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Southwards of the great forest-districts of South America, Puff-birds
become very scarce. One species only is as yet known to occur in
Paraguay, and some uncertainty prevails as to the single member of
this family stated to be found near Tucuman.

266. BUCCO MACULATUS (Gm.).

(SPOTTED PUFF-BIRD.)
Bucco maculatus, Scl. Jamacars and Puff-birds, p. 99, pl. xxxii.; Scl. et Salv.
Nomencl. p. 106. Capito maculatus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 446.
Description.—Above blackish, spotted with brown; lores, superciliaries, and neck-
collar pale cinnamomeous white: beneath white, fore neck clear reddish
cinnamon; breast and belly covered with round black spots; chin and middle of
belly whitish; tail black, with transverse bars of pale brown; under wing-coverts
and under surface of wings white; bill red, with the culmen and base blackish; feet
plumbeous: whole length 8·0 inches, wing 3·2, tail 2·8. Female similar.

Hab. S.E. Brazil.

Dr. Burmeister records the occurrence of this species of Puff-bird
near Tucuman, and it must therefore be placed in our list on his
authority. But it is possible that the species which he met with may
have been the nearly allied B. striatipectus of the Bolivian frontier of
Brazil, which is more likely to extend into Northern Argentina than
the true B. maculatus. B. striatipectus (figured and described in
Sclater’s ‘Monograph of the Jacamars and Puff-birds,’ pl. xxxiii. p.
101) is very similar to B. maculatus, but has the spots on the belly
elongated into long striations.
It is again possible that the Bucco of Tucuman may be the
Paraguayan B. chacuru of Vieillot, founded upon the “Chacuru” of
Azara, which is another species not remotely allied to B. maculatus.

Fam. XXVII. CUCULIDÆ, or CUCKOOS.

The Cuckoos form an extensive and rather varied family of
zygodactyle birds with a somewhat wide distribution, being found in
all parts of the world except in the extreme north, where their
insect-food would not be abundantly met with. The true Cuculi, so
remarkable for their parasitic habits, are not found in the New
World, but several genera of arboreal Cuckoos (Coccyzus, Piaya,
&c.), and others of terrestrial habits (Crotophaga, Geococcyx, and
Saurothera), are met with, chiefly in the Neotropical Region, and
number altogether some thirty species. Of these, eight are known to
occur within the confines of the Argentine Republic.

267. CROTOPHAGA ANI, Linn.

(BLACK ANI.)
Crotophaga ani, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 107; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 619
(Salta).
Description.—Black, glossed with bronzy and purplish; bill and feet black; bill with
the culmen much elevated, compressed and cultrate: whole length 13·0 inches,
wing 5·5, tail 7·0. Female similar.

Hab. Veragua and South America down to Northern Argentina.

This strange Cuckoo, with the plumage and some of the habits of a
Crow, is of a nearly uniform black, glossed with bronze, dark green,
and purple. Its most peculiar feature is the beak, which is greater in
depth than in length, and resembles an immense Roman nose,
occupying the whole face, and with the bridge bulging up above the
top of the head. The Ani is found only in the northern portion of the
Argentine territory. According to Azara it is very common in
Paraguay, and goes in flocks, associating with the Guira Cuckoo,
which it resembles in its manner of flight, in being gregarious, in
feeding on the ground, and in coming a great deal about houses; in
all which things these two species differ widely from most Cuckoos.
He also says that it has a loud disagreeable voice, follows the cattle
about in the pastures like the Cow-bird, and builds a large nest of
sticks lined with leaves, in which as many as twenty or thirty eggs
are frequently deposited, several females laying together in one
nest. His account of these strange and disorderly breeding-habits
has been confirmed by independent observers in other parts of the
continent. The eggs are oval and outwardly white, being covered
with a soft white cretaceous deposit; but this can be easily scraped
off, and under it is found a smooth hard shell of a clear beautiful
blue colour.

