(TIT-LIKE TYRANT.)
+Anæretes parulus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 455 (Mendoza);
_Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro); _Scl. et Salv.
Nomencl._ p. 47; _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 30 (Cordova);
_Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 395 (Centr. Patagonia); _Döring, Exp.
al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 43 (R. Negro, R. Colorado).
_Description._--Above cinereous, with an olivaceous tint on the
lower back; head black, front varied with white, elongated vertical
crest black, sometimes varied with white; wings blackish, with
slight whitish tips to the coverts and whitish margins to the
outer secondaries; tail blackish, outer webs of external rectrices
whitish; below pale straw-colour, white on the throat; throat and
breast with numerous and well-marked black striations; bill and
feet black: whole length 4·0 inches, wing 1·9, tail 1·8. _Female_
similar, but crest shorter.
_Hab._ Argentine Republic, including Patagonia, Chili, Bolivia, Peru,
and Andes of Ecuador.
This small bird is only four and a half inches long; in both sexes
the colour on the upper parts is dull grey, on the throat and breast
ash-coloured; the belly pale yellow. It has the distinction of a slender
curling Lapwing-like crest, composed of a few narrow, long, black
feathers. The eye is white. It is found in the thorny thickets on the
dry plains of Mendoza, and is also common in Patagonia. In its habits
it closely resembles _Serpophaga subcristata_; lives always in pairs,
perpetually moves about in a singularly deliberate manner while
searching through the bush for small insects, the two birds always
talking together in little chirping notes, and occasionally bursting out
into a little shrill duet. It builds a deep, neat nest of fine dry grass
and lined with feathers, in a low thorn, and lays two white eggs.