BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 395 



dull black so that their brilliant colors when in the hand come as a 

 distinct surprise. 



The immature male, in juvenal plumage, in general is deep mouse 

 gra}' Avith a wash of blue on the back, rump, sides of the head and 

 neck, and crown, with a grayish wash at the sides of the crown. 



The bill in this species suggests that of Phytotoma., as it is evi- 

 dently designed for cutting and crushing. The margin of the 

 upper mandible is faintly crenulate. Near the tip there are some 

 slightly projecting serrations just inside the cutting edge. Still 

 farther inward is a row of distinct corneous projections that ex- 

 tend along either side of the palate, and converge to meet near the 

 tip of the bill. On the inner margin of the lower mandible are 

 slight i^rojections that meet those above. The tongue is broad, 

 strong, and bifurcate at the tip. 



Family FRINGILLIDAE '•'^ 



SALTATOR SIMILIS SIMILIS d'Orbigny and Lafresiiaje 



Saltator similis d'OKBiGNY and Lafresnaye, Mag. Zool., 1S37, cl. 2, p. 36. 

 (Corrientes, Argentina.) 



This saltator was first seen near Kesistencia, Cliaco, when an adult 

 female was taken July 9, 1920. At Las Palmas, Chaco, it was 

 frequent from July 19 to 31 and two immature males were pre- 

 pared as skins (July 19 and 26). Saltators that I assumed to be 

 this species were recorded at the Riacho Pilaga, August 7, 11, and 

 14, and at Formosa, Formosa, August 24. Two males were se- 

 cured at Kilometer 25, west of Puerto Pinasco, on September 1 

 and 3. These are all fairly uniform in dimensions and in color, 

 the only differences noted being between adult and immature in- 

 dividuals, the latter being greener above and huffier on the breast 

 than older birds. Berlepsch "* has described /S. s. ochraceiventris 

 from Santa Catherina and Rio Grande do Sul (type locality 

 Taquara) as deeper buff below, a character present in one skin in 

 the United States National Museum from Rio Grande. 



Like other saltators the present species inhabited thickets and 

 groves where it fed either on the ground or among the tree tops. 

 Those taken usually had the bill gummed with plant juices. Near 

 Las Palmas they were seen in orange groves which they appeared 

 to visit for the fruit. One brought to me alive was caught in a 

 snare baited with corn. 



Their usual call note was a low pj^ee-ee or jjnit prut. They sang 

 a cheerful whistled song from amid leaves in the tops of low trees, 



"^ The family name Fringillidae is here used in the broader sense pending an alloca- 

 tion of South American forms in the logical scheme proposed by Doctor Sushkin (Auk, 

 1923, p. 260). 



"Verb. V. Int Ornith.-Kongr., 1911, p. 1146. 



