Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

252 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
perch on a post or dead branch. The species is reported as common
on low, wet ground in the pampas in winter.
CINCLODES OUSTALETI OUSTALETI Scott
Cmclodes oustaleti Scott, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 10, Apr. 30, 1900,
p. Ixii. (Central Chile.)
After the middle of March the present species was fairly common
in the foothills of the Andes, in the Province of Mendoza, though it
has not been recorded previously in any numbers in this region.
The first one seen was found along an irrigation ditch in the outskirts
of Mendoza, on March 13, 1921. At Portrerillos a male was
shot and another seen on March 18, at an elevation of 1,500 meters
along the Rio Blanco, while on the following day at El Salto, 300
meters higher, the birds were fairly common, and a male and a
female were taken. They were found feeding near the swiftrunning
streams, where they clambered agilely over the steep rock
surfaces, or along quieter channels and irrigation ditches. At a
small estancia several walked about on the beams supporting the
roof of a shed. When flushed they frequently flew up along dry
hillsides to rest for a few minutes on huge bowlders. Near Tunuyan,
Mendoza, three or four were noted on March 25, and an immature
male was taken along the muddy border of a small lagoon. Others
were seen here on March 26 and 28.
In life the present species, with its dark brown coloration, light
superciliary stripe, and habit of constantly wagging the tail, is
strikingly similar to the water thrushes of North America, a resemblance
heightened by the haunts frequented by the Cinclodes, and
its sharp emphatic call note. The birds are continually in movement,
as the tail Avags constantly even when the body is quiet. The
flight is strongly undulating.
A male, taken at Portrerillos March 19, is in partial molt from
Juvenal to first fall phmiage. Others are in full fall plumage. One
individual has a few spots of white on the tips of the secondaries,
indicative of albinism. The rump feathers in this specimen are mar-
gined with whitish, a marking absent in others. Measurements of the
four birds secured are as follows: Males (three specimens), wing,
89.5, 91.1, and 93.4 mm.; tail, 64.5, 66, and 66 mm.; culmen from
base, 18.1, 18.2, and 18.2 mm.; tarsus, 23.2, 24.2, and 25.1 mm.; female
(one specimen), wing, 92 mm. ; tail, 68 mm. ; culmen from base,
17.2 mm. ; tarsus, 25 mm.
ENICORNIS PHOENICURUS (Gould)
Eremotitis pTioenicurus Gould, Zool. Voy. Beagle, Part 3, Birds, NoTember,
1839, p. 69, pi. 21. (Santa Cruz, Patagonia.)
Near Zapala, Neuquen, an adult female of the present species
(with another specimen that was preserved in alcohol) was taken