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

156. SUBLEGATUS GRISEOCULARIS, Sclater. (GREY-EYED TYRANT.)

 

+Sublegatus griseocularis+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1870, p. 17

      (Mendoza).

 

    _Description._--Above cinereous; wings and tail dark ashy brown,

    margins of wing-coverts and outer secondaries whitish; below, throat

    and breast pale cinereous white; belly and under wing-coverts pale

    lemon-yellow; bill horn-colour; feet dark brown: whole length 5·0

    inches, wing 2·8, tail 2·5. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ Southern Peru and Western Argentina.

 

Specimens of this species were obtained by Weisshaupt near Mendoza.

157. RHYNCHOCYCLUS SULPHURESCENS (Spix). (SULPHURY TYRANT.)

 

+Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 49;

      _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 607 (Misiones).

 

    _Description._--Above olive-green, head washed with cinereous; lores

    and line round the eye whitish; wings blackish brown, margined with

    yellowish olive; tail dark brown, slightly edged with olive-green;

    below sulphur-yellow tinged with olivaceous, throat more greyish;

    middle of the belly rather brighter; under wing-coverts pale

    sulphur-yellow; bill horn-colour; feet brown: whole length 5·2

    inches, wing 2·6, tail 2·5. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ S. America from Northern La Plata to Veragua.

 

Of this very widely diffused species specimens were obtained by White,

in June 1881, in the dense forests of Misiones.

158. PITANGUS BOLIVIANUS (Lafr.). (BIENTEVEO TYRANT.)

 

+Pitangus bellicosus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 50; _Durnford,

      Ibis_, 1877, p. 178 (Buenos Ayres); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 24

      (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 607 (Catamarca);

      _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 200 (Entrerios).

      +Saurophagus sulphuratus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 452.

 

    _Description._--Above brown; head black; front, superciliaries, and

    line round the nape white; large vertical crest yellow, tipped

    with black; wings and tail brown with rufous margins; beneath

    sulphur-yellow, inner margins of wing- and tail-feathers pale

    rufous; bill and feet black: whole length 8·0 inches, wing 4·2,

    tail 3·3. _Female_ similar, but yellow crest not so much developed.

 

_Hab._ Bolivia, S. Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.

 

The Bienteveo is in its habits the most interesting member of the

Tyrannine family. It would be difficult to find two species more

dissimilar in disposition than are the Silver-bill, already described,

and the Bienteveo; the former being like an automaton, having only a few

set motions, gestures, and instincts, while the other is versatile in an

extraordinary degree, and seems to have studied to advantage the various

habits of the Kestrel, Flycatcher, Kingfisher, Vulture, and fruit-eating

Thrush; and when its weapons prove weak it supplements them with its

running. How strange it is that these two species, mentally as widely

separated as the Humming-bird and Crow, should be members of the same

family!

 

The Bienteveo has a wide range in South America, and inhabits the whole

of the Argentine country down to Buenos Ayres, where it is very common.

It is resident and lives in pairs, the sexes being always faithful. The

body is stout, somewhat large for a Tyrant-bird; the length being nine

and a half inches, including the beak, which is a little over an inch

in length. The wings are blunt and comparatively short, measuring, when

spread, fourteen inches. The head is large, and a broad, black band

extends from the beak its entire length, and above this is a pure white

stripe; the crown is black, concealing in its loose, abundant feathers a

brilliant yellow crest, which shows only when the bird is excited. The

upper plumage, including wings and tail, is pale brown; the entire under

surface sulphur-yellow. In both sexes the plumage is alike.

 

In Buenos Ayres the Bienteveo is found in every orchard and plantation:

it is familiar with man and invariably greets his approach with loud

notes--especially with a powerful three-syllabled cry, in which people

fancy there is a resemblance to the words Bien-te-veo ("I see you

well"); while its big head and beak, and strongly contrasted colours,

especially the black and white head-stripes, seem to give it a

wonderfully knowing look, as it turns its head from side to side to

examine the intruder. It is a loud-voiced garrulous bird, and has a

great range of sounds, from grating screams to long, clear, almost

mellow call-notes. It has one pretty habit, which brings out strongly

the pleasant feature in its character. Though the male and female are

greatly attached, they do not go afield to hunt in company, like the

Short-winged Tyrant, but separate to meet again at intervals during the

day. One of a couple (say the female) returns to the trees where they

are accustomed to meet, and after a time, becoming impatient or anxious

at the delay of her consort, utters a very long, clear call-note. He is

perhaps a quarter of a mile away, watching for a frog beside a pool, or

beating, harrier-like, over a thistle-bed, but he hears the note and

presently responds with one of equal power. Then, perhaps, for half an

hour, at intervals of half a minute, the birds answer each other, though

the powerful call of the one must interfere with his hunting. At length

he returns; then the two birds, perched close together, with their

yellow bosoms almost touching, crests elevated, and beating the branch

with their wings, scream their loudest notes in concert--a confused

jubilant noise that rings through the whole plantation. Their joy at

meeting is patent, and their action corresponds to the warm embrace of

a loving human couple.

