OCR Text |
Show 1882.] FROM THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 607 82. RHYNCHOCYCLUS SULPHURESCENS. cf. San Javier, Misiones, Arg. Rep., June 6, 1881. This specimen I secured in the dense and almost impenetrable forests. 83. PITANGUS BELLICOSUS (Vieill.). c?. City of Catamarca, Arg. Rep., Aug. 6, 1880. Very common over almost the whole of the Argentine Republic. The nest, built in trees at no regular height, is rather large and very rough exteriorly, a foot in depth, eight inches in breadth, and constructed of wood, straw, and twigs ; but the interior is beautifully lined with soft and downy feathers. Four eggs usually, but sometimes five, form the clutch : the rather elongate shell is of a parchment- coloured ground, rather thinly sprinkled towards the blunt end with dull blue and blackish spots, the latter predominating. It measures, axis 30 millim., diam. 23 millim. 84. MYIODYNASTES SOLITARIUS (Vieill.). 2 . Campo Santo, Salta, Arg. Rep., Nov. 29, 1880. Shot in the thick forests, and apparently rare. 85. HIRUNDINEA BELLICOSA (Vieill.); Sclater, Ibis, 1882, p. 164. cf 2 • Fuerte de Andalgala, Catamarca, Arg. Rep., Aug. 31, 1880. Iris dark sepia. This Flycatcher is by no means common. It is seen about the houses in pairs, but no more than one pair at a time at one dwelling, perched upon some projection, whence it darts off into the air at passing insects. The snap of its beak, as it dashes at the flies, can be heard a long way off. Its cry is peculiar and piteous. There is no perceptible difference in plumage between the male and female. 86. MYIOBIUS N^EVIUS (Bodd.). cf. Flores, Buenos Aires, Arg. Rep., March 9, 1881. 2- „ „ „ Nov. 19, 1881. Iris brown. These birds are very common in Buenos Aires; and I have met with them as far as the extreme northern limits of the Republic. 87. PYROCEPHALUS RUBINEUS (Bodd.). cf 2 • Monte Grande, Buenos Aires, Arg. Rep., Dec. 31, 1880. One of tbe most familiar birds in the province of Buenos Aires, which the natives call " Churincha," from one of the notes of its song, " chooreen," uttered when poised on the wing high up in the air; nor is its pretty trill confined to the hours of daylight, but through the lonely stages of the night it frequently enlivens the darkness like a Nightingale. It builds usually in the orchards, in the fork of a tree. The nest, PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1882, No. XLI. 41 |