Argentine Ornithology Volume I Part 23

115. TaeNIOPTERA IRUPERO (Vieill.).

(WIDOW TYRANT.)

+Taenioptera irupero+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1868, p. 141 (Buenos Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 42; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 603 (Catamarca, Misiones); _Doring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 42 (R. Colorado); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 139 (Entrerios). +Taenioptera msta+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii.

p. 460.

_Description._--Above and beneath pure white; wings with the primaries black except the innermost, which are white at their bases and tipped with black, and secondaries which have narrow black shafts; broad end of the tail black; bill and feet black; two outer primaries ac.u.minated: whole length 70 inches, wing 43, tail 32. _Female_ similar.

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

This pretty species is found throughout the Argentine country, and is well known to the natives, and usually called _Viudita_ (Little Widow), on account of its mourning colours. It is also sometimes curiously named _Anjelito de las Animas_, from a superst.i.tious notion due to the intense whiteness of its plumage and to its supposed habit of frequenting graveyards. In both s.e.xes the entire plumage is snowy white, except the primaries and the tip of the tail, which are black. In habits it is more sedentary than other _Taeniopterae_, and obtains its food chiefly by patiently watching the surface of the ground for its insect prey. Its marvellously white plumage, and the habit of sitting motionless on the summit of a bush or tree, make it a most conspicuous object, so that it is strange to find such a bird existing in districts which abound in raptorial species; for Hawks, I have frequently noticed, will always single out a white or conspicuously coloured bird for pursuit, and though the Little Widow, like the other members of its genus, is swift and strong of wing, the feeble and the young must often fall victims to their s.h.i.+ning white plumage.

The Little Widow is a solitary bird, and not nearly so lively and playful in manner as _T. coronata_ and _T. dominicana_, its surpa.s.sing whiteness being its most interesting feature. Its nesting-habits are unlike those of other _Taeniopterae_, for it breeds only in holes, usually in the bole or branch of a tree; but sometimes it takes possession of the oven of _Furnarius rufus_ to lay in. The nest is composed chiefly of feathers and contains four eggs, creamy white, with a few very minute red spots, irregularly distributed. Mr. Dalgleish says, "Some eggs have only two or three spots, none have more than eight or ten."

Mr. Barrows says:--"The adults have several of the primaries remarkably attenuated. Young birds appear to acquire these attenuate primaries only after a complete moult. But I took one specimen which showed one or more primaries with tips of ordinary shape but with a line apparently _worn_ into the vane of the inner web, so as to mark out distinctly the attenuate tip, and it seemed as if a little more wearing would cut out a piece which would leave the primary as in the old bird."

116. TaeNIOPTERA MURINA (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(MOUSE-BROWN TYRANT.)

+Taenioptera murina+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 541 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 42; _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 38 (Cordova). +Pyrope murina+, _Cab. Journ. f. Orn._ 1878, p. 196 (Cordova).

_Description._--Above sandy cinereous, whitish round the eyes; wings and tail blackish with whitish edgings; below much paler, throat whitish with slight black striations; belly and crissum tinged with ochraceous; under wing-coverts and flanks pale ochraceous; bill horn-colour; feet black; two outer primaries ac.u.minated: whole length 70 inches, wing 40, tail 29. _Female_ similar, but outer primaries normal.

_Hab._ Western Argentina and North Patagonia.

This species inhabits the Mendoza district, and migrates south in spring. I met with it on the Rio Negro, in Patagonia, where it made its appearance in October. The s.e.xes are alike. The entire upper plumage is dull grey with a pale rufous tinge; throat, breast, and belly pale buff tinged with grey. It is a solitary bird, restless in manner, has a swift flight, and sits on a stalk or other slight elevation, from which it darts down to seize any insect it spies on the ground. Its only language is a very low whistling note.

117. TaeNIOPTERA RUBETRA (Burm.).

(CHAT-LIKE TYRANT.)

[Plate VII.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TaeNIOPTERA RUBETRA.]

+Taenioptera rubetra+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 461 (Mendoza); _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 541 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv.

Nomencl._ p. 42; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 34, et 1878, p. 394 (Patagonia).

