BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 365 



lunch, at the same time keeping a sharp eye on the dog who ac- 

 companied me. The cooked flesh of the muscovy duck that I threw to 

 it must have been strange fare, yet the bird held the fragments be- 

 tween its toes and ate with relish. Once or twice jays of this species 

 stole skeletons of small birds hung out to dry near camp, 



CYANOCORAX CHRYSOPS CHRYSOPS (Vieillot) 



Pica chrysops Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 26, 1S19, p. 124. (Par- 

 aguay. ) 



In the wooded area of the southern section of the Chaco this 

 strikingly marked jay was locally common where extensive tracts of 

 forest still existed. It was recorded at the following points: Las 

 Palmas, Chaco, July 14 to 27, 1920 (adult male July 14) ; Riaclio 

 Pilaga, Formosa, August 8 to 18; Kilometer 80, west of Puerto 

 Pinasco, Paraguay, September 8 (two seen). A skeleton and a 

 specimen in alcohol were preserved at Las Palmas in addition to the 

 skin already mentioned. 



The present species, during winter and early spring, was en- 

 countered in little bands of five or six (probably families of the 

 previous season) that ranged in the heaviest monte, or occasionally 

 in groves scattered over open prairies, usually in company with the 

 larger Cyanocorax cyanomelas. Both species exhibited great cur- 

 iosity and were easily decoyed up within a distance of 5 or 10 meters. 

 When they were within hearing, at any squeaking note they came 

 sailing in with spread wings and crest fully erect to perch on some 

 open limb and eye me with no semblance of fear. They uttered a 

 number of jaylike calls, and on one occasion one suddenly jerked 

 up and down on its perch, rising to the full length of its legs and 

 then dropping back, while it called kuk kuk kuk kuk loudly. On 

 the whole, chrysops was more noisy than cyanomelas. 



CYANOCORAX CHRYSOPS TUCUMANUS Cabanis 



Cyanocorax tucumanus C.vranis, Journ. fiir Oruitli., 1883, p. 216. (Tu- 

 cuman.) 



Three specimens of the present form, a male, a female, and one 

 with sex not determined, were secured near Tapia, Tucuman, on 

 April 12, 1921. These, compared with typical skins, exhibit the 

 characters of heavier bill, more strongly arched culmen, and darker, 

 blacker dorsum that characterize this subspecies. The differences 

 in crest and color of abdomen that have been alleged are not ap- 

 parent. On the date in question two flocks, each numbering five or 

 six individuals, were encountered in rather heavy forest near the 

 Rio Tapia. They came hopping out rather curiously when they first 

 saw me, but retreated at once to heavy cover, and worked away, 



