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

admiration, calls it "an

exquisitely beautiful little bird." There are many species possessing

a more brilliant plumage, none with so great a variety of distinct

colours; for on its minute body, which is less than that of the

House-Wren, are seen black, white, green, blue, orange, yellow, and

scarlet; and all these hues are disposed and contrasted in such a manner

as to produce a very pleasing effect--the olive-green and delicate,

yellow predominating, while the vivid scarlet is a mere spot, like the

bright gem or ornament which serves to set off and enhance the beauty of

the dress. The whole under plumage is pure lovely yellow, while a broad

mark of velvet-black extends belt-wise from the bend of each wing, but

without meeting in the centre of the bosom. The sides of the head are

deep blue; over the blue runs a bright yellow stripe, surmounted with

the loose, slender, almost hair-like feathers of the crown, which stand

partially erect, and are blue mixed with black, with vivid scarlet in

the centre. Above, from the back of the head to the tail, the colour is

deep green. The wings are black, crossed with a white band; tail also

black, the two outer quills pure white, and the succeeding two partially

white, the white colour appearing only when the bird flies. Moreover, as

though this diversity of colour were not enough, the soles of the black

feet are bright orange, the eye of the male delicate sky-blue, while the

female has white eyes.

 

While on the subject of the colouring of this species, I will mention

a curious phenomenon which I have observed many times. When the bird

is flying away from the spectator in a strong sunlight, and is at a

distance of from twenty to thirty yards from him, the upper plumage,

which is dark green, sometimes appears bright blue. At first I thought

that a distinct species of _Cyanotis_, cerulean blue in colour, existed,

but finally became convinced that the green feathers of the _C. azaræ_

appear blue in certain lights. This seems strange, as the feathers of

the back are not glossed.

 

The Many-coloured Tyrant is, apparently, a very feeble flier, rising

reluctantly when frightened from the rushes, and fluttering away to a

distance of a few yards, when it again drops down. Yet it is strictly

migratory. Darwin met with it at Maldonado in the month of June, and

therefore concluded that it does not migrate; but he mentions that

it was very rare. I have also occasionally seen one in winter on the

pampas, but many migratory species leave a few stragglers behind in the

same way. At the end of September they suddenly appear all over the

pampas, in every swamp and stream where there are beds of rushes; for in

such situations only is the bird found: and this migration extends far

into Patagonia. They are always seen in pairs amongst the dense rushes,

where they perch on the smooth stems, not near the summit, but close

down to the surface of the water, and perpetually hop from stem to stem,

deftly picking up small insects from the surface of the water. They also

occasionally leave the rushes and search for insects in the grass and

herbage along the border. They are very inquisitive, and if a person

approach the rush-bed, they immediately come out of their concealment,

both birds uttering their singular notes--a silvery, modulated sound,

not meant for a song apparently, and yet I do not know any sweeter,

purer sound in nature than this. All through the close-growing dark

rushes the pretty little melodists may be heard calling to each other

in their delicate, gurgling notes.

 

The nest is a marvel of skill and beauty. As a rule it is attached to a

single polished rush, two or three feet above the water and about the

middle of the stem. It is cup-shaped inside, and about four inches long,

circular at the top, but compressed at the lower extremity, and ending

in a sharp point. It is composed entirely of soft bits of dry yellow

rush, cemented together with gum so smoothly that it looks as if made

in a mould. The eggs are two in number, oval, and dull creamy white,

sometimes with a ring of colour at the large end.

151. LEPTOPOGON TRISTIS, Scl. et Salv. (SORRY TYRANT.)

 

+Leptopogon tristis+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1876, p. 254; _White,

Z. S._ 1882, p. 606 (Misiones).

 

    _Description._--Above olive; cap rather darker; wings and tail

    blackish, margined with olive, the two rows of wing-coverts and

    three or four outer secondaries with clear yellowish-white apical

    spots; beneath pale sulphur-yellow; under wing-coverts yellow; inner

    margins of wing-feathers whitish: bill horn-colour; feet brown:

    whole length 4·4 inches, wing 2·1, tail 2·1.

 

_Hab._ Northern La Plata and Bolivia.

