1868.] DR. H. BURMEISTER ON ARGENTINE ORNITHOLOGY. 635 



northern districts. We have found its eggs, which are whitish, with 

 grey spots round the middle and at the thicker end. 



9. Pachyrhamphus albinucha, sp. nov. 



P. supra fusco-cinereus, subtus albus ; vertice nigro, nucha alba : 



long. 4|". 

 Fem. mari similis. 



Figure and size of P. mitratus (Syst. Uebers. ii. 454. 1), P. cine- 

 reus (Sclat. Cat. 241. 14/0), but rather smaller, the beak somewhat 

 slender, and the wings relatively shorter. Upper head black ; in 

 the male with a bluish metallic reflex ; front and lores white, like the 

 whole underside and a band on the hind neck, which is not so clear 

 in the female as in the male. From this band to the tail is brown- 

 ish grey ; the wings and tail browner, as also the upper back, which 

 is more of a lead-colour. The outer secondaries have whitish bor- 

 ders ; and of the same colour also are the outer edges of the exterior 

 tail-feathers. Beak and legs black ; iris dark brown. Length 

 4| inches, beak 4 lines, wing 2 inches, tail 1 inch 7 lines, tarsus 

 6 lines. 



The first exterior tail-feather rather shorter than the others, and 

 narrow and somewhat pointed. The first primary two lines shorter 

 than the second, which is nearly equal to the third. 



This small bird lives in the sedge of the shores of the Rio de La 

 Plata, near Buenos Ayres, and has a somewhat melancholy tempera- 

 ment, sitting quite still in the same place a long time. Both sexes 

 are alike in colour ; but the colour of the male is much clearer, and 

 the white nuchal band broader and more distinct. 



10. T^NIOPTERA VARIEGATA. 



Tamioptera variegata, Gould, Zool. of the Beagle, iii. 55, pi. 14. 



This beautiful bird is rare in the vicinity of Buenos Ayres, and 

 occurs only at the harvest time (April), when it arrives from the 

 southern plains of Patagonia, to hve on the warmer plains of the 

 north during the winter. It walks much on the ground, and is 

 very rarely seen on trees, feeding on grubs and earthworms. I had 

 for a long time only two specimens of this bird in the museum, 

 killed to the south of Buenos Ayres, near Barracas ; but in the pre- 

 sent year one of my hunters found a flock of nearly twenty indivi- 

 duals near the little town of Moron, to the north-west of Buenos 

 Ayres. Having been informed of the rarity of the species, he re- 

 turned to the spot, and, having found the flock again, killed the 

 whole of them, so that I have now sixteen specimens before me. 

 This was on the 2nd of April. 



Examining this series of specimens, I find that the red colour of 

 the underside, as figured by Gould, is of rare occurrence, and only 

 present in very old males. The females and most of the males are 

 grey on the breast up to the throat, with only a reddish tinge, the 

 lower portion of the body beneath being clear reddish, with a greyish 

 stripe on each feather. 



