(RED-BREASTED PLANT-CUTTER.)
[Plate VIII.]
[Illustration: PHYTOTOMA RUTILA [male] et [female]]
+Phytotoma rutila+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 451 (Paraná,
Mendoza, Cordova, Tucuman, Catamarca); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._
p. 60; _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 537 (Rio Negro); _Barrows,
Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 203 (Entrerios); _White, P. Z. S._
1882, p. 609 (Catamarca).
_Description._--Above plumbeous, with slight darker shaft-spots;
front of head bright red; wings and tail blackish, two well-marked
wing-bars and tips of all lateral rectrices white; beneath bright
red; flanks plumbeous; under wing-coverts whitish: whole length 7·0
inches, wing 3·5, tail 3·3. _Female_: above grey, densely striated
with black; beneath dirty white, with dense black striations, belly
and crissum fulvous.
_Hab._ Argentine Republic.
I found this curious little bird quite common in Patagonia, where
the natives call it _Chingolo grande_, on account of its superficial
resemblance to the common Song-Sparrow (_Zonotrichia pileata_). The
colouring of the sexes differs considerably, the forehead and under
surface of the male being deep brick-red; the upper parts dull grey,
with a bar on the wing and the tips of the rectrices white; while in the
female the upper parts are yellowish grey, obscurely mottled, and the
breast and belly buff, with dark spots. In both sexes the eye is yellow,
and the feathers of the crown pileated to form a crest.
This bird is usually seen singly, but sometimes associates in small
flocks; it is resident, and a very weak flier, and feeds on tender buds
and leaves, berries and small seed. The male is frequently seen perched
on the summit of a bush, and, amidst the dull-plumaged species that
people the grey thickets of Patagonia, the bright red bosom gives it
almost a gay appearance. When singing, or uttering its alarm notes when
the nest is approached, its voice resembles the feeble bleatings of a
small kid or lamb. When approached it conceals itself in the bush, and
when flying progresses by a series of short jerky undulations, the wings
producing a loud humming sound.
The nest is made in the interior of a thorny bush, and built somewhat
slightly of fine twigs and lined with fibres. The eggs are four,
bluish-green in colour, with brownish flecks.
This species is found throughout the Argentine country, in dry, open
situations, abounding with a scanty tree and bush vegetation.