[175.] PHYTOTOMA RUTILA, Vieill.
(RED-BREASTED PLANT-CUTTER.)
[Plate VIII.]
Phytotoma rutila, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 451 (Paraná, Mendoza, Cordova, Tucuman, Catamarca); Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 60; Hudson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 537 (Rio Negro); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 203 (Entrerios); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 609 (Catamarca).
Description.—Above plumbeous, with slight darker shaft-spots; front of head bright red; wings and tail blackish, two well-marked wing-bars and tips of all lateral rectrices white; beneath bright red; flanks plumbeous; under wing-coverts whitish: whole length 7·0 inches, wing 3·5, tail 3·3. Female: above grey, densely striated with black; beneath dirty white, with dense black striations, belly and crissum fulvous.
Hab. Argentine Republic.
I found this curious little bird quite common in Patagonia, where the natives call it Chingolo grande, on account of its superficial resemblance to the common Song-Sparrow (Zonotrichia pileata). The colouring of the sexes differs considerably, the forehead and under surface of the male being deep brick-red; the upper parts dull grey, with a bar on the wing and the tips of the rectrices white; while in the female the upper parts are yellowish grey, obscurely mottled, and the breast and belly buff, with dark spots. In both sexes the eye is yellow, and the feathers of the crown pileated to form a crest.
This bird is usually seen singly, but sometimes associates in small flocks; it is resident, and a very weak flier, and feeds on tender buds and leaves, berries and small seed. The male is frequently seen perched on the summit of a bush, and, amidst the dull-plumaged species that people the grey thickets of Patagonia, the bright red bosom gives it almost a gay appearance. When singing, or uttering its alarm notes when the nest is approached, its voice resembles the feeble bleatings of a small kid or lamb. When approached it conceals itself in the bush, and when flying progresses by a series of short jerky undulations, the wings producing a loud humming sound.
The nest is made in the interior of a thorny bush, and built somewhat slightly of fine twigs and lined with fibres. The eggs are four, bluish-green in colour, with brownish flecks.