98 ICTERID^E. 



round, even during the breeding-season ; in winter a great "many males 

 separate themselves from the females, and are found associating 

 together in flocks of from thirty to forty individuals. 



They feed on the ground, keeping to the moist borders of marshes 

 during summer ; they avoid woods, but occasionally alight on trees, 

 where they all sing in concert. The song, when an individual is heard 

 singing alone, is, though limited in its range, very sweet, some of the 

 notes being remarkable for their purity and expression. The bird sits 

 on a rush or stalk while singing, and makes a long pause after every 

 note or two, as if to make the most of its limited repertory. There is 

 in the song one rich full note, which, to my mind, is unequalled for 

 plaintive sweetness, and I am therefore surprised that Azara says only 

 of this species that it sings passably well ' canta razonablemente.' 



The nest is neatly made of dry grasses, and attached to the rushes 

 growing in the water. . The eggs are four, pointed, and spotted at the 

 larger end with dull brown and black on a white ground. 



98. AGEKEUS FLAVUS (Gm.). 

 (YELLOW-HEADED MARSH-BIRD.) 



Xanthosomus flavus, Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S. 1869, p. 632 (Buenos Ayres) ; 

 iid. Nomencl. p. 37 ; Durnford, Ibis, 1878, p. 59 (Buenos Ayres) ; Db'ring, 

 Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool p. 41 (CarhuS) j Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. 

 p. 134 (Entrerios). Agelaeus flavus, Scl. Cat. B. xi. p. 346. 



Description. Black ; head and rump, bend of the wing, and body beneath 

 bright yellow ; bill and feet black : whole length 6'7 inches, wing 4-2, tail 3-2. 

 Female : above brown, slightly striated ; eyebrows, rump, and body beneath 

 yellowish ; bill and feet brown. 



Hab. Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. 



Azara called this bird Cabeza amarilla, or Yellow-head. It is found 

 throughout the eastern provinces of the Argentine country, ranging 

 south to about the thirty -sixth degree of latitude, and is also common 

 in the Banda Oriental. 



The dull-plumaged birds are always very much more numerous than 

 the bright-coloured males, though Azara strangely asserts that the sexes 

 are alike. In Buenos Ayres, where it is called " Naranjo " by the 

 country people in allusion to its orange tints, it is very well known on 

 account of its yellow plumage, which looks so wonderfully brilliant in the 

 sunshine, and its partiality for cultivated districts, where it follows the 

 plough to pick up worms, and frequents the orchard to sing, associating 

 with the common Cow-bird and Yellow-breast. It remains all the 

 year, and is very sociable, going in flocks of from twenty to fifty 



