138 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



thistle-top or low bush, but never on trees* Their 

 only language is a long, low, plaintive whistle, heard 

 usually on warm, still days in winter* 



PEPOAZA TYRANT 



Txnioptera nengeta 



Above cinereous ; lores white ; wings black, coverts cinereous ; a 

 well-marked speculum at the base of the primaries and the edgings of 

 the outer secondaries white ; tail black, tipped with whitish cinereous, 

 basal one-third of tail white ; below pale cinereous, middle of throat 

 white, with blackish stripe on each side ; middle of belly, flanks, 

 crissum, and under tail-coverts white ; bill horn-colour ; feet black ; 

 length 9 inches. Female smaller. 



To this species Azara gives the name of Pepoaza, 

 the Guarani for Barred-wing ; and Pepoaza was used 

 by him as a generic name for the small, well-defined 

 group now placed in the genus Tdenioptera, com- 

 prising eight known species. Most of these birds 

 have some conspicuous wing-mark. They inhabit 

 the southern portion of the South American con- 

 tinent, from South Brazil and Bolivia to the Straits 

 of Magellan, and are most numerous on the open 

 pampas and in Patagonia* In size they do not vary 

 greatly, the largest being about nine inches long, 

 the smallest about seven. In colour they are grey, or, 

 more frequently, white relieved with black or grey, 

 one species (7\ rubetra) being rufous. Their legs 

 are long, and they run on the ground like Myiotheretes 

 rufiventris, feeding to some extent in the same 