268. GUIRA PIRIRIGUA (Vieill.).

(GUIRA CUCKOO.)
Guira piririgua, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 107; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 185
(Buenos Ayres); Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 8 (Buenos Ayres); White, P. Z. S. 1882,
p. 619 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 26 (Entrerios); Withington,
Ibis, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora). Ptiloleptis guira, Burm. La-Plata
Reise, ii. p. 443.
Description.—Above dark brown, with white shaft-stripes; head brown; wings
reddish brown, passing into blackish brown on the outer secondaries; rump white;
tail white, at the base ochraceous, crossed by a very broad black band, except the
two central feathers, which are uniform brown: beneath sordid white, throat and
upper breast with long linear black shaft-stripes; bill and feet yellow: whole length
15·0 inches, wing 7·0, tail 8·0. Female similar.

Hab. Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

“Piririgua,” the specific term adopted by naturalists for this bird, is,
according to Azara, the vernacular name of the species in Paraguay.
He says that in that country it is abundant, but scarce in the Plata
district. No doubt it has greatly increased and extended its range
southwards during the hundred years which have elapsed since his
time, as it is now very common in Buenos Ayres, where its
vernacular name is Urraca (Magpie). In the last-named country it is
not yet quite in harmony with its environment. Everywhere its habit
is to feed exclusively on the ground, in spite of possessing feet
formed for climbing; but its very scanty plumage, slow laborious
flight, and long square tail, so unsuitable in cold boisterous weather,
show that the species is a still unmodified intruder from the region
of perpetual summer many degrees nearer to the equator.
The Guira Cuckoo is about sixteen inches long, has red eyes and
blue feet, and an orange-red beak. The crown of the head is deep
rufous, and the loose hair-like feathers are lengthened into a pointed
crest. The back and rump are white, the wings and other upper
parts very dark fuscous, marked with white and pale brown. Under
surface dull white, with hair-like black marks on the throat and
breast. The tail is square, 9 to 10 inches long; the two middle
feathers dark brown, the others three-coloured—yellow at the base,
the middle portion dark glossy green, the ends white; and when the
bird is flying the tail, spread out like a fan, forms a conspicuous and
beautiful object.
During the inclement winter of Buenos Ayres the Guira Cuckoo is a
miserable bird, and appears to suffer more than any other creature
from cold. In the evening the flock, usually composed of from a
dozen to twenty individuals, gathers on the thick horizontal branch
of a tree sheltered from the wind, the birds crowding close together
for warmth, and some of them roosting perched on the backs of
their fellows. I have frequently seen them roosting three deep, one
or two birds at the top to crown the pyramid; but with all their
huddling together a severe frost is sure to prove fatal to one or more
birds in the flock; and sometimes several birds that have dropped
from the branch stiff with cold are found under the trees in the
morning. If the morning is fair the flock betakes itself to some large
tree, on which the sun shines, to settle on the outermost twigs on
the northern side, each bird with its wings drooping, and its back
turned towards the sun. In this spiritless attitude they spend an hour
or two warming their blood and drying the dew from their scanty
dress. During the day they bask much in the sun, and towards
evening may be again seen on the sunny side of a hedge or tree
warming their backs in the last rays. It is owing, no doubt, to
fecundity, and to an abundance of food that the Guira Cuckoo is able
to maintain its existence so far south in spite of its terrible enemy
the cold.
With the return of warm weather this species becomes active, noisy,
and the gayest of birds; the flock constantly wanders about from
place to place, the birds flying in a scattered desultory manner one
behind the other, and incessantly uttering while on the wing a long
complaining cry. At intervals during the day they also utter a kind of
song, composed of a series of long modulated whistling notes, two-
syllabled, the first powerful and vehement, and becoming at each
repetition lower and shorter, then ending in a succession of hoarse
internal sounds like the stertorous breathing of a sleeping man.
When approached all the birds break out into a chorus of alarm, with
notes so annoyingly loud and sustained, that the intruder, be it man
or beast, is generally glad to hurry out of ear-shot. As the breeding-
season approaches they are heard, probably the males, to utter a
variety of soft low chattering notes, sounding sometimes like a
