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

+Tyrannus melancholicus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 452; _Scl.

      et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 53; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 178 (Buenos

      Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 608 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull.

      Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 202 (Entrerios).

 

    _Description._--Above grey with a slight greenish tinge; head

    with a concealed vertical crest of scarlet and yellow; lores and

    ear-coverts blackish; wings and tail brownish black with more or

    less of paler margins; beneath yellow, throat greyish white, breast

    more or less greyish, under wing-coverts pale yellow; bill and feet

    black; outer primaries attenuated; tail deeply forked: whole length

    8·5 inches, wing 4·6, tail 4·0. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ Mexico and Central and South America down to Buenos Ayres.

 

The violent and bold temper exhibited by most Tyrant-birds during the

breeding-season, a quality from which is derived the name of the family,

is perhaps carried to a greater degree in this species than in any

other; and when one spends many days or weeks in the marshy, littoral

forests, where the bird is most abundant, and hears its incessant

distressful screams, the specific name _melancholicus_ does not seem

altogether inappropriate; and that is the most that can be said of any

specific name invented by science, and which does not merely describe

some peculiarity of form or colour.

 

This Tyrant is one of the largest of its kind, its total length being

nearly nine inches. The wings are long and suited for an aerial life;

the legs are exceedingly short, and the feet are used for perching only,

for this species never alights on the ground. The throat and upper parts

are grey, tinged with olive on the back; the wings and tail dark; the

breast yellow tinged with green; the belly pure yellow. Under the loose

grey feathers of the crown is a fiery orange crest displayed in moments

of excitement.

 

In Buenos Ayres these birds arrive in September, after which their

shrill, angry cries are incessantly heard, while the birds are

seen pursuing each other through the air or in and out amongst the

trees--perpetually driven about by the contending passions of love,

jealousy, and rage. As soon as their domestic broils are over, a fresh

war against the whole feathered race begins, which does not cease until

the business of propagation is finished. I have frequently spent hours

watching the male, successively attacking, with scarcely an interval of

rest, every bird, big or little, approaching the sacred tree where its

nest was placed. Its indignation at the sight of a cowardly Carrion-Hawk

(_Milvago_) skulking about in search of small birds' nests, and the

boundless fury of its onset, were wonderful to witness.

 

They are extremely active, and when not engaged in their endless aerial

battles, are pursuing large insects on the wing, usually returning after

each capture to their stand, from which they keep a jealous watch on

the movements of all winged things about them. They are fond of marshy

places and water-courses, where they perch on a tall stalk to watch for

insects, and also frequently skim over the water like Swallows to drink

and dip their feathers.

 

A tall tree is usually selected for the nest, which is not unfrequently

placed on the very topmost twigs, exposed to the sight of every creature

passing overhead, and as if in defiance of birds of prey. With such an

aggressive temper as this bird possesses it is not strange perhaps that

it builds in the most exposed places, from which the female, in the

absence of her vigilant consort, can keep a sharp eye on the movements

of her feathered neighbours; but I have often thought it singular that

they do not make a deeper receptacle for their eggs, for the nest is

merely a slight platform of slender sticks, and very ill-adapted to

retain its burden during high winds. The parasitical Cow-bird never

enters this nest, which is not strange.

 

The eggs are four in number, small for the bird, pointed, parchment-white,

spotted with dark brown at the larger end. 

171. MILVULUS TYRANNUS (Linn.). (SCISSOR-TAIL TYRANT.)

+Milvulus tyrannus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 53; _Durnford,

      Ibis_, 1877, p. 178 (Buenos Ayres); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 26

      (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 203

      (Entrerios). +Tyrannus violentus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p.

      453.

 

    _Description._--Above cinereous, rump blackish; cap jet-black, with

    a concealed yellow vertical crest; wings dark brown; tail black,

    outer web of the outer rectrix white; beneath white; bill and feet

    black; three outer primaries excised at the tips: whole length 14·0

    inches, wing 4·6, tail 12·0. _Female_ similar, but outer

    tail-feathers not so long.

 

_Hab._ Mexico, and Central and South America, down to Patagonia.

