(AZURE JAY.)
+Cyanocorax cæruleus+, _Sharpe, Cat. Birds_, iii. p. 126; _White, P.
Z. S._ 1882, p. 603 (Misiones). +Cyanocorax azureus+, _Scl. et
Salv. Nomencl._ p. 40.
_Description._--Head all round, neck, and throat down to upper part
of breast black; all the rest of the plumage fine and glossy blue;
beak and feet black: total length 15·5 inches, wing 8·15, tail 6·9.
_Hab._ S. Brazil, Paraguay, and N. Argentina.
This fine species was originally discovered by Azara in Paraguay. In
June 1881 specimens were obtained at San Javier, Misiones, by White. He
writes: "This bird is found here at times in flocks, and makes a great
deal of noise, but is exceedingly wild and difficult to shoot, so that
I had to use ball-cartridge to secure this specimen."
Suborder II. _OLIGOMYODÆ_.
Fam. XIII. TYRANNIDÆ, or TYRANTS.
The Tyrannidæ or Tyrant-birds, which play the part of our Flycatchers
in the New World, although they are quite different in structure,
contribute an important element in the Neotropical Avifauna, numbering
as they do more than 350 species. Of these 63 have already been met with
within the limits of the Argentine Republic, and the list, will, no
doubt, be further extended, as many of these birds are small and dull in
colour, and easily hide themselves in the dense forests to which they
resort.
The pampas are the special home of the Tæniopterinæ, or "Walking
Tyrants" as Swainson called them, which have strong feet and long
tarsi, and frequent open spaces. Amongst them the genera _Tænioptera_,
_Alectrurus_, _Cnipolegus_, and _Lichenops_ may be regarded as specially
characteristic of the Argentine avifauna. On the other hand, the
Elaineinæ and Platyrhynchinæ, which are eminently birds of the dense
forest, are much less numerous within the bounds of Argentina, and
are mostly confined to the wooded districts of the north. The typical
Tyranninæ form a more mixed group, some species of which, such as
_Tyrannus melancholicus_ and _Pyrocephalus rubineus_, are prominent
objects in the Argentine ornis.