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

BIRDS OF ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND CHILE 383
man. They were sprightly and active in movement and jerked
the tail rapidly and violently as they moved about, especially when
alarmed at the presence of a snake or some other enemy. In spring
they were found about the handsome blossoms of such trees as the
lapacho {Tecoma ohtusata) and at all seasons were partial to
growths of vines or creepers. Their active search for food often
led them to swing head down from small twigs. The call note of
the male was a sharp spick spick, and the song was clear and
whistled. The female uttered a mewing note or a harsh rattling
call.
An adult female had the bill black; iris Kaiser brown; tarsus
neutral gray; claws fuscous.
MOLOTHRUS BONARIENSIS BONARIENSIS (Gmelin)
Tanagra bonariensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 898.
(Buenos Aires.)
The series of 15 skins secured seems uniform in size and color
except that specimens from northern Rio Negro and Mendoza appear
very slightly larger and have heavier bills than those from
Paraguay. All are considered as representative of the typical form.
Records for the species are as follows : Santa Fe, Santa Fe, July 4,
1920; Resistencia, Chaco, July 8 to 10; Las Palmas, Chaco, July
12 to 31 (female taken July 19; male, July 31) ; Riacho Pilaga, For-
mosa, August 7 to 20 (males collected August 14 and 15) ; Formosa,
Formosa, August 23 and 24; Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, September
2 and 3; Kilometer 80, west of Puerto Pinasco, September 6 to 25
(male, September 10) ; Dolores, Buenos Aires, October 21 ; Lavalle,
Buenos Aires, October 23 to November 15 (male, October 29; females,
General Roca, Rio Negro, November
October 29 and November 13) ;
23 to December 3 (male, November 30) ; Zapala, Neuquen, December
9 ; Carhue, Buenos Aires, December 15 to 18 ; Victorica, Pampa, December
23 to 29 ; Carrasco, Uruguay, January 16, 1921 ; La Paloma,
Uruguay, January 23; San Vicente, Uruguay, January 25 to February
2 (female, January 27; juvenile male, January 31) ; Lazcano,
Uruguay, February 3 to 9; Rio Negro, Uruguay, February 14 to
18; Potrerillos, Mendoza, March 16 and 18; Tunuyan, Mendoza^
March 22 to 28 (adult female, March 26; adult and immature males,
March 26 and 28).
Some of the skins from Formosa and Paraguay, taken in August
and September, are in very worn plumage at this early season, so
that males show only traces of the gloss that normally covers the
entire body plumage. One adult female from Las Palmas, Chaco, is
so much darker than others that it was supposed to be hrevirostris
until carefully compared. Adults from Tunuyan, Mendoza, are in