ALECTRURUS RISORIUS. 123 



look like stumps of two large feathers originally intended for a bigger 

 bird, and finally cut off near their base and given to a very small one. 

 In the male these two feathers are carried vertically and at right angles 

 to the plane of the body, giving the bird a resemblance to a diminutive 

 cock ; hence the vernacular name ' Gallito/ or Little Cock, by which it 

 is known. 



I have not observed this species myself, but Azara has the following 

 paragraph about its habits : " The male sometimes rises slowly and 

 almost vertically, with tail raised, and rapidly beating its wings, and 

 looking while ascending in this way more like a butterfly than a bird ; 

 and when it has reached a height of ten or twelve yards, it drops 

 obliquely to the earth and perches on a stalk." He adds that the males 

 are solitary, but several females are sometimes seen near together, and 

 that the females are greatly in excess of the males. 



123. ALECTRURUS RISORIUS (VieilL). 

 (STRANGE-TAILED TYRANT.) 



Alectrurus guira-yetapa, Scl. et Salv. Nom&ncl p. 43 j Durnford, Ibis, 1878, p. 60 

 (Buenos Ayres). Alectrurus risorius, Harrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. 

 p. 140 (Entrerios). Alectrurus psalurus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. 

 p. 457 (S. Luis). 



Description. Above black, rump grey ; front varied with white ; wings 

 black, scapularies, outer margins of wing-feathers and coverts white ; tail 

 black, two outer rectrices much elongated, denuded at the base, with a broad 

 inner and no outer vane ; below white, broad band across the breast black ; throat 

 in the breeding-season bare of feathers arid of a bright orange ; bill yellowish ; 

 feet black : whole length 11-0 inches, wing 3-0 ; tail, outer rectrices 8'0, middle 

 2'0. Female : above brown, wings varied with white : beneath white ; breast- 

 band pale brown ; tail with the two outer rectrices slightly elongated and 

 denuded, terminated with spatulations on the inner vane. 



Hob. S. Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentine Republic. 



Azara named this species Cola estrana (Strange-tail), but mentions 

 incidentally that its Guarani name is ( guira-yetapa ' (Scissor- tail), a 

 term which the Indians apply indiscriminately to several species having 

 the same sort of tail. 



The Guira-yetapa is a very curious little bird, with a black, white, 

 and grey plumage and the beak of a true Tyrant ; but it differs from all 

 its congeners in having the skin of the chin, throat, and sides of the 

 head bare of feathers, and these parts in the breeding-season are a 

 bright orange colour. It is a feeble flier, its wings being very short, 

 while the two outer tail-feathers are abnormally long and peculiar in 

 form. Mr. Barrows says: "The remarkable condition of the outer 



