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

BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 361
This pipit was locally common in some of the areas visited, and
though closely similar to A. c. correndera^ with which it was often
associated, was readily told by its grayer, less distinctly streaked
dorsal surface, and by the fact that in walking it did not tilt the
tail. Near Berazategui, Buenos Aires, I secured my first specimen
on June 29, 1920, on low, wet ground near the Rio de la Plata. At
Carhue, Buenos Aires, from December 15 to 18, the birds were
common over rolling, open country covered with low tufts of grass.
At this season they were in pairs and were nesting- As I crossed
the plains it was common for a pair to rise to circle about with
strongly undulating flight and utter chirping calls of alarm until
T had passed beyond their limits. Often males alone rose to accompany
me for a short distance, darting down frequently to pass near
the female when she remained u]3on the ground. On December 16,
as I walked rapidly across the open prairie, a male pipit suddenly
rose behind me with a sharp alarm call that brought his mate fluttering
out from a nest concealed beneath a clump of grass almost at my
feet. The nest was a thin-walled cup of grasses, lined with ma-
terial of a finer texture than the exterior, placed in a slight depres-
sion, so that the rim was flush with the surface. The two hard-set
eggs that it contained have a buffy white ground color, almost con-
cealed by obscure spots and blotches of pale ecru drab and snuff
brown. They measure 19 by 14.6 and 19 by 14.4 mm. A young bird
only recently from the nest, taken December 15, is dull blackish
above, with each feather margined with pinkish buff, producing a
mottled appearance. The hind claw already is well developed,
though the tail has not yet attained its full length.
At Victorica, Pampa, three were found in a little opening surrounded
by bushes, and a male, which I shot, flew up to alight on a
twig. At San Vicente, Uruguay, January 31, a breeding male was
taken on the open shore of a lagoon in the same area where a breeding
male of A. c. correndera was secured. On February 3 adult and
juvenile individuals in molt into fall plumage were found south of
Lazcano, Uruguay, and the birds were common until February 9
as far as Corrales. Scattered flocks frequented rolling uplands near
Rio Negro on February 21- At Guamini, Buenos Aires, scattered
flocks were found through fields and along alkaline shores near the
Laguna del Monte.
ANTHUS CORRENDERA CORRENDERA VieUlot
Anthus correndera Vieillot, No«v. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 26, 1818, p. 491.
(Paraguay and Rio de la Plata.)
Vicente,
Specimens taken of this pipit include the following : San
Uruguay, January 31, 1921, adult male; Dolores, Buenos Aires, October
21, 1920, a pair ; Lavalle, Buenos Aires, adult male, November