person laughing and crying together: the flock then breaks up into
pairs, the birds becoming silent and very circumspect in their
movements. The nest is usually built in a thorn-tree, of rather large
sticks, a rough large structure, the inside often lined with green
leaves plucked from the trees. The eggs are large for the bird, and
usually six or seven in number; but the number varies greatly, and I
have known one bird lay as many as fourteen. They are elliptical in
form and beautiful beyond comparison, being of an exquisite
turquoise-blue, the whole shell roughly spattered with white. The
white spots are composed of a soft calcareous substance, apparently
deposited on the surface of the shell after its complete formation:
they are raised, and look like snow-flakes, and when the egg is fresh
laid may be easily washed off with cold water, and are so extremely
delicate that their purity is lost on the egg being taken into the
hand. The young birds hatched from these lovely eggs are proverbial
for their ugliness, Pichon de Urraca being a term of contempt
commonly applied to a person remarkable for want of comeliness.
They are as unclean as they are ugly, so that the nest, usually
containing six or seven young, is pleasant neither to sight nor smell.
There is something ludicrous in the notes of these young birds,
resembling, as they do, the shrill half-hysterical laughter of a female
exhausted by over-indulgence in mirth. One summer there was a
large brood in a tree close to my home, and every time we heard the
parent bird hastening to her nest with food in her beak, and uttering
her plaintive cries, we used to run to the door to hear them. As soon
as the old bird reached the nest they would burst forth into such
wild extravagant peals and continue them so long, that we could not
but think it a rare amusement to listen to them.
According to Azara the Guira Cuckoo in Paraguay has very friendly
relations with the Ani (Crotophaga ani), the birds consorting
together in one flock, and even laying their eggs in one nest; and he
affirms that he has seen nests containing eggs of both species.
These nests were probably brought to him by his Indian collectors,
who were in the habit of deceiving him, and it is more than probable
that in this matter they were practising on his credulity; though it is
certain that birds of different species do sometimes lay in one nest,
as I have found—the Common Teal and the Tinamou for instance. I
also doubt very much that the bird is ever polygamous, as Azara
suspected; but it frequently wastes eggs, and its procreant habits
are sometimes very irregular and confusing, as the following case
will show:—
A flock numbering about sixteen individuals passed the winter in the
trees about my home, and in spring scattered about the plantation,
screaming and chattering in their usual manner when about to
breed. I watched them, and found that after a time the flock broke
up into small parties of three or four, and not into couples, and I
could not detect them building. At length I discovered three broken
eggs on the ground, and on examining the tree overhead found an
incipient nest composed of about a dozen sticks laid crossways and
out of which the eggs had been dropped. This was in October, and
for a long time no other attempt at a nest was made; but wasted
eggs were dropped in abundance on the ground, and I continued
finding them for about four months. Early in January another
incipient nest was found, and on the ground beneath it six broken
eggs. At the end of that month two large nests were made, each
nest by one pair of birds, and in the two fourteen or fifteen young
birds were reared.
When taken young the Guira Cuckoos become very tame, and make
bold, noisy, mischievous pets, fond of climbing over and tugging at
the clothes, buttons, and hair of their master or mistress. They
appear to be more intelligent than most birds, and in a domestic
state resemble the Magpie. I knew one tame that would carry off
and jealously conceal bits of bright-coloured ribbon, thread, or cloth.
In a wild state their food consists largely of insects, which they
sometimes pursue running and flying along the ground. They also
prey on mice and small reptiles, and carry off the fledglings from the
nests of Sparrows and other small birds, and in spring they are
frequently seen following the plough to pick up worms.

269. DIPLOPTERUS NÆVIUS (Gm.).

(BROWN CUCKOO.)
Diplopterus nævius, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 107. Diplopterus galeritus,
Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 27 (Entrerios).
Description.—Above ashy brown, with large black shaft-spots; head rufous,
striated with black; wings blackish, edged with brown; tail similar, but with slight
white tips to the feathers, and the upper tail-coverts much elongated: beneath
dirty white: whole length 11·5 inches, wing 4·5, tail 5·5. Female similar.

