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

^84 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
7)iajor. The two specimens from Tucuman have molted and renewed
a part of the flight feathers.
The present species is an inhabitant of thickets or dense growths
of weeds, and, though as retiring in habit as a chat (Icteria), has
more curiosity and may be decoyed more readily into view. It
impresses one as a bird of character that will repay observation with
curious and interesting traits. When it chooses to appear it is alert,
certain in every movement, and jaunty in carriage, but often one
merely has sight of a brilliant red eye glaring with a positively evil
expression through some crevice between leaves, with only a suggestion
of a darker body behind. The bird is more frequently heard
than seen, even where it is common. Its calls, usually uttered in a
complaining tone, are considerably varied, a common one being a
low pru/i-h-h-h, another tur-r-r te tnh, while others do not lend
themselves readily to representation. The song, strange and deceptive
in volume and tone, may be written as heh heh heh heh heh heh
heh-h-h-h-h-h quo-ah. It begins slowly, becomes increasingly rapid
until it changes to a rattle, and then, after a slight pause, terminates
in a squall exactly like that uttered by a gray squirrel {Sciurus
carolinensis) . During August the birds were usually in pairs, and
males sang constantly in early morning in sunny weather.
The Toba Indians called this species soo loo likh^ while the
Anguete knew the female as al
u oukh.
lakh tik tik, and the male as yum
An adult male, taken July 9, when fresh, had the maxilla and line
of the gonys blackish slate ; rest of mandible, basal tomia of maxilla
and tarsus gray number 6 ; iris spectrum red. The colors in females
were similar, though both sexes varied slightly in the depth of red
of the eye.
THAMNOPHILUS RUFICAPILLUS RUFICAPILLUS Vieillot
ThamnopMlus mflcapillus Vieicllot, Nouv. Diet. Hist Nat., vol. 3, 1816,
p. 318. (Corrientes, Argentina. ) ^^
The present species seems to be rare or local, as it was seen on
only two occasions. At the Paso Alamo, on the Arroyo Sarandi,
nn adult male in rather worn plumage was taken on February 2,
1921. Another specimen, preserved in alcohol, was secured near
Rio Negro, Uruguay, on February 16. The birds were found in
dense brush near water, where they worked slowly about under
heavy cover, in habit suggesting ThamnopMlus gilvigaster. Their
call note was a low whistle.
Hellmayr^^ gives Thainnophilus suhfasciatus Sclater and Salvin
and T. Tnarcapatae Hellmayr as subspecies of T. ruf,ca'pillus. Mr.
62 Type locality selected by Hellmayr, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., vol. 13, pt. 3,
Nov. 20, 1924, p. 108.
ssArch. Naturg., vol. 85, 1919 (November, 1920), p. 85.