BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 383 



man. They were sprightly and active in movement and jerked 

 the tail rapidly and violently as they moved about, especially when 

 alarmed at the presence of a snake or some other enemy. In spring 

 they were found about the handsome blossoms of such trees as the 

 lapacho {Tecoma ohtusata) and at all seasons were partial to 

 growths of vines or creepers. Their active search for food often 

 led them to swing head down from small twigs. The call note of 

 the male was a sharp spick spick, and the song was clear and 

 whistled. The female uttered a mewing note or a harsh rattling 

 call. 



An adult female had the bill black; iris Kaiser brown; tarsus 

 neutral gray; claws fuscous. 



MOLOTHRUS BONARIENSIS BONARIENSIS (Gmelin) 



Tanagra bonariensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 898. 

 (Buenos Aires.) 



The series of 15 skins secured seems uniform in size and color 

 except that specimens from northern Rio Negro and Mendoza ap- 

 pear very slightly larger and have heavier bills than those from 

 Paraguay. All are considered as representative of the typical form. 

 Records for the species are as follows : Santa Fe, Santa Fe, July 4, 

 1920; Resistencia, Chaco, July 8 to 10; Las Palmas, Chaco, July 

 12 to 31 (female taken July 19; male, July 31) ; Riacho Pilaga, For- 

 mosa, August 7 to 20 (males collected August 14 and 15) ; Formosa, 

 Formosa, August 23 and 24; Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, September 

 2 and 3; Kilometer 80, west of Puerto Pinasco, September 6 to 25 

 (male, September 10) ; Dolores, Buenos Aires, October 21 ; Lavalle, 

 Buenos Aires, October 23 to November 15 (male, October 29; females, 

 October 29 and November 13) ; General Roca, Rio Negro, November 

 23 to December 3 (male, November 30) ; Zapala, Neuquen, December 

 9 ; Carhue, Buenos Aires, December 15 to 18 ; Victorica, Pampa, De- 

 cember 23 to 29 ; Carrasco, Uruguay, January 16, 1921 ; La Paloma, 

 Uruguay, January 23; San Vicente, Uruguay, January 25 to Feb- 

 ruary 2 (female, January 27; juvenile male, January 31) ; Lazcano, 

 Uruguay, February 3 to 9; Rio Negro, Uruguay, February 14 to 

 18; Potrerillos, Mendoza, March 16 and 18; Tunuyan, Mendoza^ 

 March 22 to 28 (adult female, March 26; adult and immature males, 

 March 26 and 28). 



Some of the skins from Formosa and Paraguay, taken in August 

 and September, are in very worn plumage at this early season, so 

 that males show only traces of the gloss that normally covers the 

 entire body plumage. One adult female from Las Palmas, Chaco, is 

 so much darker than others that it was supposed to be hrevirostris 

 until carefully compared. Adults from Tunuyan, Mendoza, are in 



