414 BULKETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Specimens in full juvenal plumage were secured at Victorica, 

 Pampa, December 27 and Guamini, Buenos Aires, March 7. Birds 

 were in molt from the latter part of January until the middle of 

 April. 



In a region where finches in variety of species are far from com- 

 mon Brachysjnza is a welcome sight to the traveler from other lands, 

 though at times its familiar form may seem somewhat out of 

 place when in company with tracheophones or others of the more 

 typical South American birds. In their adaptability to diverse 

 faunal areas, their abundance, and their trustful acceptance of man 

 and the changes that he has wrought in the face of the earth, these 

 sweet- voiced finches have gained a place in the esteem of the country- 

 men held by few in lands where anything bearing feathers is re- 

 garded with interest mainly as a potential source of food. Though 

 found usually in little flocks or at times alone about small openings 

 in brush or scrub, in the pampas, where such cover is scant, they 

 come to frequent tracts of weeds or even low grasses or other scant 

 shelter that may be available. In towns, where they are scattered 

 through gardens and plazas, and even enter the small patios where 

 shrubbery may offer shelter, their friendly traits as they come 

 about in search of crumbs and their restful songs endear them to 

 the hearts of all. 



They feed almost invariably on the ground in a manner usual 

 among small sparrows, searching for food in open spaces or scratch- 

 ing with both feet at once where dead vegetation may conceal pos- 

 sible tidbits. The flight is tilting, and when flushed from the open 

 they may take refuge in heavy cover or may fly up to rest in a 

 weed, shrub, or low tree. Their usual call note is a low tsvp^ that 

 with excitement or fear becomes mOre emphatic and insistent. The 

 song is a clear, modulated whistle low in tone, but still with sufficient 

 volume to make it audible for some distance, while not harsh or 

 unpleasant to the ear when heard near at hand. In some of its 

 inflections it suggests the notes of an eastern meadow lark {Sturnella 

 magna) ^ but on the whole has a closer similarit}' to the utterances 

 of Zonotrichia leucophrys. Though heard at its best in the breeding 

 season from October to December, it is given more or less constantly 

 throughout the year, even during the period of molt. 



Near Dolores, Buenos Aires, a chingolo, as this bird is known 

 universally, was seen carrying nesting material on October 21, and 

 near Lavalle I found the birds in pairs on October 23. In this 

 region of low elevations they frequented slightly elevated ground 

 about marshes. At the Estancia Los Yngleses a nest collected 

 October 30, was placed under a little shrub in an open space sur- 

 rounded by small trees that grew among low sand dunes. The 

 nest, entirely concealed from above, was a very slight structure. 



