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

BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 325
SPIZITORNIS PARULUS LIPPUS Wetmore.
Spizitoriiis parulus Jippus Wetjioee. Univ. California Publ. Zo?5l.. vol. 21,
1923, p. 336. (Mayne Harbor, Evans Island, Owens Islands, Chile.)
Similar to parulus but darker above, black of head duller, and
breast more abundantly streaked.
Straits of Magellan.
SPIZITORNIS PARULUS PATAGONICUS Hellmayr
Spisitornis parulus patagonicus, Hellmayr Arch, fiir Naturg., voL 85,
November, 1920, p. 51. (Neiiquen, Gobernacion de Neuquen, Argen-
tina.)
Two adult males secured at General Koca, Rio Negro, November
29 and December 3, 1920, have the underparts white, rather heavily
streaked, two well-marked white wing bars, and the dorsal surface
gray and may be considered typical of this form since they were
taken only a short distance east of the type locality.
Near Koca this bird often was found in low bushes in the same
areas that were occupied by A. flavirostHs. However, on December
3, 1 encountered 'patagonicus among growths of Atriplex and similar
shrubs on the low flats near the Rio Negro, where flavirosfris was
not seen, so that when the birds are settled for the summer at their
breeding stations, the two species may affect different ecological
associations. The two were similar in actions but had slightly dif-
ferent notes and were easily distinguished by color.
A male, shot November 29, had the bill black; inside of mouth
zinc orange; iris pale olive bluff save for a purplish area that cov-
ered a segment on the upper side ; tarsus black.
TACHURIS RUBRIGASTRA RUBRIGASTRA (Vieillot)
Sylvia ruhrigrastra Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 11, 1817, p. 277.
(Paraguay and Buenos Aires.)
Four specimens of this bright-colored marsh flycatcher include
an adult male from Dolores, Buenos Aires, October 21, 1920, a male
and a female from Tunuyan, Mendoza, March 26, 1921, and a female
from Concon, Chile, April 29. Comparison of a series of 19 skins
from Buenos Aires, Rio Negro, Mendoza, and Chile, indicates that
birds from the southern part of the range of the species do not differ
sectionally in spite of the wide range included. The two skins from
Tunuyan and the one from Concon are immature individuals in
first winter plumage, distinguished from older individuals by a
yellow spot on the rump.
True to their reputation these handsome mites of the feathered
world were found among rushes in marshes, usually where the water
was something less than a meter in depth. They were local in oc-
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