[Plate IV.]
Stephanophorus leucocephalus, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 20; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 170 (Buenos Ayres); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 597 (Misiones); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 90 (Concepcion); Scl. Cat. B. xi. p. 143. Stephanophorus cœruleus, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 480 (Paraná).
Description.—Uniform deep blue; cap silky white, with a small crimson crest; bill brownish black, feet brown: whole length 7 inches, wing 4, tail 3·3. Female similar, but not quite so bright in colour.
Hab. Southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Northern Argentina.
Azara gave the generic name Lindo (beautiful) to the Tanagers, and this species he named the “Blue White-headed Beautiful,” the entire plumage being of a very lovely deep corn-flower blue, except a cap of silvery-white feathers on the head, with a crimson spot on the forehead, looking like a drop of blood.
It is a summer bird in Buenos Ayres, where it makes its appearance in spring in the woods bordering on the Plata river, and is usually seen singly or in pairs. The nest is built in a tree ten or twelve feet from the ground, and is somewhat shallow and lined with soft dry grass. The female lays four eggs, white and spotted with deep red. During incubation the male sits concealed in the thick foliage close by, amusing itself by the hour with singing, its performance consisting of chattering disconnected notes uttered in so low a tone as to make one fancy that the bird is merely trying to recall some melody it has forgotten, or endeavouring to construct a new one by jerking out a variety of sounds at random. The bird never gets beyond this unsatisfactory stage, however, and must be admired for its exquisite beauty alone.
[37.] TANAGRA SAYACA, Linn.
(BLUE TANAGER.)
Tanagra cyanoptera, Durnford, Ibis, 1878, p. 59 (Buenos Ayres); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 91 (Concepcion); Scl. Cat. B. xi. p. 157 (part.). Tanagra sayaca, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 479 (Paraná); Berl. Zeitschr. ges. Orn. 1885, p. 119, Scl. Cat. B. xi. p. 158.