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

110. AGRIORNIS MARITIMA (d'Orb. et Lafr.). (WHITE-TAILED TYRANT.)

 

+Agriornis maritima+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 41; _Durnford,

      Ibis_, 1878, p. 394 (Chupat); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._

      vol. viii. p. 137 (Sierra de la Ventana). +Agriornis leucurus+,

      _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 459 (Mendoza).

 

    _Description._--Above cinereous; secondaries edged externally and

    tipped with white; tail dark cinereous, the four external rectrices

    with the whole outer webs and about the one-third apical part of

    the inner webs white, the median rectrices tipped with white; below

    paler cinereous; throat greyish white, slightly striated with dark

    cinereous; lower belly, crissum, flanks, and under wing-coverts

    while, more or less tinged with cinnamomeous; bill and feet black:

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

 

_Hab._ Argentina, Patagonia, Chili, and Bolivia.

 

This _Agriornis_ was obtained by Durnford at Tombo Point in Central

Patagonia, by Burmeister in the Sierra de Uspallata, near Mendoza, and

by Barrows in the rocky gorges of the Sierra de la Ventana.

 

Darwin tells us of this species that it "is a scarce, shy, solitary

bird, frequenting the valleys in which thickets grow, but often feeding

on the ground. In the interior plains of Patagonia, on the banks of the

Santa Cruz, I several times saw it chasing beetles on the wing, in a

peculiar manner, half hopping and half flying; when thus employed it

spreads its tail, and the white feathers in it are displayed in a very

conspicuous manner. I also met with the species in the lofty and arid

valleys on the eastern side of the Cordillera of Central Chili, and

likewise at Copiapo." (Zool. Voy. 'Beagle,' iii. p. 57.)

111. MYIOTHERETES RUFIVENTRIS (Vieill.). (CHOCOLATE TYRANT.)

 

+Myiotheretes rufiventris+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1868, pp. 138,

      141 (Conchitas); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 42; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877,

175 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 394 (Centr. Patagonia);

      _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 603 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull.

      Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 140 (Entrerios). +Tænioptera variegata+,

      _Burm. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 635 (Buenos Ayres), _Hudson, P. Z. S._

      1870, pp. 333, 545, et 1871, p. 260 (Buenos Ayres).

 

    _Description._--Above and below smoky grey, clear on the head and

    breast; belly, crissum, and under wing-coverts bright rufous; wings

    black, inner secondaries bright chestnut terminated with white,

    outer secondaries black, tipped with white; wing-coverts grey,

    margined with white; tail black, outer margins of external pair of

    rectrices and tips of all whitish; two outer primaries emarginated;

    bill and feet black: whole length 9·5 inches, wing 6·7, tail 3·8.

    _Female_ similar, but outer primaries not emarginated.

 

_Hab._ Patagonia, Argentina, and Paraguay.

 

There is a striking resemblance to a Thrush in this species, when one

sees it running on the ground with its beak somewhat elevated; but when

it stands or perches, opening and closing its broad tail with a graceful

fan-like motion, the resemblance to the stiff automatic _Turdus_ grows

less, and when it flies vanishes altogether--its long wings being as

sharply pointed as those of the Peregrine Falcon, while its motions in

the air have a Gull-like grace and buoyancy.

 

It is a very pretty bird; the upper plumage is grey tinged with rufous,

the throat pure dark grey, breast and belly rufous, wing-coverts light

silvery grey, remiges and rectrices dark. Azara classed it under the

name of _Pepoaza_ (banded-wing) with the _Tæniopteræ_, to which it comes

very near in form, flight, language, and habits, though it has longer

legs and runs more on the ground. Its summer home is in Southern

Patagonia, but its breeding-habits are not known; in winter it migrates

north, and in May is found scattered over the pampas, where it is

usually called by the country people 'Chorlo,' a name for all Plovers;

for while running swiftly about on the ground, often associating with

flocks of Plover, it has a certain resemblance to them. From the hue of

its plumage it is also called 'El Chocolate,' a name I have thought it

best to preserve.

 

These birds are very sociable, going in small flocks, usually of from

half a dozen to twenty individuals; they are restless and active, and

quick and graceful in all their movements, and seek their food on the

ground, chiefly coleopterous insects, on the great level plains they

inhabit. While on the wing they pursue each other playfully in the air,

and also attack and chase passing birds of other kinds, apparently in a

sportive spirit. Occasionally they perch on a thistle-top or low bush,

but never on trees. Their only language is a long, low, plaintive

whistle, heard usually on warm still days in winter.

112. TÆNIOPTERA NENGETA (Linn.). (PEPOAZA TYRANT.)

 

+Tænioptera nengeta+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 459 (Paraná);

      _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 42; _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._

      viii. p. 137 (Entrerios); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 603

      (Misiones).

