This Swallow is common near Mendoza, according to Prof. Burmeister. White obtained it in May 1881 at Santo Tomé, Corrientes, and in 1882 at Cosquin near Cordova. At Cosquin the first individual was seen on July 20th, but towards the end of August large numbers were observed, mostly skimming over the river.
[32.] STELGIDOPTERYX RUFICOLLIS (Vieill.).
(RED-NECKED SWALLOW.)
Stelgidopteryx ruficollis, Sharpe, Cat. B. x. p. 208. Cotile ruficollis, Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 90.
Description.—Above brown, head darker, rump paler; wings and tail blackish brown, coverts edged with pale brown, external secondaries margined with whitish; beneath pale ashy brown; throat rufous; middle of belly pale yellowish; crissum white, tipped with black: total length 5·0 inches, wing 4·3, tail 2·0. Female similar.
Hab. South America.
Mr. Barrows tells us that this species is abundant in Entrerios throughout the summer, arriving from the north early in August, and is said to nest in holes in banks.
[ Fam. IX. TANAGRIDÆ, or TANAGERS.]
The brilliant family of Tanagers, one of the most characteristic groups of the American avifauna, contains altogether nearly 400 species, of which the greater number are restricted to the forest-clad districts of Central and South America between the tropics. South of the Tropic of Cancer the number of species met with falls off very considerably, so that in the Argentine Republic only fourteen members of the family have as yet been recognized. This number will, however, be probably increased when the less-known wooded districts of northern and eastern Argentina have been more fully explored.
The fourteen species of Argentine Tanagers belong to ten different genera, mostly of wide distribution. But to this rule one genus (Stephanophorus) is an exception, being only found in Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Northern La Plata.