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

RUSH-BIRD.)

 

  +Limnornis curvirostris+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 64; _Durnford,

      Ibis_, 1877, p. 182 (Buenos Ayres).

 

    _Description._--Above rufous-brown, brighter on the rump; lores and

    superciliaries white; wings and tail chestnut-brown; beneath white;

    flanks and under tail-coverts pale brown; under wing-coverts white;

    bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 7·0 inches, wing 3·0, tail

    2·0. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ Argentina and Uruguay.

 

This species is found everywhere in marshy places in the eastern part

of the Argentine Republic, and is also common in Uruguay, where Darwin

discovered it. It inhabits dense reed-beds which grow in the water,

and is not found in any other situation. It pairs for life, has a very

feeble flight, and flies with great reluctance, but lives always in

close concealment in one spot. It is, however, very inquisitive, and

when approached the two birds creep up to the summit of the rushes

and utter peculiar loud, rattling, and jarring notes, as if angrily

protesting against the intrusion.

 

The Rush-bird has a stout body and short graduated tail, strong claws,

and a slender curved beak three-fourths of an inch long. The upper

plumage is brown, the tail rufous, the under surface and a mark over

the eye white.

 

 

PHACELLODOMUS FRONTALIS (Licht.).

 

(RED-FRONTED THORN-BIRD.)

 

  +Phacellodomus frontalis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 467

      (Tucuman); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 65; _Salvin, Ibis_, 1880,

359 (Salta); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 612 (Buenos Ayres).

      +Phacellodomus sincipitalis+, _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 433.

 

    _Description._--Above nearly uniform olive-brown, crown blackish

    brown, superciliaries white; beneath dirty brownish white; under

    wing-coverts pale cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour: whole length

    6·8 inches, wing 2·6, tail 2·6. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ S. America, from Venezuela to Argentina.

 

The Red-fronted Thorn-bird, which is found in the Northern provinces of

Argentina, and only occurs as a straggler near Buenos Ayres, resorts to

the thickets, and in its habits is said to resemble the _Synallaxes_ of

the group to which _S. spixi_ and _S. albescens_ belong. It builds a

large nest of sticks, and White says that it makes a peculiar chattering

sound that has the effect of exciting other small birds, and causes them

to crowd about it.

 

 

PHACELLODOMUS SIBILATRIX, Scl.

 

(WHISTLING THORN-BIRD.)

 

  +Phacellodomus sibilatrix+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1879, p. 461; _White, P.

S._ 1882, p. 612 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn.

      Cl._ viii. p. 209 (Entrerios).

 

    _Description._--Above dull olive-brown, paler on the sides of the

    head; front and lesser wing-coverts chestnut-red; wing-feathers

    blackish, edged with olive-brown; tail light chestnut, the middle

    pair of feathers and the inner webs of the two next pairs brown,

    like the back; beneath dirty brownish white, washed with ochraceous

    on the flanks; under wing-coverts bright cinnamon: whole length 5·3

    inches, wing 2·2, tail 2·2.

 

_Hab._ Argentina.

 

This species resembles _P. frontalis_, but differs in its much smaller

size, and in having the upper lesser wing-coverts bright rufous.

 

It inhabits the thorny woods of the northern districts of the Argentine

country, but I have no reason to regret that I have not personally

observed this species, since Mr. Barrows's careful account of

its nesting-habits leaves nothing to be desired. He writes:--"An

abundant species among the open woods along the Uruguay, and hardly

distinguishable at ten paces from half a dozen others. Its nest,

however, is unmistakable. The birds begin by fixing a few crooked and

thorny twigs among the terminal sprays of some slender branch which juts

out horizontally from a tree, or rises obliquely from near its base, and

around these twigs as a nucleus more are gathered, until, by the time

the nest has reached the proper size, its weight has bent the branch so

that its tip points directly to the earth. Nests which are thus begun at

a distance of fifteen or twenty feet from the ground are often only two

or three feet from it when finished, and a thorough soaking by a heavy

rain will sometimes weigh them down until they actually touch. They are

more or less oval or cylindrical in shape, and commonly about two feet

long by twelve or fifteen inches in diameter, and contain from a peck

to a bushel of twigs and thorns. The nest-cavity within is small in

proportion to the size of the nest, and occupies its upper part. It is

reached by a more or less direct passage-way from below, the external

opening being very nearly at the lowest part of the nest, though

sometimes a little shelf, or even a pocket, is built on to the side,

forming a resting-place in front of the door.

