THE PLANT CUTTERS THE BROADBILLS 1713 



THE PLANT CUTTERS 

 Family PHTTOTOMID^ 



Remarkable for the serrations in the cutting edges of the mandibles, these 

 birds were formally placed by naturalists between the finches and the hornbills, 

 but they are now known to be more nearly related to the chatterers. They have 

 the wings relatively short, and the tail long and even; their most marked charac- 

 teristic being the short compressed bill, the cutting margins of which are minutely 

 serrated like the teeth of a saw. The whole of these thick-billed birds are peculiar 

 to the temperate regions of South America, being found in Chili, Bolivia, and 

 Argentina, where they are represented by four species, all included in the typical 

 genus Phytotoma. 



The Chilian plant cutter (P. rara), has long been known to naturalists for its 

 destructive habit of feeding upon plants, which it cuts down, often wantonly, with 

 its powerful bill. It builds in lofty trees, but the nests are frequently destroyed in 

 consequence of the bird's mischievous habits; and, like others, this species has also 

 suffered from persecution, owing to the ravages which it sometimes inflicts upon 

 gardens and plantations. It is a plain-colored bird of a dull gray above and below, 

 with the wings and tail blackish, the coverts being tipped with white. Its voice is 

 harsh and grating. A common bird in Patagonia is the redbreasted plant cutter 

 (P. rutila), generally found alone, but sometimes associating in small flocks. Not 

 migratory, it resides throughout the year in its usual haunts; the male being often 

 to be seen perching upon the top of a bush. Mr. Hudson says that the bright red 

 breast of the male bird gives it quite a gay appearance among the dull plumaged 

 species that people the thickets of Patagonia. It builds a slight nest of fine twigs, 

 lined with fibres, and generally placed in a thorn bush; the eggs being bluish green 

 in ground color, with brownish flecks. The male bird has the upper parts dull 

 gray, with the tips of the tail feathers and a wing bar white, and the forehead and 

 under surface deep brick red. The female is yellowish gray above, obscurely 

 mottled, and the breast and under parts buff with dark spots. 



THE BROADBIULS 

 Family EURTLsEMIDsE 



Deriving their name from, and readily distinguished by, the enormous breadth 

 of their bills, which are generally associated with the possession of bright colors, 

 the broadbills are the eastern representatives of the chatterers of the New World. 

 They are birds of fairly powerful make, having the upper mandible dilated at its 

 base, and the tip of the beak abruptly hooked; while the wings are rather short, and 



the tail is short and rounded. The broadbills, which Wallace considers to be the 

 III. 108 



