SYNALLAXIS ALBESCENS. 179 



193. SYNALLAXIS SPIXI, Scl. 

 (SPIX'S SPINE-TAIL.) 



Synallaxis spixi, Burnt. P. Z. S. 1868, p. G36 (Buenos Ayres) ; Scl et Salo 

 P. Z. S. 18G9, p. 632 (Buenos Ayres) j Sd. P. Z. S. 1874, p. 9. 



Desertion. Above, crown chestnut ; lores and sides of head dark cinereous ; 

 hind neck, back, also wing- and tail-feathers olive-brown ; upper wing-coverts 

 chestnut : beneath dark cinereous, becoming whitish on the belly, throat 

 blackish ; under wing-coverts fulvous chestnut ; bill black, feet horn-colour ; 

 whole length 67 inches, wing 2-0, tail 3-2. 



Hab. Southern Brazil and Argentina. 



I like Azara's name Chidi, which, to one acquainted with the habits 

 of this and of the following species, seems very appropriate, suggesting, 

 as I imagine it does, a small creature possessing a sharp two-syllabled 

 note; for although. Hartlaub, in his Nomenclature of Azara, gives 

 S. ruficapilla as the species meant by Chicli, the account of its habits 

 in the c Apuntamientos ' seems to point to S. spixi or to S. albescens. 



Azara says : " I give it this name because it sings it plainly, in a loud 

 sharp tone, which maybe heard at a distance, repeating it so frequently 

 that the pauses last no longer than the sound. It is resident (in Para- 

 guay), solitary and not abundant : inhabits thickets of aloes and thorn, 

 without rising more than two yards above the surface, or showing itself 

 in open places. It moves about incessantly, but does not leave its 

 thicket to visit the woods or open ground, its flight being only from 

 bush to bush ; and though it is not timid, it is hard to detect it in its 

 stronghold, and to hear it one would imagine that it was perched over- 

 head on a tree, when it is bidden all the time in the brushwood at the 

 roots." 



This habit of concealing itself so closely inclines me to think that 

 this species, ratber than S. albescens, was the bird described by Azara, 

 although in both species the language is nearly the same. I have nothing 

 to add to the above account from the ' Apuntamientos/ except that in the 

 love-season this species has a low, strange-sounding little song, utterly 

 unlike its usual strident cry. When singing, it sits motionless on the 

 summit of a low bush in a dejected attitude with head drawn in, and 

 murmurs its mysterious little melody at intervals of half a minute. 



194. SYNALLAXIS ALBESCENS, Temm. 

 (WHITE-THROATED SPINE-TAIL.) 



Synallaxis albescens, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl p. 63 ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1874, p. 9 ; 

 Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 180 (Buenos Ayres) ; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 611 

 (Misiones) ; Barrows, Bull Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 207 (Entrerios). 



N2 