 

"The nests vary interminably in size and shape, but are pretty constant

in the material used; this being almost always irregular and thorny

twigs of various trees growing in the neighbourhood, while the interior

is formed of less thorny twigs and with some wool and hair. Usually,

also, if the material be at hand, a quantity of old dry horse-droppings

is placed loosely on the top of the nest, and gradually becomes felted

into it, rendering it more nearly waterproof. In place of this I have

frequently found quantities of broken straw, weed-stalks, grass, and

even chips; all doubtless collected from the ridges of drift which the

last overflow of the river had left near at hand. So compactly is the

whole nest built, that it often lasts more than one year, and may

sometimes serve the same pair two successive summers. More often,

however, a new nest is built directly above the old one, which serves

as a foundation, and occasionally as many as three nests are seen thus

on the same branch-tip, two of them at least being occupied. When other

branches of the same tree are similarly loaded, and other trees close at

hand also bear the same kind of fruit, the result is very picturesque.

The eggs, which are white, are laid from October 1 to January 1, but

many of the birds work at nest-building all the winter, sometimes

spending months on a single nest."

 

 

PHACELLODOMUS STRIATICOLLIS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

 

(RED-WINGED THORN-BIRD.)

 

  +Anumbius striaticollis+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 255 (Buenos Ayres).

      +Phacellodomus striaticollis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 65.

 

    _Description._--Above, forehead and crown rufous; lores white; sides

    of head, neck, and back brown; whole wing chestnut, the feathers

    tipped with blackish; tail chestnut; beneath white, clearer on the

    throat and breast, which are marked with slight white shaft-spots;

    sides of breast and flanks washed with reddish brown; under

    tail-coverts brown; under wing-coverts cinnamon; bill and feet

    horn-colour: whole length 8·0 inches, wing 2·9, tail 3·1. _Female_

    similar.

 

_Hab._ Argentina and Uruguay.

 

D'Orbigny, who discovered this species in Uruguay, and found it also

near Buenos Ayres, remarks that it lives in pairs in the thorny bushes,

and resembles its congeners in habits. It is, however, certainly not

common in the vicinity of the Argentine capital, for Hudson has never

met with it.

 

 

PHACELLODOMUS RUBER (Vieill.).

 

(RED THORN-BIRD.)

 

  +Phacellodomus ruber+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 467 (Paraná,

      Cordova); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 65; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877,

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

      210 (Entrerios). +Phacellodomus maculipectus+, _Cab. J. f. O._

      1883, p. 109 (?).

 

    _Description._--Above olive-brown, front chestnut; tail brownish

    chestnut; beneath whitish, throat, breast, and flanks washed and

    mottled with bright reddish brown; under wing-coverts and inner

    margins of wing-feathers bright cinnamon; bill and feet horn-colour:

    whole length 7·3 inches, wing 2·6, tail 3·2. _Female_ similar.

 

_Hab._ Argentina.

 

This is a common species throughout the eastern portion of the

Argentine country, and extends as far south as the southern boundary

of the Buenos Ayrean province.

 

It is resident, living in pairs in places where there are scattered

thorny trees and bushes, and is never found in deep woods. It never

attempts to conceal itself, but, on the contrary, sits exposed on a bush

and will allow a person to approach within three or four yards of it.

Nor has it the restless manner of most Synallaxine birds which live in

the same places with it, but moves in a slow deliberate way, and spends

a great deal of time sitting motionless on its perch, occasionally

uttering its call or song, composed of a series of long, shrill,

powerful notes in descending scale and uttered in a very leisurely

manner. It builds a large oblong nest of sticks, about two feet deep,

and placed obliquely among the thorny twigs of a bush or low tree. Mr.

Barrows writes:--"There are commonly two cavities in the nest, one being

half open to the weather, and forming the entrance, the other further

back and connected with the former by only a short passage-way, which in

many cases is reduced to a simple hole through a broad partition, which

alone separates them." The eggs are four and of a pure white.