 

I have frequently stood for the space of half an hour concealed amongst

the trees where a Bienteveo was calling to her mate, cheered at

intervals by the far-off faint response, for the pleasure of witnessing

in the end the joyful reunion of the two birds.

 

Except when breeding the Bienteveo is a peaceful bird, never going out

of its way to make gratuitous attacks on individuals of its own or of

other species; but in the pursuit of its prey it is cunning, bold,

and fierce. Like the true Tyrant-birds it preys a great deal on large

insects when they are abundant in the warm season, and is frequently

seen catching its prey in the air. A large beetle or grasshopper it

invariably beats against a branch before devouring it. But even in

summer, when insect prey is most abundant, it prefers a more substantial

diet whenever such is to be had. It frequently carries off the

fledglings of the smaller birds from their nests, in the face of the

brave defence often made by the parents. It is also fond of fishing, and

may be seen perched by the hour on a bank or overhanging branch beside a

stream, watching the water like a Kingfisher, and at intervals dashing

down to capture the small fry. In shallow pools, where there are

tadpoles and other prey, the Bienteveo does not mind getting a little

wet, but alights in the water and stands belly-deep watching for its

prey. I have seen a Bienteveo standing in the water in the midst of a

flock of Glossy Ibises. They are often seen, as Darwin remarks, hovering

like a Kestrel over the grass, and then dashing down to seize their

prey. Small snakes, frogs, mice, and lizards all minister to its

appetite, and with a capture of this kind it invariably flies to the

nearest stone or branch, against which it beats the life of its victim

out before devouring it. I once saw one fly out of some weeds carrying a

little wriggling snake of a very brittle species and about eight inches

long in its beak. Alighting on a gate it proceeded to kill its capture,

and at the first blow on the wood the snake flew into two pieces. A

mouse gives it a great deal of trouble, for after it has been killed it

cannot be devoured until reduced by repeated blows to a soft pulp, after

which it is with great labour pulled to pieces and eaten. Snails and

_Ampullariæ_ are also pounded until the shell breaks. In spring they

sometimes join the train of hooded gulls, guira cuckoos, cow-birds, and

various other kinds which follow the plough to pick up worms and larvæ;

but on the ground the Bienteveo is awkward in its motions, for it cannot

run like the Tyrant-birds with terrestrial habits, but only hops. At

estancia houses, when a cow is slaughtered, it comes in with the fowls,

milvago hawks, and dogs, for small pickings, being very fond of fresh

meat. It is a common thing to see a Bienteveo following a rural

butcher's cart, and waiting for an opportunity to dash in and carry off

any small piece of meat or fat it is able to detach. In the autumn they

feed very much on ripe fruit, preferring grapes, which they can swallow

whole, and figs, which are soft and easily eaten.

 

In its nidification the Bienteveo also departs widely from the, so to

speak, traditional habits of its congeners; for whereas most Tyrants

make small shallow nests, this species makes a very big elaborate domed

structure, and sometimes takes five or six weeks to complete it. It is

placed in a tree, without any attempt at concealment, and is about a

foot deep and eight or nine inches broad, and composed of a variety

of soft materials, chiefly wool. The entrance is placed near the top.

Outside, the nest has a very disorderly appearance, as there are always

long straws and sometimes rags hanging down; the cavity is deeply lined

with feathers, and is the _hottest_ nest I know. The eggs are five, very

long, pointed, cream-coloured, and spotted, chiefly at the large end,

with chocolate and purple.

159. MYIODYNASTES SOLITARIUS (Vieill.). (SOLITARY TYRANT.)

 

  +Myiodynastes solitarius+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 50; _Durnford,

      Ibis_, 1877, p. 178, et 1878, p. 60 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z.

      S._ 1882, p. 607 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol.

      viii. p. 201 (Entrerios).

 

    _Description._--Above grey, thickly covered with numerous black

    shaft-spots; concealed vertical crest yellow; lores and sides of the

    head black, superciliaries white; wings blackish, primaries slightly

    edged with rufous, coverts and secondaries margined externally

    with greyish white; tail blackish, with narrow external margins of

    ferruginous; below greyish white, with numerous black striations;

    belly and under wing-coverts tinged with yellowish and but slightly

    striated; bill