1872.] MR. W. H. HUDSON ON PATAGON1AN BIRDS. 537 



on the Atlantic coast ; I saw but one individual, and was surprised 

 to find him proof against several charges of shot. 



2. CHINGOLO GRANDE*. 



This bird is the only representative of the Tanagers I have met 

 with here, and differs from its gaudy congeners of the tropics in its 

 plainer dress alone. Side by side with them it would truly be a sober 

 bird ; but seen amidst the dull-plumaged tribes that people the grey 

 thickets of Patagonia, the rufous throat and bosom of the male give 

 it almost a gay appearance. In its habits it very closely resembles 

 the Tanagra striata : like that bird it builds a round and shallow 

 nest in a close bush, and lays four eggs. It goes singly or in small 

 flocks, sits on the top of a bush, and hides when approached, feeds 

 on fruit and seeds ; the flight is a series of sudden, short undulations, 

 the wings producing a loud humming sound. The notes of the 

 male are remarkable, and resemble, when the bird sings or utters its 

 alarm on the nest being approached, the feeble bleating of a kid or 

 lamb. This peculiar intonation is also possessed by the Tanagra 

 striata in its song. This bird is quite common in the thickets bor- 

 dering on the river. 



3. [Phrygilus fruticeti, Kittl. ; Scl. Cat. A. B. p. 111. — 

 P. L. S.] 



This is a pretty and elegant bird, though possessing no bright 

 colours ; they go in pairs in the warm season, but in the winter 

 unite in flocks often of two or three hundred individuals, and have 

 a graceful undulating flight. On being approached they utter a 

 series of low ticking notes, and occasionally a long squealing cry. 

 The male has also a very agreeable song, which continues all the 

 year. In pleasant weather the song is heard at all hours, on cold 

 and cloudy days only at sunset. The bird usually soars from his 

 perch, and utters his song while gliding down with wings depressed 

 and tail outspread. When I first heard it, I was startled with its 

 wonderful resemblance to the song of the Correndera Pipit (Anthus 

 correndera) ; it is, however, much shorter and more powerful. 

 This species is quite common in the thickets along the Rio Negro, 

 in the neighbourhood of Carmen, but following up the river appears 

 to become much rarer. 



4. [Diuca minor, Bp. Consp. i. p. 476. — P. L. S.] 



This pretty little bird is exceedingly lively in its motions, social 

 and quarrelsome in habits, and in winter often goes in flocks of 

 several hundred individuals. The flock is usually widely scattered 

 when on the ground and bushes ; and when flying the birds inces- 

 santly pursue each other through the air, uttering all the time a 

 soft chirp. The song of the male is the sweetest I have heard in 

 Patagonia, with two exceptions — that of the Cardinal amarillo 

 (Gubernatrix cristatella) and of the Calandria blanca (Mimus 

 triurus), one who knows by heart " the songs of all the wiuged 

 * l'hjtotmna rutila, Vieill.— P. L. S. 



