OCR Text |
Show 1882.] FROM THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 609 93. PHYTOTOMA RUTILA, Vieill. cf. Fuerte de Andalgala, Catamarca, Arg. Rep., Sept. 21, 1880. ?..„ „ „ „ Sept. 3, 1880. cf, iris amber ; 2 > iris purple. The females are rather scarce and very difficult to see, as they are found singly and are careful to hide in the thickest parts of the hedges : their note was long mistaken by m e for that of a cricket, so harsh and creaking is it. The males, however, at this season go in flocks, feeding upon the young shoots of the algarroba. Coloration of the sexes quite distinct. 94. GEOSITTA TENUIROSTRIS (Lafr. et d'Orb.). cf. Salto, Buenos Aires, Arg. Rep., Oct. 17, 1881. $. „_ „ „ ,, Oct. 18, 1881. These birds are very common in the open campos, running along the ground and then taking a low flight. 95. FURNARIUS FIGULUS (Licht.). cf. San Pedro, Santiago del Estero, Arg. Rep., July 15, 1880. 2. Salta, Arg. Rep., Oct. 23, 1880. Iris brown. This bird, met with in several parts of the Republic, makes a large nest of sticks, usually at a great height. [I have never seen F. figulus from the Argentine Republic, and should doubt its occurrence there. The only Furnarius known to me from La Plata besides F. rufus is F. tricolor, Doering, of which I have a specimen from Cordova.-P. L. S.] 96. FURNARIUS RUFUS (Gm.). cf 2 • Monte Grande, Buenos Aires, Arg. Rep., Jan. 5, 1881. A very familiar bird over the greater part of the Argentine territory. Its breeding-habits are very irregular, as in Misiones I remarked it constructing its m u d nest in midwinter, although when I was in Salto, Buenos Aires, in October, the breeding-season appeared well advanced. An instance is known to m e in which one nest was built on the top of another by a different pair of birds, thus formiug a two-story house; but this is a very rare occurrence. With Mr. Gibson's statement (Ibis, 1880, p. 17) that the nests of this bird are larger in the Banda Oriental than here, I do not agree. With regard to the position of the entrance, of fifteen nests observed personally at Salto, B. Aires, the entrance was on the left in eight cases, and on the right in seven. What, then, influences the feathery architect in selecting its position will probably remain a mystery. The locality chosen for the nest is usually the fork of a tree, or a post, or the projecting cornice of a house. It is very solid and strong, being made of cemented mud from 1*5 to 2*5 inches thick : one that I took at haphazard weighed 14 lb. In Salto I watched the operation of building. The pair began the 41* |