TYRANTS. 



89 



only singly ; it not merely approaches the settlements, 

 but is fond of sitting also in the middle of a village 

 at the top of an isolated tall tree, and makes its cry 

 resound therefrom, with short pauses, for a considerable 

 time. It is a 'bold, daring fellow, which is fond of 

 tormenting weaker birds of prey, pursues them, calls 

 o them, even hurls itself at them, as I have mentioned 

 in my travels (p. 146). Its food consists of the larger 

 insects, upon which one constantly sees it .pounce; it 

 moreover also destroys smaller birds, especially when 

 shot, if they wish to be at peace, or young nestlings, 

 and for that reason is pursued by other birds when it 

 shows itself near their nests. The nest is placed in 

 dense scrub, fairly high up, and consists of great masses 

 of dry portions of plants, which are lined inside with 

 feathers, hair and finer threads; it is very deep and 

 has in addition a stiff over-arching, like a roof. The 

 eggs, of which the number varies, from 3-4, are some- 

 what smaller than those of the Rei-Rei, of a pale 

 greenish colour, with scattered black and blue-green 

 spots, which extend especially over the middle towards 

 the blunter extremity." 



Of the closely related Bienteveo Tyrant, Hudson says 

 ("Argentine Ornithology," Vol. I., pp. 149, 150): 

 " Except when breeding the Bienteveo is a peaceful 

 bird, never going out of its way to make gratuitous 

 attacks on individuals' of its own or of other species ; 

 but in the pursuit of its prey it is cunning, (bold, and 

 fierce. Like the true Tyrant-birds it preys a great deal 

 -on large insects when they are abundant in the warm 

 season, and is frequently seen catching its prey in the 

 air. A large 'beetle or grasshopper it invariably beats 

 against a branch before devouring it. But even in 

 summer, when insect prey is most abundant, it prefers. 

 a more substantial diet whenever such is to be had. 

 It frequently carries off the fledglings of the smaller 

 birds from their nests, in the face of the brave defence 

 often made by the parents. It is also fond of fishing, 

 and may be seen perched by the hour on a bank or over- 

 hanging branch beside a stream., watching the water 

 like a Kingfisher, and at intervals dashing down to 

 capture the small fry. In shallow pools, where there 

 are tadpoles and other prey, the Bienteveo does not 

 mind 1 getting a little wet, but .alights in the water, and 

 stands belly-deep watching for its prey. I have seen a 

 Bienteveo standing in the water in the midst of a flock 

 of Glossy Ibises. They are often .seen, as Darwin 

 remarks, hovering like a Kestrel over tohe grass, and 

 then dashing down to seize their prey. Small snakes, 

 'frogs, mice, and lizards all minister to its appetite, 

 and with a capture of this kind it invariably flies to the 

 nearest stone or branch, against which it beats the life 

 of its victim out before devouring it. I once saw one 

 fly out of some weeds carrying a little wriggling snake 

 of a very brittle species and about eight inches long in 

 its beak. Alighting on a gate it proceeded to kill its 

 capture, and at the first blow on the wood the snake 

 new into two pieces. A mouse gives it a great deal of 

 trouble, for after it has been killed it cannot be 

 devoured until reduced by repeated blows to a soft 

 pulp, after which it is with great labour pulled to pieces 

 and eaten. Snails and Am^pullarice. are also pounded 

 until the shell breaks." Mr. Hudson also mentions that 

 it follows the plough to pick up worms and larvae, and 

 that it is fond of fresh meat, and is commonly .seen fol- 

 lowing a butcher's cart, and waiting for an opportunity 

 to snatch up any small piece of meat or fat which it is 

 able to detach. 



As pointed out by Burmeister, the Sulphury Tyrant 

 and its forms differ from the other Tyrants in building a 

 conspicuous domed nest in a tree, that of the Bienteveo, 



according to Hudson, sometimes taking five or six weeks 

 to complete. It is about a foot deep and eight or nine 

 inches broad, and chiefly composed of wool. The 

 entrance is near the top. The cavity is thickly lined 

 with feathers, and contains five long pointed creamy 

 eggs, chiefly spotted at the larger end with chocolate 

 and purple. 



On the earth this bird hops clumsily, probably on 

 account of its rather small feet. 



The so-called species P. derbianus, P. bolivianus, and 

 F. sulphuratus aire to all intents and purposes scarcely 

 differing local races of one bird ; therefore it is no 

 wonder that Burmeister 's "P. sulphuratus" was 

 Fclater's "P. bolivianus." As Burmeister gives but a 

 short account of the habits of P. sulphuratus, I have 

 thought it best also to quote part of Hudson's account 

 of the Argentine form. 



I purchased a specimen of this bird, I think about the 

 year 1895, and kept it for about a twelvemonth, when it 

 died quite unaccountably. I found it a nervous bird, 

 which, whenever anyone looked at it, would open its 

 mouth to its widest capacity and let out a harsh dismal 

 prolonged iscream 1 , exactly resembling that produced by 

 indiarubbeir babies sold for a penny in the London. 

 streets. It was a great source of amusement to ask a 

 young lady to go and) examine the beauty of the bird, 

 and note her startled jump when that awful eound 

 greeted her. This is probably what Hudson describee 

 in his account of the extremely closely related 

 P. bolivianus as " a very long cleair call-note." It is 

 unquestionably one of the most shocking sounds uttered 

 by any feathered biped ; but Hudson speaks of the utter- 

 ing of the agonised scream by both sexes, as " one 

 pretty habit, which brings out strongly the pleasant 

 feature in its character." All the harsh notes and 

 scroopy songs of Argentine birds seem to have delighted 

 this naturalist. His unstinted praise of the screechy 

 notes of the Grey Cardinals has always astonished me. 



PlTANGUA OR BROAD-BILLED TYRANT 



(Megarhynchus pitangua). 



Above olivaceous, more or lees green ; wings, upper 

 tail-coverts and tail greyish-brown ; the flights with 

 paler edges, more or less rufeecent on inner primaries 

 and' outer secondaries ; tail feathers similarly edged ; 

 head brownish-black with a concealed streak or patch 

 of canary-yellow or orange on the crown ; a broad white 

 eyebrow-stripe joining a narrow line of the same colour 

 which passes round the nape ; chin, throat, and lower 

 part of cheeks white ; remainder of under surface 

 canary-yellow ; bill black ; feet black ; irides brown. 

 Female 'with the throat less p urely white ; the tail longer ; 

 the bill, seen from above, is slightly shorter and notice- 

 ably broader at base. Hab., 'Southern Mexico and Cen- 

 tral and South America down to Paraguay. (Sclater.) 



Excepting for the shape of its bill, this curious species 

 is very similar to the preceding. Ridgway calls it 

 "Boat-billed." Burmeister remarks (" Systeniatische 

 Uebersicht," Vol. II., p. 459): "This remarkable bird 

 is indeed nowhere rare in the .coastal forest region of 

 Brazil, but by no means eo abundant as the Bentavi ; 

 it keeps more "to the forest, far from human habitations, 

 and is readily recognisable here by a cry which sounds 

 like Gne-i, Gne-i. It is watchful, cautious, now busy- 

 on the treetop, now on the ground, but occasionally, 

 like the Bentavi, remains at the same spot exercising 

 its voice. Its food consists of the larger insects. 

 The nest is carefully concealed and fairly large ; it rarely 

 contains more than two pale yellow eggs with small 

 brown spots, especially at the blunter end, but not 