 

The name commonly used for this species is founded on the "_Anumbé

roxo_" of Azara's 'Apuntamientos'; but the description given there of

the bird's nesting-habits shows either that some other species was

meant--perhaps _P. sibilatrix_, Döring--or that the nesting-habits of

a different bird have been assigned to _P. ruber_.

 

 

HOMORUS LOPHOTES, Reichenb.

 

(BROWN CACHALOTE.)

 

[Plate IX.]

 

[Illustration: HOMORUS LOPHOTES.]

 

  +Homorus lophotes+, _Reichb. Handb._ p. 172; _Barrows, Bull. Nutt.

      Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 212 (Entrerios); _Hudson, Ibis_, 1885,

283 (Buenos Ayres). +Anabates unirufus+, _Burm. La-Plata

      Reise_, ii. p. 466 (Cordova). +Homorus unirufus+, _Scl. et Salv.

      Nomencl._ p. 65; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 612 (Catamarca).

 

    _Description._--Above brown, tinged with olive on the back, but

    clear and rufescent on the hind head and rump; crest-feathers

    blackish brown; wings blackish; tail chestnut; beneath earthy brown,

    throat rufous; under wing- and tail-coverts and inner margins

    of wing-feathers pale rufous; bill pale bluish, feet bluish

    horn-colour: whole length 9·8 inches, wing 4·6, tail 4·2. _Female_

    similar.

 

_Hab._ Argentina.

 

This species interested me greatly during my observations of the

Argentine birds, but, owing to its rarity and to its recluse habits,

my knowledge of it is very scanty. It is found in the north and

north-western parts of the Argentine territory; in the province of

Buenos Ayres its presence is confined to the narrow strip of subtropical

wood fringing the low shores of the Plata river.

 

When surprised, its white eye, blue dagger-like beak, and raised crest

give it a strikingly bold and angry appearance, the effect of which is

heightened by the harsh rasping scream it utters when disturbed. This

resentful look is deceptive, however, for the bird is the shiest

creature imaginable. Its language has the shrill excited character

common to this most loquacious family; and at intervals throughout the

day two birds, male and female, meet together and make the woods echo

with their screaming concert. For many weeks after I had become familiar

with these loud-sounding notes, while collecting in the littoral forest

where it is found, the bird was still to me only a "wandering voice";

but I did not give up the pursuit till I had seen it several times

and had also secured two or three specimens. I found one nest, though

without eggs, a rough-looking domed structure, made with material enough

to fill a barrow. I also discovered that the bird feeds exclusively on

the ground, close to the boles of low-branching trees, where there is

usually an accumulation of fallen bark, dead leaves, and other rubbish.

Here the bird digs with its sharp beak for the small insects it preys

When approached it does not fly away, but runs swiftly to the

nearest tree, behind the trunk of which it hides, then scuttles on to

the next tree, and so escapes without showing itself.

 

Mr. Barrows, who observed the Cachalote at Concepcion, says that it is

a bird which cannot be overlooked, with an outrageous disposition and

voice, and a nest the size of a barrel. He gives the following account

of its nidification:--"His nest is built entirely of sticks, and many of

them of goodly size, frequently as large round as your little finger and

two feet or more long. These are disposed in such a way as to form a

structure three or four feet in length by about two in breadth in the

widest part, the whole very much resembling a gigantic powder-flask

lying on its side among the lower branches of a spreading tree. It is

quite loosely built and the nest-cavity is rather indefinite, being

any portion of the floor of the nest which the bird selects for the

reception of the eggs. These are usually three or four in number, pure

white, and are laid from October until January. They can usually be

counted through the loose floor of the nest, though sometimes its

thickness prevents this."

 

 

HOMORUS GUTTURALIS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

 

(WHITE-THROATED CACHALOTE.)

 

  +Anabates gutturalis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 467 (Mendoza).

      +Homorus gutturalis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 65; _Hudson,

Z. S._ 1872, p. 545 (Rio Negro); _id. Ibis_, 1885, p. 284;

      _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 36, et 1878, p. 396 (Chupat, Central

      Patagonia).