148 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



and sits on a stalk or other slight elevation, from 

 which it darts down to seize any insect it spies on 

 the ground* Its only language is a very low whistling 

 note. 



CHAT-LIKE TYRANT 



Taznioptera rubetra 



Above sandy brown, lores and superciliaries white ; wings black, 

 greater coverts and outer secondaries edged with whitish, lesser 

 coverts like the back, tail black, outer web of the outer tail-feathers 

 and tips of others white ; below white, with black striations on the 

 sides of the throat and on the breast ; flanks, under wing-coverts, 

 and inner webs of the primaries deep rufous; two outer pri- 

 maries acuminated ; length 7.5 inches. Female rather paler, 

 throat and breast washed with ochraceous, and outer primaries not 

 acuminated. 



I HAVE met with this bird at all seasons of the year 

 in Patagonia on the Rio Negro, and think it probable 

 that it has no migration. It is seen in flocks of twenty 

 or thirty individuals, and in its lively actions when 

 on the wing, and in its habit of perching on a bush 

 or elevation of some kind, from which it pounces 

 down on an insect seen on the ground, it resembles 

 other Txniopterde ; but it runs about on the ground 

 a great deal, and in this respect is more like a 

 Myiotheretes or Muscisaxicola. In its colour it also 

 diverges widely from the typical Txniopterde in their 

 black and white Dominican plumage. The whole 

 upper parts are light chestnut, with a white mark on 

 the side of the head ; wings and tail dark, tipped 

 with pale rufous ; throat, breast, and belly whitish 



