298 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



TAENIOPTERA CINEREA CINEREA (Vieillot) 



Tyrannus cinerciis Vieillot, Anal. Nouv. Ornith. El^m., 1816, p. 68. (Argen- 

 tina.'^) 



Examination of the type and three other specimens of T. c. 

 ohscura Cory^® indicates that this form is sli^jhtly darker than true 

 cinerea. 



This flycatcher was recorded at the following points : Las Palmas, 

 Chaco, July 13 to August 1; Riacho Pilaga, Formosa, August 8 

 to 21 ; Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, September 3 ; Kilometer 80, west 

 of Puerto Pinasco, September 8; San Vicente, Uruguay, January 

 26 to February 2; Lazcano, Uruguay, February 3 to 9 (noted on 

 February 9 as far as Corrales). Three adult males taken at Las 

 Palmas, Chaco, July 28, Riacho Pilaga, Formosa, August 8 and 

 San Vicente, Uruguay, January 26 were preserved as skins. The 

 series of this species at hand is far from adequate for comparison, 

 but it may be noted that a female from Matto Grosso appears paler 

 above and has a broader light tip on the tail than the specimens 

 listed above. The two skins from Las Palmas and Formosa are in 

 full winter plumage. The one from Uruguay is in very worn 

 breeding feather, but has not yet begun the molt. 



The iris is martius yellow, lined heavily toward the inner margin 

 with peach red, so that at casual inspection it appears wholly red; 

 bill and tarsus dull black. 



The present species ranges through the warmer areas of the region 

 visited, as none were seen in the pampas of Buenos Aires. It is an 

 inhabitant of open country, but chooses localities where trees or 

 bushes are not far distant. The birds were encountered frequently 

 about houses, or in the outskirts of little towns, or were observed in 

 numbers along roads that wound through the open country. They 

 chose commanding perches on posts, tops of bushes, telegraph wires, 

 or, failing these, on elevated clods or little eminences on the ground, 

 where they rested with heads drawn down in usual flycatcher atti- 

 tude in watch for prey. When food was sighted they darted down 

 to the ground to seize it, alighted perhaps to run along for a few 

 steps, and then returned to a higher perch. Their wings were long 

 and pointed and their flight, accompanied by a flashing of the black 

 and white wing markings, light and graceful. As they alight the 

 wings are often raised above the back for a second until they gain 

 a secure hold on the perch. They are alert, active, and graceful in 

 all their movements. In coloration they are strongly suggestive of 

 a mocking bird {Mivius), and even close at hand give this impres- 

 sion, a likeness that is at once belied when the bright red eye, pointed 



■« See Braboume and CTiubb, Birds South America, 1912, p. 259. 



w Field Mus. Nat. Hi.st., Orn. Ser., vol. 1, Aug. 30, 1016, p. 341. (Jua, Ceara.) 



