Argentine Ornithology Volume I Part 42

_Hab._ Sierra of Tuc.u.man.

This species is one of Schulz's recent discoveries in the Sierra of Tuc.u.man, where he found it west of Sauciyaca, frequenting the deep ravines.

227. RHINOCRYPTA LANCEOLATA, Geoffr. et d'Orb.

(GALLITO.)

+Rhinocrypta lanceolata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii, p. 471 (Mendoza, San Juan, Catamarca); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 70; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 614 (Catamarca).

_Description._--Above, head and upper neck reddish brown with a fine white shaft-stripe on each feather, the stripes being most conspicuous on the crest-feathers; lower neck, back, rump, and wings greyish olive; tail blackish; beneath, throat and upper part of breast, grey, becoming pure white on the middle of the belly; sides of belly and flanks bright chestnut; lower part of belly and flanks and under tail-coverts like the back; bill horn-colour, feet black: whole length 82 inches, wing 33, tail 30. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Western and Southern Argentina and Patagonia.

The vernacular name _Gallito_, or "Little c.o.c.k," by which this species is familiarly known in Patagonia, cannot fail to strike every one who sees the bird as very appropriate, for it struts and runs on the ground with tail erect, looking wonderfully like a small domestic fowl. In the neighbourhood of Carmen, on the Rio Negro, it is very abundant, and when I went there its loud deep chirrup, heard from every side in the thicket, quickly arrested my attention, just as the perpetual chirping of the Sparrows did when I first landed in England. In the interior of the country it is not nearly so abundant, so that man's presence has probably in some way affected it favourably. Its habits amuse and baffle a person anxious to make its acquaintance; for it scarcely possesses the faculty of flight, and cannot be driven up, but it is so easily alarmed, so swift of foot, and so fond of concealment, that it is most difficult to catch a sight of it. At the same time it is extremely inquisitive, and no sooner does it spy an intruder in the bush than the warning note is sounded, whereupon every bird within hearing hops up into a thick thorn-bush, where it utters every three or four seconds a loud hollow chirrup, and at intervals a violent scolding cry, several times repeated. When approached they all scuttle away, masked by the bushes, with amazing swiftness, to take refuge at a distance, where the loud protest is again resumed; but when the pursuer gives up the pursuit in disgust and turns away, they immediately follow him, so that he is perpetually encircled with the same ring of angry sound, moving with him, coming no nearer and never allowing its cause to be seen.

On three or four occasions I have seen one rise from the ground and fly several yards with a feeble fluttering flight; but when closely pursued in an open place they seem incapable of rising. They generally fly down from the top of a bush, but always ascend it by hopping from twig to twig.

The nest is made in the centre of a th.o.r.n.y bush two or three feet from the ground; and is round and domed, with a small aperture at the side, and built entirely of fine dry gra.s.s. The eggs are four in number and of a pure white.

The Little c.o.c.k is nine inches long, has long stout legs, and short, curved beak. The colour of the head and neck is deep reddish brown, lined with white, the feathers of the crown forming a crest. The upper surface and wings olive-brown; tail dark; throat and breast grey; middle of the belly white, with a broad ruddy rufous patch on each side reaching to the belly.

228. RHINOCRYPTA FUSCA, Scl. et Salv.

(BROWN GALLITO.)

+Rhinocrypta fusca+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ pp. 76, 161.

_Description._--Above uniform pale cinnamomeous brown; superciliaries whitish; tail blackish, except the middle pair of rectrices, which are the same as the back; beneath white, faintly tinged with cinnamomeous; bill horn-colour, feet black: whole length 65 inches, wing 25, tail 24.

_Hab._ Mendoza.

The original examples of this species were obtained by the German collector, Weisshaupt, near Mendoza. It appears to have been mistaken for the young of the preceding species, but is decidedly different.

229. PTEROPTOCHUS ALBICOLLIS, Kittl.

(WHITE-NECKED TAPACOLA.)

+Pteroptochus albicollis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 471 (Mendoza); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 76.

_Description._--Above chestnut-brown, obscure or slightly olivaceous on the neck and upper part of back; inner webs of wing-feathers blackish; lores, superciliaries, and under surface white, the breast spa.r.s.ely, and the belly and flanks thickly marked with transverse spots of blackish brown; lower flanks and under tail-coverts chestnut-brown, obscurely spotted with black; bill and feet black: whole length 85 inches, wing 31, tail 29. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Chili and Western Argentina.

Dr. Burmeister tells us that he met with this Chilian species in the water-courses near Mendoza, where it was seen running about on the stones like a Dipper.

Darwin has given us some interesting notes on this bird:--"This species is called by the Chilenos 'Tapacola,' or 'cover your posteriors.' The name is well applied, as the Tapacola generally carries its short tail more than erect, that is, inclined backward and toward the head. It is extremely common in Central Chile. The Tapacola frequents hedge-rows and the bushes which are scattered at a considerable elevation over the sterile hills, where scarcely another bird can exist; hence it plays a conspicuous part in the ornithology of Chile. The Tapacola is very crafty; when frightened by any person, it will remain motionless at the bottom of a bush, and will then, after a little while, try with much address to crawl away on the opposite side. It is also an active bird, and continually making a noise; these noises are various and strangely odd; one is like the cooing of doves, another like the bubbling of water, and many defy all similes. The country-people say it changes its cry five times in the year, which is according, I suppose, to some change of season. I was told that the Tapacola builds its nest at the bottom of a deep burrow." (Darwin, in Zool. Voy. 'Beagle,' iii. p. 72.)