MARSH-mOUPIALS. 



15 



ching, chee-chee, urrrr," repeated at intervals of two 

 or three minutes. In both utterances the first two 

 notes are somewhat metallic. 



RKD-HEADED MEADOW-STARLING (Agelceus ruficapillus). 



Male similar to A. frontalis, but iblue-blaek ; the 

 chestnut on head and throat browner, more restricted 

 on the latter. Female said to resemble the male, but 

 sure to have a weaker bill. Hab., Argentina, and 

 Paraguay. 



Hudson (" Argentine Ornithology," Vol. I., pp. 99, 

 100) observes : " The beauty of the bird and its 

 delicate, plaintive voice would no doubt make it a 

 favourite with man if he saw more of it, only it lives 

 and breeds in marshes, and does not come near his 

 habitations. The Red-heads are gregarious and migra- 

 tory. The flock can scarcely be said to break up in the 

 breeding season, as the birds all make their nests near 

 together in the reeds. The nest is placed about one 

 or two feet above the -water, is about six inches in 

 depth, and made of leaves and aquatic grasses woven 

 together. The eggs are four, pointed, with a white or 

 pale bluish ground, and spotted with black at the larger 

 end. 



" The song of the Red-head is quite unique in charac- 

 ter. It begins with a low, hollow-sounding note, then 

 the voice changes to a clear, sorrowful tone, rising in 

 a rapid succession of short notes, and falling again 

 in longer ones. 



" After the breeding season the "birds fly albout in 

 flocks of two or three hundred individuals, and sing 

 in concert on the trees. 



" Their chirp has a peculiar metallic sound, and can 

 be imitated 'by tapping on the edge of a copper bell with 

 the finger-nail." 



Graham Kerr (The lUs, 1892, T>. 127) says: "Occa- 

 sionally met with in flocks feeding amongst the tall 

 grass, etc., by the edges of marshes." 



It is tolerablv certain that dealers have confounded 

 this species with the preceding ; it must have come in 

 m'xed consignments from La- Plata. It has been ex- 

 hibited at the London Zoological Gardens. 



BELLOW MEADOW-STARLING (Agelceiis flaws). 



Black above ; head, bend of wing, rump, and under 

 surface bright yellow ; bill and feet black. Female 

 above brown, slightly streaked ; eyebrow-stripe, rump, 

 and under surface yellowish ; bill and feet brown ; bill 

 shorter than in male. Hab., Paraguay, Uruguay, and 

 Argentina. 



Hudson says ("Argentine Ornithology," Vol. I., pp. 

 98, 99) : " The dull-plumaged birds are always very 

 much more numerous than the bright-coloured males, 

 though Azara strangely asserts that the sexes are 

 alike. In Buenos Ayree, where it is called " Naranjo " 

 by the country people, in allusion to its orange tints, 

 it is very well known on account of its yellow plumage, 

 which looks so wonderfully brilliant in the sunshine, 

 and its partiality for cultivated districts, where it fol- 

 lows the plough to pack up worms, and frequents the 

 orchard to sing, associating with the common Cow- 

 bird and Yellow-breast. It remains all the year, and is 

 very sociable, going in flocks of from twenty to fifty 

 individuals, which, when they settle on the trees, all 

 sing in concert, pouring out their few peculiar notes 

 with great power and emphasis. 



" Even in the breeding season these companies do not 

 always break up, and frequently several pairs have nests 

 near together. The nest is usually built in a cardoon 

 thistle, two or three feet above the 'ground, and is made 

 of dry grass. The eggs are four, pointed, white or with 



a bluish tinge, and speckled irregularly with deep 

 brown, the spots being closer and sometimes confluent 

 at the broad end." 



This bird first arrived at the London Zoological 

 Gardens in 1873, and Russ tells us that E. von Sehlech- 

 tendal became possessed of specimens in 1876, and 

 states that both males 1 and females industriously and 

 joyfully repeated their dsitt, dsitt, dszrrrrih. Prince 

 Ferdinand of Bulgaria acquired it in 1878, and Russ 

 himself received a male 'from Miss Hagenbeck and two 

 females from Messrs. Fockelmann in 1892. He con- 

 sidered them innocent birds, but very greedy for meal- 

 worms and all kinds of insects, snatching them away 

 from before the very bills of other birds, and especially 

 of the Bulbuls. 



YELLOW-SHOULDERKD MARSH-TROTJPIAL (Agdasticus 

 thilius). 



The adult male is blue-black, with the lesser wing- 

 coverts bright daffodil yellow, the bill and feet black, 

 the iris brown ; the female and young male are brown 

 streaked with black, the eyebrow white, beneath ashy 

 white streaked with black ; the female is smaller and 

 has a shorter bill than the male. Hab., S. Peru, Chili, 

 Paraguay, and Argentina. 



The Yellow-shouldered Troupial is .gregarious, being 

 seen in flocks throughout the year; and it feeds upon 

 the ground, upon insects and seeds of weeds. 



The nest is neatly made of dry grass, and is attached 

 to rushes growing in the water. The eggs are white, 

 spotted at the larger end with dull brown and (black ; 

 they are four in number and pointed at the small end. 



The song is curiously like the sound made by an old 

 iron pump Chinker-on-king-tschwee the last note re- 

 presenting the rush of water ; but Hudson (who seems 

 to hear melody in the most ludicrous performances) 

 says that, though limited in its range, it is very sweet, 

 some o'f the notes being remarkable for their purity and 

 expression. They are undoubtedly " remarkable for 

 their expression " and for the expression which they 

 produce upon the faces of those who listen to them ; 

 but, as for the purity, if a Corn Bunting's zweezh is 

 pure, then this Troupial's tschwee (which lis probably a 

 foreign version of the same note) is entrancing. Like 

 its allies, it is imported from time to time in small 

 batches, and (not being a general favourite) is usually 

 obtainable at a moderate cost. 



I purchased a supposed pair of this bird in 1894, 

 but subsequently discovered that I had secured adult 

 and young males ; one of these birds I exhibited later 

 on at the Crystal Palace. I found them very cunning, 

 dashing for the door when I renewed their food. They 

 walk and look like true Starlings, open their bills wide 

 in the seed pan, scattering the -grains far and wide, and 

 (unlike the Military Troupials) they xoost on a perch at 

 night. They require plenty of insects, soft food and 

 fruit may be given if they will eat it. I did not find 

 this a long-lived species, but I never tried it in an 

 aviary. It ought to be easily captured in abundance, 

 yet it is not always cheap in the market, though I 

 paid no excessive price for my specimens. It is a more 

 graceful-looking bird than the more typical (Meadow- 

 Starlings of the genus AgelcEus, and its more slender 

 bill gives it a greater resemblance to the Starlings of 

 the Old World. 



Fr.AME-SHOULDERKD MAKSJH-TROTTPIAL (Age!(t-SticU$ 



humeralis). 



Male glossy-black ; wing-coverts ruddy yellowish- 

 brown, with a paler edging below ; back of thighs 

 partly yellow. Female rather smaller and more slen- 



