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

be regretted, since

Azara gave a very full and spirited account of this species in his

'Apuntamientos;' although it certainly does seem strange that the Chopi

should have had two careful observers of its habits fully a century ago,

namely, Azara and his friend and fellow-naturalist the priest Noseda,

and not one since. Evidently Azara was very familiar with this bird, for

he describes it lovingly and at great length, his history of it being

one of the most charming things in his work. According to him the

Chopi is a highly sagacious bird, and although a frequent visitor to

courtyards and verandahs of houses in Paraguay, too shy and suspicious

to be caught with snares. It has a strong and easy flight, and readily

attacks any large bird passing near, following it persistently in

the air, or, pouncing down, fastens itself on its enemy's back. If

the Caracara Eagle (_Polyborus_) alights in order to shake off its

persecutor, the Chopi perches at a distance of a few feet, where it

assumes an indifferent manner; but no sooner does the Caracara allow its

attention to wander from its adversary, then it is again subjected to

fresh insult. These attacks on so large and powerful a species may be

regarded as mere impertinences, but by practising them the Chopi is soon

able to rid himself of the presence of any unwelcome bird. From a long

distance he recognizes an enemy, by its figure, or even its shadow, and

warns all birds of the coming danger with a loud whistle, which at

once sends them into hiding, while the Chopi goes bravely out to the

encounter; and the result is invariably a victorious song on his part,

beginning with the sound of his own name, and running through a variety

of whistled notes. He also sings well in captivity and when his mate is

incubating; and his voice is first heard welcoming the dawn from the

eaves and tiled roofs of houses where he roosts. The pairing-season is

in November; and, Noseda adds, the breeding-place is a hole in a bank,

or tree-trunks, or in a wall under the eaves, and occasionally the nest

is made in the small branches of an orange or other close-leafed tree,

and is built of sticks and straws carelessly disposed, with a few

feathers for lining. The eggs are four, and white.

 

It may be added that between Azara and his friend Noseda there was

a great controversy respecting the parasitical habits of the common

Cow-bird (_Molothrus_), which were first discovered by the former; and

disbelieved in by Noseda, who accounted for the fact that the Cow-bird

is never seen to make a nest by supposing that species to be the

year-old young of the Chopi, which, he further imagined, took three

years to acquire the adult form and plumage. Such an idea might seem to

discredit Noseda as a naturalist, if we did not remember that Gilbert

White at the same period was trying to prove the hybernation of Swallows

in England. The whole of the discussion appears in the 'Apuntamientos,'

under the description of the Chopi; and Noseda is there allowed to

state his own case; after which the better observer, Azara, gives five

objections to the theory, any one of which would be sufficient to

demolish it.

Fam. XII. (CORVIDÆ, or CROWS.)

 

The typical black Crows and Ravens do not penetrate into the New World

so far south as South America, their range terminating in the highlands

of Guatemala and the islands of the Greater Antilles. They have,

however, as representatives in South America several allied groups, clad

mostly in various shades of blue, and commonly known as Blue Crows and

Blue Jays. Two of these are known to occur in the woods of the northern

provinces of Argentina.

107. CYANOCORAX CHRYSOPS (Vieill.). (URRACA JAY.)

 

+Cyanocorax chrysops+, _Sharpe, Cat. B._ iii. p. 120. +Cyanocorax

      pileatus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 495 (Uruguay, Tucuman);

      _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 39; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882,

602 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 136

      (Entrerios). +Cyanocorax tucumanus+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1883, p. 216

      (Tucuman).

 

    _Description._--Above black, slightly glossed with purple; head,

    throat, and breast black, the plumes of the crown forming a crest;

    nape greyish blue, deepening into purple on the hind neck; above the

    eye a blue spot; below the eye a second spot and a patch at the base

    of the lower mandible purple; under surface and tip of the tail

    creamy yellow; bill and feet black: total length 14 inches, wing

    6·3, tail 7·1.

 

_Hab._ Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Northern Argentina.

 

"This Blue Jay is very common about the woods at Campo Colorado (Salta).

It is remarkably tame and inquisitive, and has a great variety of

peculiar grating metallic notes. On the sierras of Totoral I likewise

met with it; and it is found as far south as Tucuman and Catamarca."

