Spermophila palustris, Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 82 (Concepcion); Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 112.
Description.—Above, from bill to rump, clear bluish ash; below, from bill to middle of breast, including lower eyelid, ear-coverts, and sides of neck, pure white; rest of underparts, rump, and upper tail-coverts bright chestnut-red; wings and tail blackish brown, edged with whitish; inner secondaries black, their tips and outer edges broadly white; a white patch across the base of all the primaries except the first two; bill and feet black, iris dark: total length 4·50 inches, wing 2·18, tail 1·70. Female above uniform greenish olive, obscurely streaked with dusky; below light yellowish buff; wings and tail nearly as in male, but duller.
This small and beautiful Finch was discovered by Mr. Barrows in February 1880, on the Lower Uruguay. It inhabits the marshes, where the males are frequently seen pursuing each other in the pairing-season, occasionally pausing on the top of some tall grass to pour out their delightful song. In character this resembles that of the Black-headed Goldfinch; but has, Mr. Barrows says, a variety and sweetness far beyond the powers of that bird.
It is just possible that Mr. Barrows’s Finch may be Azara’s unidentified Chipiu pardo y canela (Apuntamientos, vol. i. no. 143), which has the same habits, living in the dense reed-beds of the Paraguayan marshes, and is also a delightful singer,—superior to the Goldfinch or Canary, Azara says.
[52.] SPERMOPHILA MELANOCEPHALA (Vieill.).
(BLACK-HEADED FINCH.)
Spermophila melanocephala, Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 118.
Description.—Above black; rump and lesser wing-coverts bright rufous; large loral spot on each side white; wings and tail black; alar speculum white; beneath, throat white, band across the breast black; belly pale rufous; flanks and crissum dark rufous; under wing-coverts white; bill and feet black: whole length 5·0 inches, wing 2·4, tail 2·2.
Hab. Paraguay and Argentina.
A specimen of this species, now in the British Museum, was obtained by Durnford at Punta Lara in October 1875.