336 



CHILI PLANT-CUTTER. 

 (Phytotoma Ra-ra.) 



Ph. griseo-obscira, remigibus rectricibusque albo maculatis. 

 Obscure-grey Plant-cutter, with the quills and tail-feathers 



spotted with white. 

 Phytotoma Rara. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 928. — Lath. Ind. Orn. 



1. 466. I.— Lath. Syn. Sup. II. XLIX. I. 

 Phytotome du Chili, ou Rara. Daudin. Orn. 2. 366. 

 Chili Plant-cutter. Lath. Syn. Sup. II. 212. 1. 



The Chili Plant-cutter is the size of a Quail : 

 beak serrated on the edges, very strong, and 

 pointed at the tip, in length half an inch : tongue 

 very short, and obtuse : irides brown : upper parts 

 of the body obscure dusky grey ; under parts 

 paler : quills and tail-feathers spotted with black : 

 tail of moderate length, and rounded: feet with 

 four toes, placed three before and one behind; the 

 latter one much shorter than the rest. 



This bird is very common in Chili : it builds its 

 nest in high trees, in sequestered places : its eggs 

 are white, with red spots : it feeds on vegetables, 

 preferring those parts that are near the root, and 

 it digs about and cuts off the plants close to the 

 ground with its beak, as if it had been done with 

 a saw ; for which it is much detested by the inha- 

 bitants, as it does great mischief to their gardens : 

 it has a rough voice, and is almost continually ut- 

 tering the w T ord Ra-ra very distinctly, from whence 

 the specific name has arisen. 



