 

(Suborder I. _OSCINES._) (Order I. PASSERES.) Fam. I. (TURDIDÆ, or THRUSHES.)

 

Eight species of the almost cosmopolitan Thrush-family are known to

occur in the Argentine Republic. Of these, five belong to the

widely-spread genus _Turdus_, and are closely similar in structure to

our European Thrushes. The remaining three are Mock-birds (_Miminæ_)--a

group restricted to the New World, and sometimes considered more nearly

allied to the Wrens. They are remarkable as splendid songsters.

Burmeister includes in his list a fourth species of _Mimus_ (_M.

thenca_), as found in the Mendoza district; but there may be some

error in this, as _M. thenca_ is only known to us from Chili west

of the Andes.

1. TURDUS LEUCOMELAS, (Vieill. (DUSKY THRUSH.))

+Turdus leucomelas+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 1; _Hudson, P. Z.

      S._ 1870, p. 798 (Buenos Ayres); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 166

      (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 592 (Misiones and

      Corrientes); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 85

      (Concepcion); _Seebohm, Cat. Birds_, v. p. 213. +Turdus

      crotopezus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 474 (Mendoza).

 

    _Description._--Above olive-grey, tinged with brown on the head and

    neck; beneath pale grey, throat white, more or less striped with

    brown; middle of belly and crissum white; under wing-coverts and

    inner margins of wing-feathers fulvous; bill yellow; feet hazel:

    total length 9·0 inches, wing 4·5, tail 3·7. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ Eastern South America, from Cayenne to Buenos Ayres.

 

The Dusky Thrush is widely distributed in South America, and ranges as

far south as Buenos Ayres, where it is quite common in the woods along

the Plata river. It is a shy forest-bird; a fruit- and insect-eater;

abrupt in its motions; runs rapidly on the ground with beak elevated,

and at intervals pauses and shakes its tail; pugnacious in temper;

strong on the wing, its flight not being over the trees, but masked

by their shadows. It can always be easily distinguished, even at a

distance, from other species by its peculiar short, metallic chirp--a

melodious sound indicating alarm or curiosity, and uttered before

flight--in contrast to the harsh screams and chuckling notes of other

Thrushes in this district.

 

Whether it is a fine singer or not within the tropics I am unable to

say, its vocal powers having received no attention from the naturalists

who have observed it. With us in the temperate climate of Buenos Ayres,

where it commences to sing in September, it has the finest song of

any bird I know, excepting only _Mimus triurus_. Like the English

Song-Thrush, but unlike its near neighbours the Red-bellied Thrush and

the Magellanic Thrush, it perches on the summit of a tree to sing. Its

song is, however, utterly unlike that of the English bird, which is

so fragmentary, and, as Mr. Barrows describes it, made up of "vocal

attitudes and poses." The two birds differ also in voice as much as in

manner. The strains of the Dusky Thrush are poured forth in a continuous

stream, with all the hurry and freedom of the Sky-Lark's song; but

though so rapidly uttered, every note is distinct and clear, and the

voice singularly sweet and far-reaching. At intervals in the song there

recurs a two-syllabled note twice repeated, unlike in sound any other

bird-music I have heard, for it is purely metallic, and its joyous

bell-like "_te-ling te-ling_" always comes like a delightful surprise

to the listener, being in strange contrast with the prevailing tone.

 

The song is altogether a very fine one, its peculiar charm being that it

seems to combine two opposite qualities of bird-music, plaintiveness and

joyousness, in some indefinable manner.

 

I have never heard this species sing in a cage or anywhere near a human

habitation; and it is probably owing to its recluse habits that its

excellent song has not been hitherto noticed. Azara perhaps mistook the

song of this species for that of _Turdus rufiventris_, a very inferior

vocalist.

 

The nest is made in the centre of a thick bush or tree six or eight

feet above the ground, and is a deep elaborate structure, plastered

inside with mud, and lined with soft dry grass. The eggs are four in

number, oblong; the ground-colour light blue, abundantly marked with

reddish-brown spots.

 

This Thrush has, I believe, a partial migration in Buenos Ayres. In the

autumn and winter I have frequently observed it in localities where it

is never seen in summer.

2. TURDUS RUFIVENTRIS, Vieill. ((RED-BELLIED THRUSH.))

 

  +Turdus rufiventris+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 2; _Burm. La-Plata

      Reise_, ii. p. 474; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1870, p. 89 (Buenos

      Ayres); _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 167, 1880, p. 417 (Buenos

      Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 592 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull.

      Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 85 (Concepcion). +Turdus rufiventer+,

      _Seebohm, Cat. B._ v. p. 222.

 

    _Description._--Entire upper parts olive-grey; throat white, striped

    with dark brown, the striped portion extending to the chest; rest of

    under surface, also under wing-coverts, rufous-red, deepest on the

    belly; bill brownish yellow; feet brown: total length 9·0 inches,

    wing 4·6, tail 3·6. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and La Plata.

 

The Red-bellied Thrush, distinguished from the species just described

by its larger size and the bright rufous colour of its under plumage,

is common everywhere in the Plata region, and does not appear to be

migratory. It is a noisy, strong-winged, quarrelsome bird, closely

resembling the Dusky Thrush in its manners. It inhabits forests, runs

on the ground in search of food, and when approached darts away with

loud chuckling notes, flying close to the ground. These birds are also

often seen pursuing each other through the trees with loud harsh

screams.

 

The song has a faint resemblance to that of the English Song-Thrush,

being composed of a variety of notes uttered in the same disconnected

manner, with frequent pauses; but it is, both in sweetness and strength,

inferior to that of the English bird. As a rule this Thrush sings

concealed in a thick bush or tree.

 

The nest