(BROWN CACHALOTE.)
[Plate IX.]
[Illustration: HOMORUS LOPHOTES.]
+Homorus lophotes+, _Reichb. Handb._ p. 172; _Barrows, Bull. Nutt.
Orn. Cl._ vol. viii. p. 212 (Entrerios); _Hudson, Ibis_, 1885,
p. 283 (Buenos Ayres). +Anabates unirufus+, _Burm. La-Plata
Reise_, ii. p. 466 (Cordova). +Homorus unirufus+, _Scl. et Salv.
Nomencl._ p. 65; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 612 (Catamarca).
_Description._--Above brown, tinged with olive on the back, but
clear and rufescent on the hind head and rump; crest-feathers
blackish brown; wings blackish; tail chestnut; beneath earthy brown,
throat rufous; under wing- and tail-coverts and inner margins
of wing-feathers pale rufous; bill pale bluish, feet bluish
horn-colour: whole length 9·8 inches, wing 4·6, tail 4·2. _Female_
similar.
_Hab._ Argentina.
This species interested me greatly during my observations of the
Argentine birds, but, owing to its rarity and to its recluse habits,
my knowledge of it is very scanty. It is found in the north and
north-western parts of the Argentine territory; in the province of
Buenos Ayres its presence is confined to the narrow strip of subtropical
wood fringing the low shores of the Plata river.
When surprised, its white eye, blue dagger-like beak, and raised crest
give it a strikingly bold and angry appearance, the effect of which is
heightened by the harsh rasping scream it utters when disturbed. This
resentful look is deceptive, however, for the bird is the shiest
creature imaginable. Its language has the shrill excited character
common to this most loquacious family; and at intervals throughout the
day two birds, male and female, meet together and make the woods echo
with their screaming concert. For many weeks after I had become familiar
with these loud-sounding notes, while collecting in the littoral forest
where it is found, the bird was still to me only a "wandering voice";
but I did not give up the pursuit till I had seen it several times
and had also secured two or three specimens. I found one nest, though
without eggs, a rough-looking domed structure, made with material enough
to fill a barrow. I also discovered that the bird feeds exclusively on
the ground, close to the boles of low-branching trees, where there is
usually an accumulation of fallen bark, dead leaves, and other rubbish.
Here the bird digs with its sharp beak for the small insects it preys
on. When approached it does not fly away, but runs swiftly to the
nearest tree, behind the trunk of which it hides, then scuttles on to
the next tree, and so escapes without showing itself.
Mr. Barrows, who observed the Cachalote at Concepcion, says that it is
a bird which cannot be overlooked, with an outrageous disposition and
voice, and a nest the size of a barrel. He gives the following account
of its nidification:--"His nest is built entirely of sticks, and many of
them of goodly size, frequently as large round as your little finger and
two feet or more long. These are disposed in such a way as to form a
structure three or four feet in length by about two in breadth in the
widest part, the whole very much resembling a gigantic powder-flask
lying on its side among the lower branches of a spreading tree. It is
quite loosely built and the nest-cavity is rather indefinite, being
any portion of the floor of the nest which the bird selects for the
reception of the eggs. These are usually three or four in number, pure
white, and are laid from October until January. They can usually be
counted through the loose floor of the nest, though sometimes its
thickness prevents this."