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

BIEDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 315
April 17, 1921, at an altitude of more than 1,800 meters on the
Sierra San Xavier, above Tafi Viejo, Tucuman. These three specimens
are distinctly more olivaceous, less brown above and on the
sides of the breast than a series of M. I. setoyliagoides from Peru
and Colombia. I have not had the advantage of specimens from
Bolivia in comparison and so only assume that the Tucuman birds
are typical.
In the groves and low thickets that were scattered over the open
slopes of the Cumbre above the heavj'^ rain forest, these small flycatchers
were common. The majority ranged between 1,800 and
2,000 meters, though a few were found in alders just below the
summit, 150 meters higher. In appearance they resembled other
small flycatchers as they moved about under cover of leaves. In
general aspect and coloration they were also suggestive of Stig-
inatura hudytoides. They gave a low trilling song.
RHYNCHOCYCLUS SULPHURESCENS (Spix)
Platyrhynchus sulphurescens Spix, Av. Spec. Nov. Brasiliam, vol. 2, 1825,
p. 10, pi. 12. (Rio de Janeiro, Piauhy, and River Amazons.)
Through lack of a sufficient series for comparison, it is not prac-
ticable to identify subspecifically the specimens of this species that
I secured in Paraguay and northern Argentina. They are brighter
colored than the type of Oberholser's Rhynchocyclus scotius ^^ from
an unknown locality in Brazil. Rhynchocyclus grisesceiis Chubb ^^
may be a distinct species, as it is said to be olive gray above instead
of green, though it is possible that the type specimen, a female, may
represent an individual phase of suJphurescens, in which case the
name would apply to the subspecies found in the lower half of the
Paraguay River Valley.
At Las Palmas, Chaco, I shot a female of this flycatcher on July
13, 1920, the only one seen in Argentina. The species has been re-
corded previously within the limits of the Republic only in Misiones
and at Ledesma, Jujuy.''^ In the vicinity of Puerto Pinasco, Para-
guay, the species was more common, as an immature male was se-
cured at Kilometer 25 West on September 1, and a pair were shot
near Kilometer 80 on September 8. The bird was common near
Kilometer 80 through September, but was not seen in the drier areas
farther west. On September 30 it Avas recorded on the Cerro Lorito,
on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River. The birds were en-
countered in heavy forest, where they frequented the dense tops of
low trees. Though they sallied out frequently to capture insects
^ Rhynchocyclus scotius Oberholser. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 25, 1902, p. 63.
(Brazil.)
^''Rhynchocyclus grisescens Chubb, Ibis, 1910, p. 588. (Sapucay, Paraguay.)
* Dabbene, Orn. Argentina, An. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires, vol. 18, 1910, p. 324.