(MELANCHOLY TYRANT.)
+Tyrannus melancholicus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 452; _Scl.
et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 53; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 178 (Buenos
Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 608 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull.
Nutt. Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 202 (Entrerios).
_Description._--Above grey with a slight greenish tinge; head
with a concealed vertical crest of scarlet and yellow; lores and
ear-coverts blackish; wings and tail brownish black with more or
less of paler margins; beneath yellow, throat greyish white, breast
more or less greyish, under wing-coverts pale yellow; bill and feet
black; outer primaries attenuated; tail deeply forked: whole length
8·5 inches, wing 4·6, tail 4·0. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ Mexico and Central and South America down to Buenos Ayres.
The violent and bold temper exhibited by most Tyrant-birds during the
breeding-season, a quality from which is derived the name of the family,
is perhaps carried to a greater degree in this species than in any
other; and when one spends many days or weeks in the marshy, littoral
forests, where the bird is most abundant, and hears its incessant
distressful screams, the specific name _melancholicus_ does not seem
altogether inappropriate; and that is the most that can be said of any
specific name invented by science, and which does not merely describe
some peculiarity of form or colour.
This Tyrant is one of the largest of its kind, its total length being
nearly nine inches. The wings are long and suited for an aerial life;
the legs are exceedingly short, and the feet are used for perching only,
for this species never alights on the ground. The throat and upper parts
are grey, tinged with olive on the back; the wings and tail dark; the
breast yellow tinged with green; the belly pure yellow. Under the loose
grey feathers of the crown is a fiery orange crest displayed in moments
of excitement.
In Buenos Ayres these birds arrive in September, after which their
shrill, angry cries are incessantly heard, while the birds are
seen pursuing each other through the air or in and out amongst the
trees--perpetually driven about by the contending passions of love,
jealousy, and rage. As soon as their domestic broils are over, a fresh
war against the whole feathered race begins, which does not cease until
the business of propagation is finished. I have frequently spent hours
watching the male, successively attacking, with scarcely an interval of
rest, every bird, big or little, approaching the sacred tree where its
nest was placed. Its indignation at the sight of a cowardly Carrion-Hawk
(_Milvago_) skulking about in search of small birds' nests, and the
boundless fury of its onset, were wonderful to witness.
They are extremely active, and when not engaged in their endless aerial
battles, are pursuing large insects on the wing, usually returning after
each capture to their stand, from which they keep a jealous watch on
the movements of all winged things about them. They are fond of marshy
places and water-courses, where they perch on a tall stalk to watch for
insects, and also frequently skim over the water like Swallows to drink
and dip their feathers.
A tall tree is usually selected for the nest, which is not unfrequently
placed on the very topmost twigs, exposed to the sight of every creature
passing overhead, and as if in defiance of birds of prey. With such an
aggressive temper as this bird possesses it is not strange perhaps that
it builds in the most exposed places, from which the female, in the
absence of her vigilant consort, can keep a sharp eye on the movements
of her feathered neighbours; but I have often thought it singular that
they do not make a deeper receptacle for their eggs, for the nest is
merely a slight platform of slender sticks, and very ill-adapted to
retain its burden during high winds. The parasitical Cow-bird never
enters this nest, which is not strange.
The eggs are four in number, small for the bird, pointed, parchment-white,
spotted with dark brown at the larger end.