(RED-CAPPED BUSH-BIRD.)
+Thamnophilus argentinus+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 472
(Paraná, Tucuman); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 70; _Durnford,
Ibis_, 1877, p. 183 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 21
(Entrerios). +Thamnophilus ruficapillus+, _Pelz. Orn. Bras._ p.
79; _Berl. et Jher. Zeitschr. ges. O._ 1885, p. 49.
_Description._--Above olivaceous brown, tinged with rufous, brighter
on the crown; lores yellowish white, superciliaries and sides of
head whitish grey; wing-feathers dark olive-brown, the inner webs
edged with ochraceous; tail black, all the rectrices, except the
middle pair, slightly tipped and broadly spotted on the inner webs
with white; beneath greyish white, the feathers from the lower
throat to the belly transversely barred with black; bill and feet
black: whole length 6·2 inches, wing 2·7, tail 2·6. _Female_: above
the same as the male, except the tail, which is rufous brown;
beneath whitish, tinged with ochraceous, and with scarcely
perceptible greyish mottlings.
_Hab._ Paraguay and Argentina.
This species is very common in the eastern provinces of Argentina, and
extends south to Buenos Ayres. It is a shy, solitary bird, found in
woods and thickets along the shores of La Plata; and utters occasionally
a singular low rasping note, its only language. The nest is a slight
shallow structure placed in a low tree; the eggs are white, thinly
spotted with reddish brown. Probably this species is to some extent
migratory, as I have only observed it in the summer season.
Fam. XIX. PTEROPTOCHIDÆ, or TAPACOLAS.
The Pteroptochidæ form a small but very peculiar family of
Tracheophonine Passeres, mostly restricted to Chili and the
south-western extremity of the South-American Continent, but also
represented in the Andes of Ecuador and Colombia and in the high
plateau of Central Brazil. They are ground-birds, remarkable for their
large and robust feet with long claws, their strangely formed bills, and
the elevated position in which the tail is carried in the living bird.
In the Argentine Republic four species of Pteroptochidæ are known to
occur, only one of which, however, is a well-known bird. Two of the
remaining three are recent discoveries, and the fourth a Chilian
species, which extends over the Andes into the western borders of
Argentina.