Hab. Mexico, and Central and South America down to Argentina.

The Brown Cuckoo, called “Crispin,” is found throughout the hot
portion of South America, and in different districts varies
considerably in size and colouring. It is about 12 inches long, the
beak much curved; the prevailing colour of the upper parts is light
brown, the loose feathers on the head, which form a crest, deep
rufous. The upper tail-coverts are long loose feathers of very
unequal length, the longest reaching nearly to the end of the tail.
The under surface is dirty white, or dashed with grey.
Azara says it is called Chochi in Paraguay, and has a clear sorrowful
note of two syllables, which it repeats at short intervals during the
day, and also at night during the love-season. It is solitary, scarce,
and excessively shy, escaping on the opposite side of the tree when
approached, and when seen having the head and crest raised in an
attitude of alarm. In the northern part of the Argentine country it is
called Crispin, from its note which clearly pronounces that name. Mr.
Barrows found it common at Concepcion on the Uruguay river, and
has written the following notes about it:—
“Several were taken in open bushy places, and many others were
heard. It is a plain but attractive Cuckoo with a few-feathered crest,
and long soft flowing upper tail-coverts. The note is very clear and
penetrating, sounding much like the word ‘crispin’ slowly uttered,
and with the accent on the last syllable. The birds are very shy, and
I followed one for nearly an hour before I saw it at all, and nearly
twice that time before any chance of a shot was offered. There is
some peculiarity in the note which makes it impossible to tell
whether the bird is in front of or behind you—even when the note
itself is distinctly heard. I know nothing of nest or eggs.”
From personal observation I can say nothing about this species, as I
never visited the district where it is found; but with the fame of the
Crispin I have always been familiar, for concerning this Cuckoo the
Argentine peasants have a very pretty legend. It is told that two
children of a woodcutter, who lived in a lonely spot on the Uruguay,
lost themselves in the woods—a little boy named Crispin and his
sister. They subsisted on wild fruit, wandering from place to place,
and slept at night on a bed of dry grass and leaves. One morning
the little girl awoke to discover that her brother had disappeared
from her side. She sprung up and ran through the woods to seek for
him, but never found him; but day after day continued wandering in
the thickets calling “Crispin, Crispin,” until at length she was changed
into a little bird, which still flies through the woods on its never-
ending quest, following every stranger that enters them, calling after
him “Crispin, Crispin,” if by chance it should be her lost brother.
 270. PIAYA CAYANA (Linn.).
(CHESTNUT CUCKOO.)
Piaya cayana, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 108; Salvin, Ibis, 1880, p. 361
(Tucuman); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 619 (Misiones).
Description.—Above deep chestnut-red: beneath pale grey, passing into blackish
on the crissum; throat and neck pale chestnut-brown; tail-feathers beneath brown,
more or less blackish, and, except the middle pair which are like the back, broadly
tipped with white: whole length 16·0 inches, wing 5·5, tail 10·5. Female similar.

Hab. Central and South America.

This is a widely-spread form of Cuckoo in Central and South
America, and reaches the northern territories of the Argentine
Republic, having been obtained by Durnford near Tucuman, and by
White in Misiones. The whole bird is about 18 inches long, and the
tail very long in proportion, about 11 inches. The entire plumage,
except the breast and belly, which are grey, is chestnut colour. The
beak is very strong, and yellowish green in colour; the irides, ruby-
red, the eyelids scarlet.
In Colombia this Cuckoo is said to be called Pajaro ardilla (Squirrel-
bird), from its chestnut tint. It seems to feed chiefly, if not
altogether, on the ground, and when perched always appears
awkward and ill-at-ease. On a branch it sits motionless, until
approached, and then creeps away through the leaves and escapes
on the opposite side of the tree. This, however, is a habit common to
most Cuckoos. Its language is a loud screaming cry, on account of
which the Brazilians call it Alma do gato, implying that it possesses
the soul of a cat. It is a very shy retiring bird, and in this respect is
more like a Coccyzus than a Guira.
For these facts we are indebted to Léotaud, Fraser, Forbes, White,
and others; each of these observers having contributed a few words
to a history of this interesting bird’s habits.

