88 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



go back to the top of his own chosen weed-stalk, appar- 

 ently without a feather ruffled." 



" Azara found this species breeding in a hole in a 

 bank ; and Mr. Dalgleish has described a nest, taken 

 from a tree in Uruguay, as a somewhat plight structure, 

 4 in. in diameter, formed of sticks and fibres, lined with 

 fine grass and a few feathers. It contained three eggs, 

 pear-shaped, white, with large well-defined spots of 

 reddish-brown." 



An example of this species was captured at sea off 

 the River Plate, and presented to the London Zoo- 

 logical Society in November, 1894, by Mr. C. V. Reed. 

 Russ makes no mention of the bird in his work pub- 

 lished five years later. 



SHORT-WINGED TYRANT (Machetornis rixosa). 



Above brownish-olivaceous ; wings brown ; tail 

 brown, with terminal yellowish band ; crown with the 

 centre scarlet and crested ; below bright yellow, paler 

 on throat ; bill and feet black. Female similar, but 

 somewhat duller. Hab., Pampas of S.E. Brazil, 

 Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, La Plata, and Venezuela. 

 ('Sclater.) 



Hudson observes ("Argentine Ornithology," Vol. I., 

 pp. 132, 133) : " It resembles the true Tyrants in dis- 

 position, in its shrill piercing language, and in the 

 habit of perching and breeding in trees. 

 On the other hand, like the long-legged 

 Myiotheretes, that lives on the open 

 plains, it feedis exclusively on the 

 ground, over which it runs with a speed 

 possessed by few perching species. The 

 general impression one forms is that in 

 manners and appearance the Short- 

 winged Tyrant is quite unlike any other 

 species, though all its habits are to be found in one or 

 other of the various groups comprising the Tyrannidce. 



" These birds have no migration, but pair for life, 

 and always remain on the same spot, and will continue 

 to breed in the same hole for many years, even where 

 they are frequently deprived of their eggs. Azara 

 saw them sometimes uniting in small flocks in Para- 

 guay ; in Buenos Ayres they are always seen in pairs, 

 or, after the young have left the nest, in families. 

 They prefer to live near a human habitation, where 

 there are trees ; even one tree, in which they can breed 

 and find shelter at night, will be sufficient to attach 

 them to a dwelling, so great is their partiality for the 

 clean-trodden ground where they can freely run about 

 and catch insects. They haunt the cattle-pens, and 

 become extremely familiar with the cows, horses, and 

 sheep, following them to the pasture-grounds, where 

 they are often seen perched on the back of a ihorse or 

 other domestic animal, or stationed close to its nose 

 on the ground, watching for insects. On the bare 

 ground they run about with wonderful swiftness, and 

 are able to overtake and capture flying insects without 

 rising. The male and female invariably hunt together, 

 and at intervals fly to some favourite perch to indulge 

 in a duet composed of loud, rapid, shrill notes, 

 somewhat metallic in sound. Though able to fly 

 swiftly when in pursuit of a passing Hawk or other 

 bird, at other times their flight is strangely slow ; the 

 round body, short blunt wings and tail giving the bird 

 a somewhat curious appearance as it progresses 

 laboriously through the air. I have frequently seen 

 them make the most unprovoked assaults on birds of an 

 inoffensive kind ; possibly they are in these attacks 

 moved by a playful rather than by a vindictive spirit. 

 I once saw one drop like a stone from a height of fifty 



yards on to a pigeon perched on a leafless tree. The 

 pigeon fell as if shot to the earth ; the Tyrant-bird then 

 released his hold ; the pigeon rushed away terrified 

 through the trees, while its persecutor rose high up in 

 the air and resumed its journey. 



" I have elsewhere spoken of the wars waged by this 

 bird against other species, all seeking to gain possession 

 of the large nest of Anumbius acuticaudatus. A hole 

 in the trunk of a tree is also a favourite breeding-plaice. 

 The nest is neatly built of slender twigs and leaves, 

 and lined with horse-hair. The eggs are slightly oval, 

 and densely marked with dark brown spots or etripes 

 on a white or brownish-white ground." 



Two specimens of this species were purchased by the 

 London Zoological Society in 1892, and exhibited at 

 Regent's Park. 



SULPHURY TYRANT (Pitangus sulphur atus). 



Upper surface olivaceous ruddy brown, with the 

 edges of the flights and outer tail feathers chestnut ; 

 head black, the forehead ashy white', a broad longi- 



SULPHURY TYRANT. 



tudinal patch, of silky golden yellow (some of the 

 terminal feathers of which are broadly black -tipped) on 

 the crown, a broad superciliary waved white stripe 

 extending back to the nape, remainder of chin, throat, 

 and fore-chest white ; remainder of under parts sulphur 

 yellow slightly stained with asihy-olive ; bill and _ fee/t 

 black ; iris chestnut. Female with the edges of flights 

 paler; bill shorter, broader at base, more acute at tip. 

 Hab., Guiana, the Amazons, and Brazil. 



In the list of the Zoological Society of London this 

 specie is called Sulphury Tyrant, but in the " Argen- 

 tine Ornithology" Sclater applied thS same name to 

 Rhynchocydus sulphurescens. The present species, 

 however, has the greater right to the name, which is 

 adopted by Russ and by aviculturists and dealers 

 generally; so that my proposal in "Foreign Bird- 

 Keeping" to call it Sulphur Tyrant was mistaken; I 

 ought to have suggested that R. sulphurescens should 

 be called " Yellowish." 



BuTimeister says (" Systematische Uebersiciht," 

 Vol. II., pp. 461, 462) : " One of the best known birds 

 of Brazil, and especially on account of its cry. which 

 sounds distinctly like ben-te-vii (I see you well). The 

 bird appears everywhere in the forest region, but always 



