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

364 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
bore some resemblance in mannerism to some of the grass finches.
When in the open they stood more erect and seemed bolder. This
species belies the common name of its family in that it does not wag
the tail in walking, a modesty of action that was verified on several
occasions.
On October 3, near Villa Concepcion, Paraguay, a little colony of
these pipits, in pairs, was found in the short grass of pasture land
behind the town. Males sang a drawn-out song that resembled
tsee-ce-ee-a yuh-h-h in a high, thin tone. The ordinary call note
given in flight resembled chees chees^ tsu or tsea.
Family CORVIDAE
CYANOCORAX CYANOMELAS (Vieillot)
Pica cyanomelus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 26, 1818, p. 127.
(Paraguay.)
The present species is represented by skins of three adult males,
two from Las Palmas, Chaco, July 13, 1920, and one from Kilometer
80, west of Puerto Pinasco, September 15. The latter specimen, has a
slightly more slender bill than the others and a somewhat shorter
wing. These jays were recorded at Las Palmas, Chaco, from July
13 to 30, 1920; Riacho Pilaga, Formosa, August 8 to 21; Kilometer
25, west of Puerto Pinasco, September 1
; Kilometer 80, west of the
same point, September 6 to 20 ; and the Cerro Lorito opposite Puerto
Pinasco, September 30. Old skins of this jay vary much in color
through fading, some appearing so different as to suggest another
species.
The birds were found in little bands of five or six, probably family
parties from the previous season, that ranged, often in company
with CyanoGorax c. chrysops^ through stands of tall trees bordering
streams or the groves that dotted the prairies of the Chaco. At any
curious sound they glided in on set wings to perch familiarly near
at hand and peer about, while if one of their number was killed the
others gathered above it for a vociferous wake, their remarks
punctuated by vigorous jerks of wings and tail. Their flight, when
traveling for any distance, was pecular. While straight and direct
like that of other jays, it was accomplished by a number of slow
beats of the wings followed by perhaps half a dozen quicker strokes,
and every effort at flying ended in a long, upward glide that car-
ried the bird to the desired perch. Their ordinary call is a loud
car-r-r decidedly crowlike in sound, while at other times they called
chah chah or quaw. At times they descended to hop about on the
ground in search for food. Occasionally one was encountered that
was bold to impudence, as when, in a wild, uninhabited region, in
the Formosan Chaco, one came for scraps of cooked meat from my