PLANT-CUTTER 193 



RED-BREASTED PLANT-CUTTER 



Phytotoma rutila 



Above plumbeous, washed with olive ; front of head and whole 

 under parts bright red ; wings and tail blackish, two well-marked 

 wing-bars and tips of lateral rectrices white ; length 7 inches. Female, 

 above grey, striated with black ; beneath light buff with dense black 

 striations. 



THERE are four known species of this curious South 

 American group, the Plant-cutters, the only members 

 of the family Phytotomidx. The older naturalists 

 associated them with the Finches on account of their 

 toothed Fringilline bill, but they are now placed at 

 a great distance from that family, quite outside of 

 the Sub-Order Oscines or Songsters* The Red- 

 breasted Plant-cutter is the only species found in 

 the Argentine Republic. 



I found it quite common in Patagonia, where the 

 natives call it Chingolo grande, on account of the 

 superficial resemblance of the female to the common 

 Song-Sparrow (Zonotrichia pileata). The colouring 

 of the sexes differs considerably, the forehead and 

 under surface of the male being deep brick-red ; 

 the upper parts dull grey, with a bar on the wing 

 and the tips of the rectrices white ; while in the 

 female the upper parts are yellowish grey, obscurely 

 mottled, and the breast and belly buff, with dark 

 stripes. In both sexes the eye is yellow, and the 

 feathers of the crown pileated to form a crest. 



This bird is usually seen singly, but sometimes 



