(WHITE-CAPPED TANAGER.)
[Plate IV.]
[Illustration: STEPHANOPHORUS LEUCOCEPHALUS.]
+Stephanophorus leucocephalus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 20;
_Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 170 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._
1882, p. 597 (Misiones); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii.
p. 90 (Concepcion); _Scl. Cat. B._ xi. p. 143. +Stephanophorus
coeruleus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 480 (Paraná).
_Description._--Uniform deep blue; cap silky white, with a small
crimson crest; bill brownish black, feet brown: whole length 7
inches, wing 4, tail 3·3. _Female_ similar, but not quite so bright
in colour.
_Hab._ Southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.
Azara gave the generic name _Lindo_ (beautiful) to the Tanagers, and
this species he named the "Blue White-headed Beautiful," the entire
plumage being of a very lovely deep corn-flower blue, except a cap of
silvery-white feathers on the head, with a crimson spot on the forehead,
looking like a drop of blood.
It is a summer bird in Buenos Ayres, where it makes its appearance in
spring in the woods bordering on the Plata river, and is usually seen
singly or in pairs. The nest is built in a tree ten or twelve feet from
the ground, and is somewhat shallow and lined with soft dry grass.
The female lays four eggs, white and spotted with deep red. During
incubation the male sits concealed in the thick foliage close by,
amusing itself by the hour with singing, its performance consisting of
chattering disconnected notes uttered in so low a tone as to make one
fancy that the bird is merely trying to recall some melody it has
forgotten, or endeavouring to construct a new one by jerking out
a variety of sounds at random. The bird never gets beyond this
unsatisfactory stage, however, and must be admired for its exquisite
beauty alone.