Anæretes parulus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 455 (Mendoza); Hudson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 543 (Rio Negro); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 47; White, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 30 (Cordova); Durnford, Ibis, 1878, p. 395 (Centr. Patagonia); Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool. p. 43 (R. Negro, R. Colorado).
Description.—Above cinereous, with an olivaceous tint on the lower back; head black, front varied with white, elongated vertical crest black, sometimes varied with white; wings blackish, with slight whitish tips to the coverts and whitish margins to the outer secondaries; tail blackish, outer webs of external rectrices whitish; below pale straw-colour, white on the throat; throat and breast with numerous and well-marked black striations; bill and feet black: whole length 4·0 inches, wing 1·9, tail 1·8. Female similar, but crest shorter.
Hab. Argentine Republic, including Patagonia, Chili, Bolivia, Peru, and Andes of Ecuador.
This small bird is only four and a half inches long; in both sexes the colour on the upper parts is dull grey, on the throat and breast ash-coloured; the belly pale yellow. It has the distinction of a slender curling Lapwing-like crest, composed of a few narrow, long, black feathers. The eye is white. It is found in the thorny thickets on the dry plains of Mendoza, and is also common in Patagonia. In its habits it closely resembles Serpophaga [subcristata]; lives always in pairs, perpetually moves about in a singularly deliberate manner while searching through the bush for small insects, the two birds always talking together in little chirping notes, and occasionally bursting out into a little shrill duet. It builds a deep, neat nest of fine dry grass and lined with feathers, in a low thorn, and lays two white eggs.
[149.] ANÆRETES FLAVIROSTRIS, Scl. et Salv.
(YELLOW-BILLED TIT-TYRANT.)
Anæretes flavirostris, Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S. 1876, p. 355; 1879, p. 613.
Description.—Above brownish olive; head black, mixed with white and surmounted by narrow elongated black crest-feathers; wings blackish, outer web of external rectrix whitish; beneath pale stramineous, throat and breast white, densely striated with black; under wing-coverts white; bill yellowish, with a black tip; feet black: whole length 4·2 inches, wing 2·1, tail 2·0.
Hab. Bolivia and N. Argentina.
A specimen of this species was procured, at Cosquin, near Cordova, by White.