(_White._) According to Azara it is abundant in Paraguay and familiar

with man, coming a great deal about the houses. The vernacular name

there is _Acahé_.

108. CYANOCORAX CÆRULEUS (Vieill.). (AZURE JAY.)

 

+Cyanocorax cæruleus+, _Sharpe, Cat. Birds_, iii. p. 126; _White, P.

S._ 1882, p. 603 (Misiones). +Cyanocorax azureus+, _Scl. et

      Salv. Nomencl._ p. 40.

 

    _Description._--Head all round, neck, and throat down to upper part

    of breast black; all the rest of the plumage fine and glossy blue;

    beak and feet black: total length 15·5 inches, wing 8·15, tail 6·9.

 

_Hab._ S. Brazil, Paraguay, and N. Argentina.

 

This fine species was originally discovered by Azara in Paraguay. In

June 1881 specimens were obtained at San Javier, Misiones, by White. He

writes: "This bird is found here at times in flocks, and makes a great

deal of noise, but is exceedingly wild and difficult to shoot, so that

I had to use ball-cartridge to secure this specimen."

+Cyanocorax cæruleus+, _Sharpe, Cat. Birds_, iii. p. 126; _White, P.

S._ 1882, p. 603 (Misiones). +Cyanocorax azureus+, _Scl. et

      Salv. Nomencl._ p. 40.

 

    _Description._--Head all round, neck, and throat down to upper part

    of breast black; all the rest of the plumage fine and glossy blue;

    beak and feet black: total length 15·5 inches, wing 8·15, tail 6·9.

 

_Hab._ S. Brazil, Paraguay, and N. Argentina.

 

This fine species was originally discovered by Azara in Paraguay. In

June 1881 specimens were obtained at San Javier, Misiones, by White. He

writes: "This bird is found here at times in flocks, and makes a great

deal of noise, but is exceedingly wild and difficult to shoot, so that

I had to use ball-cartridge to secure this specimen."

Suborder II. _OLIGOMYODÆ_.

 

 

 

 

 

Fam. XIII. (TYRANNIDÆ, or TYRANTS.)

The Tyrannidæ or Tyrant-birds, which play the part of our Flycatchers

in the New World, although they are quite different in structure,

contribute an important element in the Neotropical Avifauna, numbering

as they do more than 350 species. Of these 63 have already been met with

within the limits of the Argentine Republic, and the list, will, no

doubt, be further extended, as many of these birds are small and dull in

colour, and easily hide themselves in the dense forests to which they

resort.

 

The pampas are the special home of the Tæniopterinæ, or "Walking

Tyrants" as Swainson called them, which have strong feet and long

tarsi, and frequent open spaces. Amongst them the genera _Tænioptera_,

_Alectrurus_, _Cnipolegus_, and _Lichenops_ may be regarded as specially

characteristic of the Argentine avifauna. On the other hand, the

Elaineinæ and Platyrhynchinæ, which are eminently birds of the dense

forest, are much less numerous within the bounds of Argentina, and

are mostly confined to the wooded districts of the north. The typical

Tyranninæ form a more mixed group, some species of which, such as

_Tyrannus melancholicus_ and _Pyrocephalus rubineus_, are prominent

objects in the Argentine ornis.

109. AGRIORNIS STRIATA, Gould. (STRIPED TYRANT.)

+Agriornis striatus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 459 (Cordova);

      _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880, p. 356 (Tucuman); _Döring, Exp. al Rio

      Negro, Zool._ p. 41 (R. Colorado, R. Negro).

 

    _Description._--Above cinereous; wings blackish cinereous with light

    edgings; tail dark cinereous, with a distinct white margin to the

    external rectrix, and slight whitish tips to all rectrices; lores

    blackish; short superciliaries white: below pale cinereous; throat

    white, broadly striated with black; bill above black, below pale:

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

 

_Hab._ Eastern Argentina and Patagonia.

 

This species, originally discovered by Darwin in Patagonia, is also

found in Eastern Argentina. White obtained it in Catamarca, Durnford

in Tucuman, and Burmeister on the Rio Quarto, in Cordova.