CATAMENIA 1NORNATA. 57 



there were three very large chafiar bushes, where a multitude of Diuca 

 Finches used to roost, and they never missed singing in the evening, 

 however cold or rainy the weather happened to be. So fond were they 

 of this charming habit, that when I approached the bushes or stood 

 directly under them, the alarm caused by my presence would interrupt 

 the performance only for a few moments, and presently they would 

 burst into song again, the birds all the time swiftly pursuing each other 

 amongst the foliage, often within a foot of my head. 



The eggs, Darwin says (Zool. Voy. ' Beagle/ iii. p. 93), are pointed, 

 oval, pale dirty green, thickly blotched with pale dull brown, becoming 

 confluent and entirely coloured at the broad end. 



75. CATAMENIA ANALIS (d'Orb. et Lafr.). 

 (RED-STAINED FINCH.) 



Catainenia analis, Burm. La-Plata Eeise, ii. p. 488 (Mendoza) ; Scl. et Salv. 

 Nomencl. p. 31 ; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 599 (Catamarca). Spermophila 

 analis, Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 106. 



Description. Above clear grey ; wing-feathers black, edged with grey ; tail 

 "black, a large white blotch on the central part of each feather, the two middle 

 feathers excepted ; beneath grey, palest on the belly ; under tail-coverts rufous : 

 whole length 5*0 inches, wing 2*8, tail 2'2. Female, above obscure brownish 

 buff, striped with blackish ; beneath dirty white. 



Hab. Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. 



Burmeister met with this Finch on the sierras near Mendoza, and 

 White obtained a single specimen in Catamarca. 



76. CATAMENIA INORNATA (Lafr.). 

 (PLAIN-COLOURED FINCH.) 



Sporophila rufirostris, Landb. J. f. 0. 1865, p. 404 (Mendoza). Catamenia 

 inornata, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 31. Spermophila inornata, Sharpe , 

 Cat. B. xii. p. 104. 



Description. Above dull grey, clearer on the rump ; wings and tail blackish, 

 wing-feathers edged with grey ; beneath grey, under tail-coverts bright chestnut ; 

 bill red ; feet brown : whole length 5-0 inches, wing 2-5, tail 2-2. 



Hab. Bolivia and N. Argentina. 



Examples of this species were obtained by Weisshaupt near Mendoza 

 in 1871. 





