22 



VIREONID^E. 



Fam. VII. VIEEONID^E, OR GREENLETS. 



Three of the groups of the peculiar American family of Greenlets, 

 allied to our Shrikes, hare representatives within the Argentine Republic. 

 The genera Vireo and Hylophilus both extend, each in the shape of one 

 of its South-Brazilian members, into the woodlands of the Parana; while 

 Cyclorhis, another genus also widely spread over South and Central 

 America, has two representatives within our area. One of these latter 

 is well known in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres ; the other is only 

 found in the extreme north of the Republic. 



21. VIREOSYLVIA CHIVI (VieilL). 

 (CHIVI GREENLET.) 



Contramaestre gaviero, Azara, Apunt. ii. p. 34. Sylvia chivi, VieilL N. D. 

 xi. p. 174. Vireosylvia chivi, Baird, Rev. A. B. p. 337; Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S. 

 1869, p. 160 (Buenos Ayres) ; Berl. et JJier. Zeitschr. ges. Orn. 1885, p. 115. 

 Vireo chivi, Gadow, Cat. JB. viii. p. 295. 



Hab. South America, from Colombia down to Buenos Ayres. 



A single specimen of this Greenlet was found in a collection made 

 by Mr. Haslehurst near Buenos Ayres. As the species occurs in Rio 

 Grande do Sul (Berlepsch) and Paraguay (Azara), its occasional appear- 

 ance in Eastern Argentina is quite probable. Whether the bird is really 

 distinct from the widespread Vireo olivaceus seems to be a question 

 which is not yet finally settled. 



Azara, describing this species, says it is one of the commonest in deep 

 woods, where it moves about among the terminal twigs, without ever 

 rising to the tops of the trees or flying down to the brush or the ground. 

 It is active, and extremely restless in manner ; and in searching after 

 and taking the small insects and spiders on which it lives it climbs 

 about the twigs, assuming every position, and frequently suspending 

 itself, head downwards, by its feet. It has a full pleasing voice of con- 

 siderable power, heard incessantly in the woods, particularly in the love- 

 season. The nest is a slender beautiful structure, even surpassing that 

 of the Humming-birds, constructed of thin dry leaves outside, smoothly 

 attached to the rest with spiders' webs, while the inside is formed of 

 fine fibres and cotton. 



