(BRIDGES'S WOOD-HEWER.)
[Plate X.]
[Illustration: DRYMORNIS BRIDGESI.]
+Drymornis bridgesi+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 67; _White, P.
Z. S._ 1882, p. 613 (Catamarca); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 20
(Entrerios). +Nasica gracilirostris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii.
p. 466 (Rio Quinto).
_Description._--Above and below brown, brightest on the rump, and
palest beneath; long superciliaries extending down the neck, and
a mystacal stripe formed of white spots with faint black edgings;
wing-feathers blackish; tail chestnut; on the throat a broad white
band extending to the breast; breast and belly marked with large
oblong white spots, which are margined with narrow black edgings;
under wing-coverts and inner margins of secondaries bright cinnamon;
bill and feet horn-colour: whole length 12·10 inches, wing 5·6, tail
4·6. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ North and West Argentina.
Eyton, when he described this species from Bridges's specimens, gave its
habitat as Bolivia. It may inhabit the southern part of that Republic,
but it is more probable that Bridges's examples were obtained in
Northern Argentina, which he likewise visited. Bridges's Wood-hewer is
the only member of its genus, and is one of the largest of the whole
family _Dendrocolaptidæ_, measuring some 13 or 14 inches in length,
inclusive of the great curved beak. Although found throughout the
northern portion of the Argentine Republic, its habits are as yet
imperfectly known, but the following extracts show that they must be
very interesting, and that the bird is remarkably versatile. Mr. Barrows
writes:--"These birds are somewhat gregarious, being oftenest seen in
small parties of six to ten. They sometimes cling against the bark of a
tree in the manner of Woodpeckers, but also spend much of their time on
the ground. I think they use their curved bill much oftener for probing
in the ground than for searching the bark of trees, as many of those
shot had the base of the bill and the frontal feathers plastered with
mud. In the stomach of the first one killed I found the silken sac,
three fourths of an inch in diameter, or the eggs of a large spider,
which makes holes ten or twelve inches deep in the hard soil
everywhere."
White obtained examples of this species at Catamarca, and also notices
its strangely contrasted habits. He writes:--"The cry of this bird is
much the same as that of a Woodpecker, and it clings to the algarroba
trees in a similar way; but in the afternoon it is seen scattered about
on the sandy ground in the pursuit of insects."