 

    _Description._--Above cinereous; lores white; wings black, coverts

    cinereous; a well-marked speculum at the base of the primaries and

    the edgings of the outer secondaries white; tail black, tipped

    with whitish cinereous, basal one-third of tail white; below pale

    cinereous, middle of throat white, with blackish stripe on each

    side; middle of belly, flanks, crissum, and under tail-coverts

    white; bill horn-colour; feet black: whole length 9·0 inches, wing

    5·0, tail 3·5. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentine Republic, and Bolivia.

 

To this species Azara gives the name of _Pepoazá_, the Guarani for

Barred-wing; and _Pepoaza_ was used by him as a generic name for

the small, well-defined group now placed in the genus _Tænioptera_,

comprising eight known species. Most of these birds have some

conspicuous wing-mark. They inhabit the southern portion of the

South-American continent, from South Brazil and Bolivia to the Straits

of Magellan, and are most numerous on the open pampas and in Patagonia.

In size they do not vary greatly, the largest being about nine inches

long, the smallest about seven. In colour they are grey, or, more

frequently, white relieved with black or grey, one species (_T.

rubetra_) being rufous. Their legs are long, and they run on the ground

like _Myiotheretes rufiventris_, feeding, to some extent, in the same

manner; but they also occasionally pursue and capture insects on the

wing, like the typical Tyrant-birds that seldom or never alight on

the ground. They have likewise another and unique preying-habit,

intermediate between the Plover-like habits of _Agriornis_,

_Myiotheretes_, and _Muscisaxicola_, and the Swallow- or Flycatcher-like

habits of the true Tyrants. The bird perches itself on an elevation--the

summit of a stalk, or bush, or even of a low tree--to watch like a

Flycatcher for its insect prey; only instead of looking about for

passing insects, it gazes intently down at the ground, just as a

Kingfisher does at the water, and when it spies a beetle or grasshopper,

darts down upon it, not, however, to snatch it up with the bill as other

Tyrants do, but it first grasps it with its feet, then proceeds to

despatch it, swaying about and opening its wings to keep its own

balance, just as an Owl is seen to do when it grasps a mouse or other

small animal in its claws. After devouring the insect on the spot, it

flies back to its perch to resume the watch. They are very restless,

active, playful birds, and seldom remain long on one spot, apparently

finding it irksome to do so; but I have seen the _T. irupero_ occupy

the same perch for hours every day while looking out for insects.

 

As an English generic name for this small interesting group might be

useful, I would suggest _Ground-gazers_ or _Ground-watchers_, which

describes the peculiar preying-habit of these birds.

 

The Pepoazá is a swift, active, graceful bird, with a strong, straight

beak, hooked at the point, and a broad tail four inches long, the total

length of the bird being nine inches. The throat and space between the

beak and eye are white; all the rest of the body, also the wing- and

tail-coverts, light grey; tail and wing-quills black, with a pure white

band across the base of the primaries. The tertiaries and rectrices are

tipped with pale rufous grey.

 

It inhabits Brazil south of the equator, Bolivia and Paraguay, also the

northern provinces of the Argentine Republic. Mr. Barrows gives the

following account of its lively habits in Entrerios:--"They are commonly

seen perched on fences or the tops of bushes or trees in open ground,

frequently making sallies for winged insects, or dropping to the ground

to catch a grasshopper or worm. When shot at while perched and watching

you, they almost invariably leave the perch at the flash, pitching

forward and downward, and usually evading the shot, even at short range.

Several times I have secured them by shooting about a foot below and two

feet in front of them as they sat, but they do not always fly in this

direction. The rapidity of their flight when frightened, or when

quarrelling, is simply astonishing. I have seen one chase another for

three or four minutes, doubling, turning, twisting, and shooting, now

brushing the grass, and now rising to a height of at least two or three

hundred feet, and all the movements so rapid that the eye could scarcely

follow them; and at the end of it each would go back to the top of his

own chosen weed-stalk, apparently without a feather ruffled."

 

Azara found this species breeding in a hole in a bank; and Mr. Dalgleish

has described a nest, taken from a tree in Uruguay, as a somewhat slight

structure, four inches in diameter, formed of sticks and fibres,

lined with fine grass and a few feathers. It contained three eggs,

pear-shaped, white, with large well-defined spots of reddish brown.

113. TÆNIOPTERA CORONATA (Vieill.). (BLACK-CROWNED TYRANT.)

 

+Tænioptera coronata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 459; _Scl. et

      Salv. Nomencl._ p. 42; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 176 (Buenos

      Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 603 (Buenos Ayres); _Döring,

      Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 42 (R. Colorado); _Barrows,

      Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.