BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 259 



and near Kilometer 80, west of Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, on Sep- 

 tember 17 (adult male taken). The three skins preserved are dis- 

 tinctly duller, grayer brown above than skins from Diamantina, 

 Brazil, supposed to be near typical cinnamoTnea, or than two from 

 Fundacion, Colombia, and "Bogota," that have the gray forehead 

 distinguishing S. c. fuscifrons Madardsz. A skin from Cachoeira, 

 Sao Paulo, is darker above than skins from more northern localities 

 but is much more refescent than S. c. russeola. It represents a dis- 

 tinct form that apparently should bear the name S. c. ruficauda 

 Vieillot.^^ In spite of assertions to the contrary, measurements of 

 the four forms here tentatively recognized agree so closely as to 

 have no significance in separating the subspecies. Measurements of 

 the three males that I secured are given below : 



Locality 



Sex 



Wing 



Tail 



Culmen 

 from 

 base 



Tarsus 



Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay. 

 Riacho Pilaga, Formosa ..- 

 Las Palmas, Chaco 



Male ad... 



do.-.. 



do.... 



61.2 

 62.0 



62.7 



65.2 

 66.4 

 64.5 



15.5 

 15.1 

 15.5 



21.3 

 20.0 

 21.5 



The birds under discussion were found among rushes that bor- 

 dered lagoons, and were doubtless more common than the few rec- 

 ords given indicate, since it was difficult to observe them in their 

 rather inaccessible haunts. At some slight alarm one might come 

 through the reeds with rattling, scolding notes to peer for an instant 

 between the stems of the rushes, and then drop down again to be lost 

 to sight in the dense growth. Otherwise they passed wholly un- 

 noted. Their notes were exactly like those of wrens of the genus 

 Tehnatodytes^ so that their white breasts, reddish backs, and large 

 size when they appeared always come as a surprise. Occasionally I 

 had a glimpse of one feeding on the wet surface of vegetation float- 

 ing among the reed stems, but here they kept so low that it was diffi- 

 cult to follow them for any distance. 



The Toba Indians were acquainted with them under the name of 

 ve on reh. 



An adult male, killed July 22, had the maxilla and tip of the 

 mandible black ; base of mandible gray number 8 ; iris Rood's brown ; 

 tarsus gray number 6, with a slight greenish tinge in front at the 

 lower end. 



SYNALLAXIS SPIXI Sclater 



Synallaxis Spixi Sclatek, Proc. 

 (BrazU.) 



Zool. Soc. London, Aug. 13, 1856, p. 98. 



The three more common forms of Synallaxis of central and north- 

 ern Argentina and Uruguay, S. spixi, S\ a. frontalu, and 8. a. 

 albescens, are often confused, but with a little care may be readily 



^ Synallaxis ruficauda Vleillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat.,, vol. 32, 1819, p. 310. (" Bresil.") 



