(MISTO SEED-FINCH.)
+Sycalis luteola+, _Scl. Ibis_, 1872, p. 44; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._
p. 85; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 172 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p.
394 (Centr. Pat.); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 132
(Entrerios). +Sycalis luteiventris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii.
p. 489.
_Description._--Above light olive-green, marked with dusky stripes;
wing-feathers blackish, with pale brownish edges; tail-feathers the
same; beneath, throat and chest dusky buff, lower breast and belly
yellow; bill and feet horn-colour; total length 5·0 inches, wing
2·6, tail 2·0. _Female_ similar, but not so bright.
_Hab._ S. America, from Colombia to Chili.
This is a slender, graceful bird, less than the Canary in size, the
whole upper plumage yellowish olive, with dun markings, the lower
surface of a dull yellow. The female is a little smaller than the male,
and her colours are somewhat dimmer.
This species is resident and gregarious in the Argentine Republic,
and in autumn frequently congregates in flocks of several thousands.
They are not so universally distributed as the Chingolo, and are not
wood-birds, but frequent open plains abounding in thistles and other
coarse herbage, which affords them shelter. In cultivated districts,
where their food is most abundant, they are excessively numerous, and,
after the harvest has been gathered, frequent the fields in immense
flocks. While feeding, the flocks scatter over a large area of ground,
being broken up into small companies of a dozen or more birds, and at
such times are so intent on their food that a person can walk about
amongst them without disturbing them. They take flight very suddenly,
bursting into a thousand chirping, scolding notes, pursue each other
through the air, and, after wheeling about the field for a minute or
two, suddenly drop down into the grass again and are silent as before.
In August they begin to sing, here and there an individual being heard
in the fields; but when the weather grows warmer they repair to the
plantations in vast numbers, and, sitting on the branches, sing in
a concert of innumerable voices, which produces a great volume of
confused sound, and which often continues for hours at a time without
intermission.
By-and-by these pleasant choirs break up, the birds all scattering over
the plains and fields to woo and build, and it is then first discovered
that the male has a peculiar and very sweet song. Apart from his
fellows, he acquires a different manner of singing, soaring up from
his stand on the summit of a bush or stalk, and beginning his song the
moment he quits his perch. Ascending, he utters a series of long,
melodious notes, not loud, but very distinctly enunciated and increasing
in volume; at a height of fifty or sixty yards he pauses, the notes
becoming slower; then, as he descends with a graceful spiral flight, the
wings outstretched and motionless, the notes also fall, becoming lower,
sweeter, and more impressive till he reaches the earth. After alighting
the song continues, the notes growing longer, thinner, and clearer,
until they dwindle to the merest threads of sound, and cease to be
audible except to a person standing within a few yards of the songster.
The song is quite unique in character, and its great charm is in its
gradual progress from the somewhat thick notes at the commencement to
the thin, tremulous tones with which the bird returns to earth, and
which change again to the excessively attenuated sounds at the end.
The nest is deep, well-built, and well-concealed, sometimes resting
on the ground, but frequently raised above it. It contains five long,
pointed eggs, with a white or bluish-white ground-colour, and thickly
spotted with brown. I have, frequently found the eggs of the _Molothrus_
in its nest, but have never been able to see this Sparrow feeding, or
followed by, a young _Molothrus_. Possibly, if it ever hatches the
parasitical egg at all, the voracious young Cow-bird is starved by the
delicate food supplied by its foster-parents.