 

This bird was obtained by White near San Javier, Misiones, "amongst the

lofty trees on the river-banks." White believed that he also met with it

in the Sierra de Totoral.

152. ELAINEA ALBICEPS (d'Orb. et Lafr.). (WHITE-CRESTED TYRANT.)

 

+Elainea modesta+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 454. +Elainea

      albiceps+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 48; _Durnford, Ibis_,

      1878, p. 60 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.

      viii. p. 200 (Entrerios); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 606 (Buenos

      Ayres).

 

    _Description._--Above dark ashy brown, with a slight olivaceous

    tinge on the rump; head slightly darker, with a more or less

    concealed white vertical spot; wings and tail blackish brown; tips

    of wing-coverts, forming two transverse bands, and outer margins

    of exterior secondaries dirty white; rest of wing-feathers and

    tail-feathers slightly margined with lighter colour; below nearly

    uniform pale cinereous, whiter on the throat and middle of the

    belly; under wing-coverts slightly tinged with yellowish; bill

    brownish; feet black: whole length 6·0 inches, wing 3·2, tail 3·0.

    _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guiana, Brazil, Argentina, Chili,

Patagonia.

 

A widely spread species, very common near Buenos Ayres according to

White, where it is found in the clumps of trees.

153. ELAINEA STREPERA, Cab. (NOISY TYRANT.)

 

+Elainea strepera+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1883, p. 215.

 

    _Description._--Above dark greyish olive; head slightly crested,

    with a white basal spot; eye-ring white; wings and tail blackish,

    tips of wing-coverts rufous, slight margins of wing and

    tail-feathers olivaceous; beneath cinereous; middle of belly white;

    flanks olivaceous; under wing-coverts pale cinereous; bill dark

    brown, pale at the base; feet blackish: whole length 5·6 inches,

    wing 2·9, tail 2·7.

 

_Hab._ Tucuman.

 

Dr. Cabanis established this species, which is unknown to us, on

specimens obtained by Herr Schulz in the woods of Tucuman. It is said

to have a loud voice, and to feed on berries.

154. ELAINEA VIRIDICATA (Vieill.). (GREENISH TYRANT.)

 

+Muscicapara viridicata+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 325. +Elainea

      grata+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1883, p. 216 (Tucuman).

 

    _Description._--Above dark olive-green; head dark cinereous,

    slightly crested, with a large basal spot of bright yellow; lores

    and eye-region mixed with whitish; wings and tail ashy black, with

    slight margins of the same colour as the back; below pale cinereous;

    belly, crissum, and under wing-coverts sulphur-yellow; bill

    blackish; feet dark brown: whole length 5·0 inches, wing 2·5, tail

    2·5. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ South America.

 

The _Elainea grata_, based by Dr. Cabanis upon specimens obtained

by Herr Schulz in Tucuman, must, I think, be identical with Azara's

_Contramaestre pardo verdoso, corona amarilla_, upon which Vieillot

established his _Sylvia viridicata_. It is certainly, in my opinion,

the _Muscicapara viridicata_ of d'Orbigny.

 

Herr Schulz met with this species in the province of Tucuman, in the

month of December.

155. EMPIDAGRA SUIRIRI (Vieill.). (SUIRIRI TYRANT.)

 

+Tænioptera suiriri+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 460 (Tucuman).

      +Empidagra suiriri+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 49; _iid. P. Z.

      S._ 1869, p. 633 (Buenos Ayres); _Cab. J. f. O._ 1878, p. 197.

      +Pachyrhamphus albescens+, _Gould, Zool. Beagle_, iii. p. 50, t.

      xiv. (Buenos Ayres).

 

    _Description._--Above cinereous; wings and tail blackish, all the

    wing-coverts and outer secondaries broadly margined externally

    with white; outer web of outer tail-feathers white; outer edges of

    primaries and narrow ends of tail-feathers cinereous; below white,

    under wing-coverts pale yellowish white; bill and feet black: whole

    length 5·5 inches, wing 2·9, tail 2·5.

 

_Hab._ Argentine Republic, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia.

 

This species is stated by Prof. Burmeister to be found in Tucuman and

Northern Argentina. It also occurs near Buenos Ayres, where Hudson

obtained specimens for the Smithsonian Institution.