271. COCCYZUS AMERICANUS (Linn.).

 (YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.)
Coccyzus americanus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 108; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1872, p.
490 (Buenos Ayres); Withington, Ibis, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora).
Description.—Above grey; ear-coverts blackish; wings in interior rufous, which
shows more or less externally: beneath white, greyish on the throat; tail-feathers,
except the two central which are like the back, black broadly tipped with white; bill
with the lower mandible orange-yellow, except at the tip: whole length 12·0
inches, wing 5·7, tail 5·7. Female similar.

Hab. North and Central America and Colombia; occasional in Brazil

and Argentina.
This is a well-known inhabitant of the United States, where it is a
regular summer visitant, passing the winter months in Central
America and the West Indies, and being also occasionally met with
during this season in Brazil. In the Argentine Republic it is very rare,
and the few specimens found were all seen late in the autumn, after
other summer visitors had left. I can only account for the lateness of
these birds on the supposition that, being low fliers, excessively shy,
and eminently forest birds, they shrunk from traversing the wide
open plains which offer no kind of shelter or protection, and so
remained in the isolated plantations which rise like little islands of
greenery in the sea-like level of the pampas.

272. COCCYZUS MELANOCORYPHUS, Vieill.

(BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.)
Coccyzus melanocoryphus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 108; Durnford, Ibis, 1877,
p. 186 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 28 (Entrerios); Withington,
Ibis, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora). Coccyzus seniculus, Burm. La-Plata
Reise, ii. p. 444 (Paraná, Tucuman).
Description.—Above pale greyish brown; head cinereous; a black stripe through
the eyes: beneath white, more or less tinged with ochraceous; tail black, tipped
with white; two central rectrices like the back; bill black: whole length 11·5 inches,
wing 4·7, tail 5·7. Female similar.

Hab. South America.

The “Coucou,” so called from its note, is the commonest species of
the genus in the Argentine Republic, and has an extensive range in
South America. In September it migrates south, and a pair or a few
individuals reappear faithfully every spring in every orchard or
plantation on the pampas. At intervals its voice is heard amidst the
green trees—deep, hoarse, and somewhat human-like in sound, the
song or call being composed of a series of notes, like the syllables
cou-cou-cou, beginning loud and full and becoming more rapid until
at the end they run together. It is a shy bird, conceals itself from
prying eyes in the thickest foliage, moves with ease and grace
amongst the closest twigs, and feeds principally on large winged
insects, for which it searches amongst the weeds and bushes near
the ground.
The nest is the flimsiest structure imaginable, being composed of a
few dry twigs, evidently broken by the bird from the trees and not
picked up from the ground. They are laid across each other to make
a platform nest, but so small and flat is it that the eggs frequently
fall out from it. That a bird should make no better preparation than
this for the great business of propagation seems very wonderful. The
eggs are three or four in number, elliptical in form, and of a dull sea-
green colour.

273. COCCYZUS CINEREUS, Vieill.

(CINEREOUS CUCKOO.)
[Plate XIII.]
 COCCYZUS CINEREUS.

Coccyzus cinereus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 108; Hudson, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 88

(Buenos Ayres); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 620 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Auk,
1884, p. 28 (Entrerios); Withington, Ibis, 1888, p. 468 (Lomas de Zamora).
Description.—Above cinereous, wings blackish; tail above blackish, beneath
cinereous; lateral rectrices tipped with white: beneath, throat and breast pale
cinereous, passing into white in the middle of the belly; under wing-coverts,
flanks, and crissum ochraceous; bill black: whole length 9·0 inches, wing 4·5, tail
4·5. Female similar.

Hab. Paraguay and Argentine Republic.

