Eremobius phœnicurus. Gould.
Plate XXI.
E. fuscus, remigibus cinereo fusco marginatis, striâ superciliari pone oculos extensâ cinereo-albâ; caudâ nigro-fuscâ basi castaneo fuscâ; gulâ abdomineque medio cinereo albis; hypochondriis tectricibusque caudalibus inferioribus pallide flavescentibus.
Long. tot. 6⁹⁄₁₂ unc.; rost. 1; alæ, 2⁹⁄₁₂; caudæ, 3; tarsi, ⁹⁄₁₂.
Head and all the upper surface brown; the primaries margined with greyish brown; stripe over and behind the eye greyish white; tail feathers chestnut brown at the base, and blackish brown for the remainder of their length; throat and centre of the abdomen greyish white, passing into pale buff on the flanks and under tail-coverts; bill and feet blackish brown.
Habitat, Patagonia.
This bird, though forming a well-marked genus, is in many respects, even in plumage, allied to Furnarius and Opetiorhynchus,—for instance, in the streak over its eyes, in the red band on its wings extending obliquely from the body to the third primary, and to some of the species of these genera in its rather plumose feathers. In its general manners, the same resemblance, together with some differences, always struck me. It lives entirely on the ground, and generally in dry sterile situations, where it haunts the scattered thickets, and often flies from one to another. When skulking about the bushes it cocks up its tail, imitating in this respect Pteroptochos and Rhinomya. Its cry is shrill, quickly reiterated, and very similar to that of several species of Furnarius and Opetiorhynchus. The stomach of one which I opened was full of Coleoptera. I procured specimens from three places on the coast of Patagonia; namely, Port Desire, St. Julian, and Santa Cruz; but it is nowhere common. I likewise saw it at a considerable elevation in the eastern valleys of the barren Cordillera, near Mendoza.
Rhinomya lanceolata. Is. Geoffr. & D’Orb.
Rhinomya lanceolata. Is. Geoffr. & D’Orb. Voy. de l’Amer. Mer. pl. 7. f. 1. 1832, cl. 11. pl. 3. id.—Mag. de Zool. 1832, 11. pl. 3. and 1837, p. 15.
I procured a specimen of this bird from the Rio Negro in Northern Patagonia, and I never saw one any where else; and M. D’Orbigny makes the same remark. On the Atlantic side of the continent, it replaces the several species of Pteroptochos which live on the shores of the Pacific. Its habits, in some respects, are similar; it lives at the bottom of hedges or thickets, where it runs with such quickness, that it might easily be mistaken for a rat. It is very unwilling to take flight, so that, I was assured by some of the inhabitants, that it could not fly, which, however, is a mistake. It frequently utters a loud and very singular cry. The Rhinomya is distantly allied to the Eremobius phœnicurus, which is found in Southern Patagonia, whose habits in some respects are similar.