WARBLING FINCH 49 



this account pronounce it to be the one silent member 

 of a voiceful family, as my acquaintance with it is so 

 very slight. 



BLACK-AND-CHESTNUT WARBLING 

 FINCH 



Poospiza nigrorufa 



Above black, faintly washed with olive ; eye-stripe pale straw- 

 colour ; two outer tail-feathers on each side tipped with white ; be- 

 neath bright chestnut ; under tail-coverts pale buff ; length 5.8 

 inches. Female : above not so dark as in male ; beneath light buff 

 striped with blackish. 



THIS sweet-voiced little songster appears in Buenos 

 Ayres at the end of September ; it is a common bird 

 in grounds abounding in bushes and scattered trees, 

 and in its bright ruddy breast and dark upper plumage 

 has some resemblance to the English Robin ; only 

 it has a very conspicuous straw-coloured line above 

 the eye. Its voice also, in purity and sweetness of 

 tone, is not unlike that of the Robin ; but the song, 

 composed of six unvarying notes, is uttered in a 

 deliberate, business-like manner at regular intervals, 

 and is monotonous* Never more than two birds 

 are seen together ; they feed on the ground in 

 humid situations, the male frequently seeking a 

 perch to sing. The nest is made on the ground, 

 or in a close bush near the surface ; the eggs have 

 a pale bluish ground-colour, irregularly marked 

 with black and very dark brown spots, and in 

 some instances clouded with faint grey. 



D I 



