TYRANNIES. Ill 



This fine species was originally discovered by Azara in Paraguay. 

 In June 1881 specimens were obtained at San Javier, Misiones, by 

 White. He writes : " This bird is found here at times in flocks, and 

 makes a great deal of noise, but is exceedingly wild and difficult to 

 shoot, so that I had to use ball-cartridge to secure this specimen." 



Suborder IT. OLIGOMYOD^E. 

 Fam. XIII. TYRANNID.E, on TYRANTS. 



The Tyrannic! oe or Tyrant-birds, which play the part of our Flycatchers 

 in the New World, although they are quite different in structure, con- 

 tribute an important element in the Neotropical Avifauna, numbering 

 as they do more than 350 species. Of these 63 have already been met 

 with within the limits of the Argentine Republic, and the list will, no 

 doubt, be further extended, as many of these birds are small and dull 

 in colour, and easily hide themselves in the dense forests to which they 

 resort. 



The pampas are the special home of the Tseniopterinse, or " Walking 

 Tyrants " as Swainson called them, which have strong feet and long 

 tarsi, and frequent open spaces. Amongst them the genera Tanioptera, 

 Alectrurus, Cnipolegus, and Lichenops may be regarded as specially 

 characteristic of the Argentine avifauna. On the other hand, the 

 Elaineinae and Platyrhynchinse, which are eminently birds of the dense 

 forest, are much less numerous within the bounds of Argentina, and 

 are mostly confined to the wooded districts of the north. The typical 

 Tyranninae form a more mixed group, some species of which, such as 

 Tyrannus melancholicus and Pyrocephalus rubineus, are prominent 

 objects in the Argentine ornis. 



109. AGRIORNIS STEIATA, Gould. 

 (STRIPED TYRANT.) 



Agriornis striatus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 459 (Cordova) ; Salvin, Ibis, 

 1880, p. 356 (Tucuman); Doring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool. p. 41 (R. 

 Colorado, R. Negro). 



Description. Above cinereous ; wings blackish cinereous with light edgings ; 

 tail dark cinereous, with a distinct white margin to the external rectrix, and 

 slight whitish tips to all rectrices ; lores blackish ; short superciliaries white : 