The Cinereous Cuckoo is smaller than the preceding species, and
also differs in having a square tail and a more curved beak. The
beak is black, and the irides blood-red, which contrasts well with the
blue-grey of the head, giving the bird a bold and striking
appearance.
This species is not common, but it is, I believe, slowly extending its
range southwards, as within the last few years it has become much
more common than formerly. Like other Cuckoos, it is retiring in its
habits, concealing itself in the dense foliage, and it cannot be
attracted by an imitation of its call, an expedient which never fails
with the Coucou. Its language has not that deep mysterious, or
monkish quality, as it has been aptly called, of other Coccyzi. Its
usual song or call, which it repeats at short intervals all day long
during the love-season, resembles the song of our little dove
(Columbula picui), and is composed of several long monotonous
notes, loud, rather musical, but not at all plaintive. It also has a loud
harsh cry, which one finds it hard to believe to be the voice of a
Cuckoo, as in character it is more like the scream of a
Dendrocolaptine species.
The figure (Plate XIII.) is taken from a specimen of this species
obtained by Mr. Frank Withington in the Lomas de Zamora, and now
in Sclater’s collection.

274. COCCYZUS PUMILUS, Strickl.

(DWARF CUCKOO.)
Coccyzus pumilus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 108; Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 28,
(Entrerios).
Description.—Above brownish cinereous, head grey; tail like the back, but tail-end
black with narrow white tips: beneath, throat and breast chestnut-red; abdomen
white; under wing-coverts and crissum ochraceous: whole length 9·0 inches, wing
4·0, tail 4·2. Female similar.

Hab. South America.

Of this little Cuckoo, the smallest of the genus Coccyzus, specimens
were obtained by Mr. Barrows at Concepcion in Entrerios, in the
month of December. The species was only previously known to occur
in Venezuela and Colombia.
 Fam. XXVIII. RHAMPHASTIDÆ, or TOUCANS.
In the second edition of his ‘Monograph of the Toucans,’ Gould
admits 51 species of this fine and peculiar group, which are
scattered over the forests of Tropical America, from Southern Mexico
to Northern Argentina. Several others have been since described.
The Toucans are large birds exclusively arboreal in their habits, and
feeding mostly, if not entirely, upon fruit. A single species of wide
distribution reaches its southern limit in the forests of the northern
Argentine provinces.

275. RHAMPHASTOS TOCO, Gm.

(TOCO TOUCAN.)
Rhamphastos toco, Gould, Mon. Rhamphast. ed. 2, pl. i.; Scl. et Salv. Nomencl.
p. 108; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 620 (Oran and Misiones).
Description.—Above black; rump white, with a small scarlet patch on each side:
beneath black, throat white; crissum scarlet; bill yellow, with a black blotch at the
end of the upper mandible; feet brown: whole length 22·0 inches, wing 9·5, tail
6·5. Female similar.

Hab. Guiana, Amazonia, Brazil, Paraguay, and N. Argentina.

White met with this Toucan among the lofty forest trees at Campo
Colorado, near Oran, where it was found in flocks. In Misiones it was
more abundant, and was said to commit great havoc among the
orange-groves.

Order V. PSITTACI.

Fam. XXIX. PSITTACIDÆ, or PARROTS.

Dr. Finsch’s history of the Parrot tribe, published in 1867, included
accounts of about 350 species, to which at least 50 more have been
added during these last twenty years, so that upwards of 400
Parrots are now known to science. Of these, about 150 belong to the
New World, mostly to the intertropical portion, though Parrots are
found as far north as the U.S., and as far south as Chili and
Patagonia.
In the Argentine Republic the presence of ten species of Psittacidæ
has been recorded, but only two of these are found in the vicinity of
Buenos Ayres, the remaining eight being restricted to the more
northern and western portions of the country.