 

The _Tijereta_ (Scissor-tail)--a name derived from the habit the bird

has of opening and closing the two long feathers of the tail when

flying--is found throughout South America, and in the summer of the

Southern Hemisphere ranges as far south as Patagonia.

 

The tail is forked, and the two outer feathers exceed by over four

inches in length the next two. The total length of the adult male

is fourteen inches, the tail being ten inches long; this species is

therefore one of the longest-tailed we know of. The tail of the female

is about two inches shorter than that of the male. The head is intense

black; the plumage of the crown is rather long and loose, and when

raised displays a vivid yellow crest. The neck and upper surface is

light, clear grey; the under surface pure white; the tail black. During

flight the two long feathers of the tail stream out behind like a pair

of black ribbons; frequently the bird pauses suddenly in its flight, and

then the two long feathers open out in the form of the letter V.

 

The Scissor-tail is migratory, and arrives, already mated, at Buenos

Ayres at the end of September, and takes its departure at the end of

February in families--old and young birds together. In disposition and

general habits it resembles the true Tyrant-birds, but differs from

them in language, its various chirping and twittering notes having a

hard percussive sound, which Azara well compares to the snapping of

castanets. It prefers open situations with scattered trees and bushes;

and is also partial to marshy grounds, where it takes up a position on

an elevated stalk to watch for insects, and seizes them in the air like

the Flycatcher. It also greedily devours elderberries and other small

fruits.

 

The nest is not deep, but is much more elaborately constructed than

is usual with the Tyrants. Soft materials are preferred, and in many

cases the nests are composed almost exclusively of wool. The inside is

cup-shaped, with a flat bottom, and is smooth and hard, the thistle-down

with which it is lined being cemented with gum. The eggs are four,

sharply pointed, light cream-colour, and spotted, chiefly at the large

end, with chocolate. In the breeding-time these Tyrants attack other

birds approaching the nest with great spirit, and have a particular

hatred to the Chimango, pursuing it with the greatest violence through

the air with angry notes, resembling in sound the whetting of a scythe,

but uttered with great rapidity and emphasis. How greatly this species

is imposed upon by the Cow-bird, notwithstanding its pugnacious temper,

we have already seen in my account of that bird.

 

The Scissor-tails have one remarkable habit; they are not gregarious,

but once every day, just before the sun sets, all the birds living near

together rise to the tops of the trees, calling to one another with

loud, excited chirps, and then mount upwards like rockets to a great

height in the air; then, after whirling about for a few moments, they

precipitate themselves downwards with the greatest violence, opening and

shutting their tails during their wild zigzag flight, and uttering a

succession of sharp, grinding notes. After this curious performance they

separate in pairs, and perching on the tree-tops each couple utters

together its rattling castanet notes, after which the company breaks up.

Fam. XIV. PIPRIDÆ, or MANIKINS.

The brilliantly coloured _Pipridæ_ or _Manikins_ are nearly altogether

confined to the tropical portions of the Neotropical Region, where they

number about 70 species. Only one of these has as yet been discovered

intruding in the northern outskirts of the Argentine Republic.

172. CHIROXIPHIA CAUDATA (Shaw). (LONG-TAILED MANIKIN.)

 

+Chiroxiphia caudata+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 55; _White, P. Z.

      S._ 1882, p. 608 (Misiones).

 

    _Description._--Above blue; cap scarlet; sides of head, nape, and

    wings black; tail black edged with bluish, two middle rectrices

    lengthened; beneath blue; throat, crissum, and under wing-coverts

    black; bill and feet reddish: whole length 6·0 inches, wing 3·1,

    tail 2·5. _Female_ green, cap scarlet.

 

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

 

White obtained two or three males and one female of this Manikin in the

forests of Misiones, on the banks of the Uruguay. One of his specimens

is now in the British Museum.

Fam. XV. (COTINGIDÆ, or COTINGAS.)

 

The _Cotingidæ_ are another characteristic Neotropical family, mostly

of splendid plumage, and nearly altogether confined within the limits

of the tropics. Two stragglers only, belonging to the more obscure

sections of the group, are as yet known to occur within the confines of

Argentina, though it is quite probable that others may be found later

on, when the northern forests are more completely explored.