(PITIAYUMI WOOD-SINGER.)
+Parula pitiayumi+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 8; _Durnford, Ibis_,
1876, p. 158, 1877, p. 168 (Buenos Ayres); _Salv. Ibis_, 1880,
p. 352 (Tucuman); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 594 (Catamarca,
Misiones); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 87
(Concepcion, Entrerios); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ x. p. 259, pl. xi.
fig. 1. +Sylvicola venusta+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 473
(Paraná, Tucuman).
_Description._--Above clear blue; mantle and upper back olive-yellow;
central tail-feathers blue, all the others, also the quills,
blackish; cheeks and under surface of body bright yellow; lower
abdomen and under tail-coverts white; upper mandible black, lower
yellow; eye brown: total length 4·0 inches, wing 2·05, tail 1·55.
_Female_ similar, but much paler in colour.
_Hab._ South America.
This is a southern representative of a small group of Wood-warblers,
which is extensively diffused in the New World.
The upper plumage of this small bird is mostly cerulean-blue, the
breast and belly yellow. Its Guarani name, according to Azara, is
"_Pitiayume_," which means little yellow-breast. I have never heard
it sing or utter any note beyond a very feeble chirp as it hops about
through the foliage in quest of small caterpillars. Its migration
extends south to Buenos Ayres, where it is seen in woods and thickets
in pairs or singly; but it is a rare bird, and I have been unable to
find out anything about its nesting-habits.