276. CONURUS PATAGONUS (Vieill).

(PATAGONIAN PARROT.)
Conurus patagonus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 441; Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p.
111; Scl. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 549 (Rio Negro), et 1873, p. 761; Durnford, Ibis,
1877, p. 186 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 396 (Chupat); White, P. Z. S. 1882,
p. 620 (Catamarca); Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 28 (Bahia Blanca). Conurus
patachonicus, Darwin, Zool. Beagle, iii. p. 113 (Bahia Blanca).
Description.—Above dark olive-green, forehead darker; wings edged with bluish,
lower back yellow: beneath olive-green, darker on throat; band across the neck
whitish; belly yellow, with a large patch in the middle and the thighs red: whole
length 18·0 inches, wing 9·2, tail 10·5. Female similar.

Hab. Argentina and Patagonia.

This Parrot, called in La Plata the Bank- or Burrowing-Parrot, from its
nesting-habits, is the only member of its order found so far south as
Patagonia. In habits it differs somewhat from most of its congeners,
and it may be regarded, I think, as one of those species which are
dying out—possibly owing to the altered conditions resulting from
the settlement of the country by Europeans. It was formerly
abundant on the southern pampas of La Plata, and being partially
migratory its flocks ranged in winter to Buenos Ayres, and even as
far north as the Paraná river. When, as a child, I lived near the
capital city (Buenos Ayres), I remember that I always looked forward
with the greatest delight to the appearance of these noisy dark-
green winter visitors. Now they are rarely seen within a hundred
miles of Buenos Ayres; and I have been informed by old gauchos
that half a century before my time they invariably appeared in
immense flocks in winter, and have since gradually diminished in
numbers, until now in that district the Bank-Parrot is almost a thing
of the past. Two or three hundred miles south of Buenos Ayres city
they are still to be met with in rather large flocks, and have a few
ancient breeding-places, to which they cling very tenaciously. Where
there are trees or bushes on their feeding-ground they perch on
them; they also gather the berries of the Empetrum rubrum and
other fruits from the bushes; but they feed principally on the
ground, and, while the flock feeds, one bird is invariably perched on
a stalk or other elevation to act as sentinel. They are partial to the
seeds of the giant thistle (Carduus mariana), and the wild pumpkin,
and to get at the latter they bite the hard dry shell into pieces with
their powerful beaks. When a horseman appears in the distance they
rise in a compact flock, with loud harsh screams, and hover above
him, within a very few yards of his head, their combined dissonant
voices producing an uproar which is only equalled in that
pandemonium of noises, the Parrot-house in the Zoological Gardens
of London. They are extremely social, so much so that their flocks
do not break up in the breeding-season; and their burrows, which
they excavate in a perpendicular cliff or high bank, are placed close
together; so that when the gauchos take the young birds—esteemed
a great delicacy—the person who ventures down by means of a rope
attached to his waist is able to rifle a whole colony. The burrow is
three to five feet deep, and four white eggs are deposited on a slight
nest at the extremity. I have only tasted the old birds, and found
their flesh very bitter, scarcely palatable.
The natives say that this species cannot be taught to speak; and it is
certain that the few individuals I have seen tame were unable to
articulate.
Doubtless these Parrots were originally stray colonists from the
tropics, although now resident in so cold a country as Patagonia.
When viewed closely, one would also imagine that they must at one
time have been brilliant-plumaged birds; but either natural selection,
or the direct effect of a bleak climate, has given a sombre shade to
their colours—green, blue, yellow, and crimson; and when seen
flying at a distance, or in cloudy weather, they look as dark as crows.

277. CONURUS ACUTICAUDATUS (Vieill.).

(SHARP-TAILED PARROT.)
Conurus acuticaudatus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 111; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p.
621 (Catamarca). Conurus fugax, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 441. Conurus
glaucifrons Leybold, Leopoldina, Heft viii. p. 52 (1873).
Description.—Above and beneath green; top of head and cheeks bluish; inner
margins of wing-feathers yellowish grey; inner webs of tail-feathers at their bases
red; upper mandible pale whitish, lower black: whole length 13·0 inches, wing 7·5,
tail 7·0. Female similar.

Hab. Bolivia, Paraguay, and N. Argentina.

White obtained specimens of this Parrot near Andalgala in
Catamarca in September 1880. He tells us that it is not very
abundant in that district, and flies very swiftly in flocks of seven or
eight, screeching continually when on the wing.

