(GALLITO.)
+Rhinocrypta lanceolata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii, p. 471
(Mendoza, San Juan, Catamarca); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 70;
_Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro); _White, P. Z. S._
1882, p. 614 (Catamarca).
_Description._--Above, head and upper neck reddish brown with a
fine white shaft-stripe on each feather, the stripes being most
conspicuous on the crest-feathers; lower neck, back, rump, and wings
greyish olive; tail blackish; beneath, throat and upper part of
breast, grey, becoming pure white on the middle of the belly; sides
of belly and flanks bright chestnut; lower part of belly and flanks
and under tail-coverts like the back; bill horn-colour, feet black:
whole length 8·2 inches, wing 3·3, tail 3·0. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ Western and Southern Argentina and Patagonia.
The vernacular name _Gallito_, or "Little Cock," by which this species
is familiarly known in Patagonia, cannot fail to strike every one who
sees the bird as very appropriate, for it struts and runs on the ground
with tail erect, looking wonderfully like a small domestic fowl. In the
neighbourhood of Carmen, on the Rio Negro, it is very abundant, and
when I went there its loud deep chirrup, heard from every side in the
thicket, quickly arrested my attention, just as the perpetual chirping
of the Sparrows did when I first landed in England. In the interior of
the country it is not nearly so abundant, so that man's presence has
probably in some way affected it favourably. Its habits amuse and baffle
a person anxious to make its acquaintance; for it scarcely possesses the
faculty of flight, and cannot be driven up, but it is so easily alarmed,
so swift of foot, and so fond of concealment, that it is most difficult
to catch a sight of it. At the same time it is extremely inquisitive,
and no sooner does it spy an intruder in the bush than the warning note
is sounded, whereupon every bird within hearing hops up into a thick
thorn-bush, where it utters every three or four seconds a loud hollow
chirrup, and at intervals a violent scolding cry, several times
repeated. When approached they all scuttle away, masked by the bushes,
with amazing swiftness, to take refuge at a distance, where the loud
protest is again resumed; but when the pursuer gives up the pursuit
in disgust and turns away, they immediately follow him, so that he is
perpetually encircled with the same ring of angry sound, moving with
him, coming no nearer and never allowing its cause to be seen.
On three or four occasions I have seen one rise from the ground and fly
several yards with a feeble fluttering flight; but when closely pursued
in an open place they seem incapable of rising. They generally fly down
from the top of a bush, but always ascend it by hopping from twig to
twig.
The nest is made in the centre of a thorny bush two or three feet from
the ground; and is round and domed, with a small aperture at the side,
and built entirely of fine dry grass. The eggs are four in number and of
a pure white.
The Little Cock is nine inches long, has long stout legs, and short,
curved beak. The colour of the head and neck is deep reddish brown,
lined with white, the feathers of the crown forming a crest. The upper
surface and wings olive-brown; tail dark; throat and breast grey; middle
of the belly white, with a broad ruddy rufous patch on each side
reaching to the belly.