722 



PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: ZOOLOGY. 



"The warfare between the birds and their tormentors, however, is in- 

 variably in favor of the former, as they have a habit of gliding unseen to 

 the bottom of the stems, which they bite through, so that the stalk falls 

 and they consume the grain at leisure. 



Fig. 371. Cyanoliseus patagonus. Configuration of the primaries. About two-thirds 



natural size. 



"In the winter, fallen fruit-kernels of the woods afford them suste- 

 nance. They breed in deep holes on the cliff-faces ; and the attempt 

 sack their nests is very hazardous. Four or five eggs are usually founa 

 in a clutch. The young birds form a tasty dish." 



Genus MICROSITTACE Bonaparte. 



Type. 



Microsittace Bp. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 150 . M. ferrughieus. 



Geographical Range. — Southwestern and extreme southern South 

 America. 



Microsittace ferrugineus (P. L. S. Miiller). 

 Psittacus ferrugineus P. L. S. Miiller, Syst. Nat., Anhang, p. 75 (1776). 

 (Straits of Magellan.) 



Description. — Adult male, P. U. O. C. 7747, Rio Chico de Santa Cruz, 

 Cordilleras of Patagonia, February 19, 1897. J. B. Hatcher. Total 

 length, 13.75 inches; wing, 7.25; culmen, .75; tail, 6.00; tarsus, .65. 

 Above dull green, brighter and bluer on the crown, all feathers with 

 narrow dusky margins, lores and forehead reddish brown ; smaller wing 

 coverts similar to back, median coverts and tertials plain green, greater 

 coverts and remiges strongly tinged with peacock blue ; tail dull red 

 above and below ; under parts similar to the back but lighter, with sim- 

 ilar dusky margins, center of abdomen dull red, bill and feet black. 