278. CONURUS MITRATUS, Tsch.

(RED-HEADED PARROT.)
Conurus mitratus, Tsch. Faun. Per., Av. p. 272, t. xxvi. f. 2; Scl. et Salv.
Nomencl. p. 112. Conurus hilaris, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 442
(Tucuman); id. Wiegm. Arch. 1879, pt. i. p. 100; id. P. Z. S. 1878, p. 75.
Description.—Bright green; front and sides of head red: beneath rather paler;
under wing-coverts green; lower surface of tail yellowish; in some specimens with
irregular patches of red on the neck and breast; bill pale; feet brown: whole
length 14·0 inches, wing 8·0, tail 7·0.
Hab. Peru, Bolivia, and Northern Argentina.
Dr. Burmeister met with this Parrot near Tucuman, where he found it
“very common, especially in winter.” At first he made a new species
of it, but afterwards recognized its identity with Conurus mitratus of
Tschudi.
Dr. Burmeister has kindly sent two specimens of this bird to Sclater,
for his collection. Sclater has also examples of the same species
procured by Schulz near Cordova, and in Bolivia by Bridges.

279. CONURUS MOLINÆ, Mass. et Souanc.

(MOLINA’S PARROT.)
[Plate XIV.]
 CONURUS MOLINÆ.

Conurus molinæ, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 112; White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 621

(Salta).
Description.—Above green; crown brown; nape bluish; cheeks green; wings edged
with blue; tail coppery red: beneath green, breast and sides of neck whity brown,
with dark cross bars; middle of belly dull red: whole length 9·5 inches, wing 5·0,
tail 5·3. Female similar.

Hab. Bolivia, S. Brazil, and N. Argentina.

White met with this Parrot in the dense forests of Campo Colorado
near Oran, where it is found in flocks of about twenty, “their flight
being limited, for the most part, to the clear aisles beneath the
branches.” White’s specimen in Sclater’s collection, from which our
figure (Plate XIV.) is taken, agrees with others of the species
obtained by Natterer in Mato Grosso.
 280. BOLBORHYNCHUS MONACHUS (Bodd.).
(GREEN PARRAKEET.)
Conurus murinus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 441; Darwin, Zool. Beagle, iii. p.
112 (Paraná). Bolborhynchus monachus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 113;
Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 186 (Buenos Ayres); Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 3 (Buenos
Ayres); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 621 (Catamarca, Santiago del Estero);
Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 28 (Entrerios); Burm. P. Z. S. 1878, p. 77.
Description.—Green; front grey, with paler margins to the feathers; wings blackish,
with slight bluish edgings: beneath grey, with lighter margins to the breast-
feathers; under wing-coverts, flanks, and crissum pale green; bill whitish: whole
length 11·0 inches, wing 5·5, tail 5·3. Female similar.

Hab. Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

The Common Green Parrakeet, called Cotorra or Catita in the
vernacular, is a well-known resident species in the Argentine
Republic. It is a lively restless bird, shrill-voiced, and exceedingly
vociferous, living and breeding in large communities, and though it
cannot learn to speak so distinctly as some of the larger Parrots, it is
impossible to observe its habits without being convinced that it
shares in the intelligence of the highly-favoured order to which it
belongs.
In Buenos Ayres it was formerly very much more numerous than it is
now; but it is exceedingly tenacious of its breeding-places, and there
are some few favoured localities where it still exists in large colonies,
in spite of the cruel persecution all birds easily killed are subjected to
in a country where laws relating to such matters are little regarded,
and where the agricultural population is chiefly Italian. At Mr.
Gibson’s residence near Cape San Antonio, on the Atlantic coast,
there is still a large colony of these birds inhabiting the Tala woods
(Celtis tala), and I take the following facts from one of his papers on
the ornithology of the district.
He describes the woods as being full of their nests, with their bright-
coloured talkative denizens and their noisy chatter all day long
drowning every other sound. They are extremely sociable and breed
in communities. When a person enters the wood their subdued