_Description._--Above sandy brown, lores and superciliaries white; wings black, greater coverts and outer secondaries edged with whitish, lesser coverts like the back; tail black, outer web of the outer tail-feathers and tips of others white; below white, with black striations on the sides of the throat and on the breast; flanks, under wing-coverts, and inner webs of the primaries deep rufous; two outer primaries ac.u.minated: whole length 75 inches, wing 47, tail 32. _Female_ rather paler, throat and breast washed with ochraceous, and outer primaries not ac.u.minated.

_Hab._ Interior of Argentine Republic and Patagonia.

I have met with this bird at all seasons of the year in Patagonia on the Rio Negro, and think it probable that it has no migration. It is seen in flocks of twenty or thirty individuals, and in its lively actions when on the wing, and in its habit of perching on a bush or elevation of some kind, from which it pounces down on an insect seen on the ground, it resembles other _Taeniopterae_; but it runs about on the ground a great deal, and in this respect is more like a _Myiotheretes_ or _Muscisaxicola_. In its colour it also diverges widely from the typical _Taeniopteras_ in their black and white Dominican plumage. The whole upper parts are light chestnut, with a white mark on the side of the head; wings and tail dark, tipped with pale rufous; throat, breast, and belly whitish rufous, with dark lines on throat and bosom. The chestnut hue in the female is paler and mixed with grey.

118. OCHTHCA LEUCOPHRYS (d'Orb. et Lafr.).

(WHITE-BROWED TYRANT.)

+Ochthca leucophrys+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 42; _White, P.

Z. S._ 1882, p. 603 (Catamarca).

_Description._--Above dark cinereous, rump rufescent; wings black, cross-bands on wing-coverts and edges of outer secondaries rufous; tail blackish, outer web of external rectrix white; beneath pale cinereous; lower belly, crissum, and under wing-coverts white; bill and feet black: whole length 52 inches, wing 30, tail 27.

_Hab._ Bolivia and Northern Argentina.

A single specimen of this bird was obtained by White at Fuerte de Andalgala, Catamarca, in September 1880, during a snow-storm.

119. SAYORNIS CINERACEA (Lafr.).

(ASHY TYRANT.)

+Sayornis cineracea+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43. +Aulanax latirostris+, _Cab. J. f. O._ 1879, p. 335 (Tuc.u.man).

_Description._--Above dark cinereous; head sooty black; wings and tail blackish, outer margins of the wing-coverts and secondaries and outer web of the external tail-feather white; below sooty black, middle of belly and under wing-coverts white, flanks and crissum dark cinereous; bill and feet black: whole length 95 inches, wing 34, tail 31. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and N. Argentina.

Examples of this wide-ranging species, obtained by Doring in Tuc.u.man, are referred by Dr. Cabanis to his subspecies "_latirostris_," which seems to us hardly distinct from _S. cineracea_.

120. FLUVICOLA ALBIVENTRIS (Spix).

(WHITE-BELLIED TYRANT.)

+Fluvicola albiventris+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 43; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 59 (Buenos Ayres).

_Description._--Above black; front half of head, narrow band across the rump, and slight edgings to wing-coverts and outer secondaries white; below white; bill and feet black: whole length 55 inches, wing 28, tail 22. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Amazonia, Bolivia, and Argentine Republic.

The small black-and-white Tyrant is not uncommon in the marshes and on the river-margins in the Plata district, its spring migration extending south to Buenos Ayres. Like the Kingfisher, it haunts the water-side and is found nowhere else. It has a shy, retiring disposition, concealing itself in the close thickets overhanging a stream, so that one does not often see it, notwithstanding its conspicuous white plumage. When disturbed it emits a series of low ticking notes, or darts swiftly out from the thicket, showing itself for a moment over the water before disappearing once more into its hiding-place.

D'Orbigny says it makes a purse-shaped nest, of slender twigs, moss, and feathers neatly interlaced, and lays four white eggs, spotted at the large end with brown.

121. ARUNDINICOLA LEUCOCEPHALA (Linn.).

(WHITE-HEADED TYRANT.)

+Arundinicola leucocephala+, _d'Orb. Voy., Ois._ p. 334 (Corrientes).

_Description._--Black; whole head and neck and a patch on the flanks white; bill horn-colour, base of lower mandible white; feet black: whole length 50 inches, wing 25, tail 18. _Female_ above cinereous; front and sides of head whitish; tail black; beneath white, flanks and under wing-coverts cinerascent.