ANTHUS CORRENDERA. 17 



15. ANTHUS CORRENDERA, Vieffl. 

 (CACHILA PIPIT.) 



Anthus correndera, Sol. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 8 j Hudson, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 771 

 (Buenos Ayres) ; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 32 (Chupat), p. 168 (Buenos 

 Ayres), 1878, p. 392 (Central Patagonia); Sclaler, Ibis, 1878, p. 362; 

 White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 594 (Buenos Ayres) ; Daring, Exp. al Rio Negro, 

 Zool. p. 37 (Azul) ; Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 87 (Concepcion, 

 Entrerios); Sharpe, Cat. B. x. p. 610. Anthus rufas, Burm. La-Plata 

 Reise, ii. p. 474 (Mendoza, Parana) ; Durnford, Ibis, 1876, p. 158. 



Description. Above pale sandy buff, mottled with black centres to the 

 feathers ; wing- and tail-feathers dark brown, edged with buff, the penultimate 

 tail-feather with a white tip, the outer tail-feather almost entirely white ; neck 

 and breast sandy buff, with large triangular black spots ; flanks buff, streaked 

 with black ; abdomen and under tail-coverts isabelline ; bill dusky grey ; feet 

 pink : total length 6*0 inches, wing 2-9, tail 2-3. Female similar. 



Hab. Paraguay, Argentina, Patagonia, and Chili. 



Azara's only reason for calling this bird La Correndera was because 

 he thought it resembled a Tit-Lark known by that name in his own 

 country, but of which he merely had a confused recollection. It is 

 therefore to be regretted, I think, that correndera has been adopted as 

 a specific name by naturalists instead of "Cachila," the vernacular 

 name of the bird, familiar to every one in the Argentine country. 

 Azara's Spanish bird was probably Anthus pratensis, which closely re- 

 sembles A. correndera in general appearance, and has, moreover, as wide 

 a range in the northern as the last-named species has in the southern 

 hemisphere. In the volume on Birds in the ' Voyage of the Beagle/ it 

 is said that a species of Anthus ranges further south than any other 

 land-bird, being the only land-bird found on Georgia and South Orkney 

 (lat. 61 S.). 



In colour and language, possibly also in size, the Cachila is variable. 

 It is a very common bird, widely and plentifully distributed over the 

 pampas, found alike on marshy and dry grounds, but rare in the region 

 of giant grasses. While abundant, it is also very evenly dispersed, each 

 bird spending its life on a very circumscribed plot of earth. Those 

 frequenting marshy or moist grounds are of a yellowish-cream colour, 

 thickly mottled and striped with fuscous and black, and have two 

 narrow parallel pure white marks on the back, very conspicuous when 

 the bird is on the ground. The individuals frequenting high and dry 

 grounds are much paler in hue, appearing almost grey, and do not show 

 the white marks on the back. They also look larger than the birds on 

 marshy lands ; but this appearance is probably due to a looser plumage. 

 The most strongly-marked pale and dark-plum aged variations may be 

 VOL. i. c 



