AN^RETES PARULUS. 141 



147, SERPOPHAGA NIGRICANS (Vieill.). 

 (BLACKISH TYRANT.) 



Serpophaga nigricans, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. 454 (Parana) ; Scl. et Salv. 

 Nomencl. p. 47 j Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 177 (Buenos Ayres) ; White, P. Z. S. 

 1882, p. GOG (Misiones) ; Barrows, Hull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. vol. viii. p. 199 



(Entrerios). 



Description. Above dull brownish cinereous ; wings and tail blackish, the 

 coverts and outer secondaries with slight edgings like the back ; crest slight, 

 with a well-marked white basal spot ; beneath paler and rather purer cinereous ; 

 under wing-coverts pale cinereous ; bill and feet dark horn-colour : whole 

 length 4-7 inches, wing 2-3, tail !!. Female similar, but vertical spot not so 

 well marked. 



Hab. S.E. Brazil, Paraguay, La Plata, and N. Patagonia. 



This species differs markedly in habits, language, and appearance 

 from the last. In both sexes the colour is a uniform slaty grey ; the 

 tail, which the bird incessantly opens and flirts like a fan, is black ; as 

 in S. subcristata there is a hidden spot of white under the loose 

 feathers forming the crest. 



It frequents the borders of running streams, seldom being found 

 far from a water-course \ and it alights as often on stones or on the 

 bare ground as on trees. Male and female are always seen together, 

 for it pairs for life, and the migration, if it has any, is only partial. 

 It flits restlessly along the borders of the stream it frequents, making 

 repeated excursions after small winged insects, taking them in the air, 

 or snatching them up from the surface of the water, and frequently 

 returning to the same stand. While thus employed it perpetually 

 utters a loud, complaining chuck, and at intervals the two birds meet, 

 and, with crests erect and flirting their wings and tails, utter a series of 

 trills and hurried sharp notes in concert. 



The nest is generally placed beneath an overhanging bank, attached 

 to hanging roots or grass, a few inches above the water ; but it is some- 

 times placed in a bush growing on the borders of a stream. It is a 

 neat, cup-shaped, but rather shallow structure, thickly lined inside with 

 feathers. The eggs are four, pointed, white or pale cream-colour, with 

 black and grey spots at the large end. 



148. AKflSRETES PARULUS (Kittl.). 

 (TIT-LIKE TYRANT.) 



Anaeretes parulus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 455 (Mendoza) ; Hudson, 

 P. Z. S. 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro) ; Sclet Salv. Nomencl. p. 47; While, P. Z. S. 

 1883, p. 39 (Cordova) ; Durnford, Ibis, 1878, p. 395 (Centr. Patagonia) j 

 Uoring, Ejcp.al Rio Negro, Zool. p. 43 (R. Negro, R. Colorado). 



