Description.—Entire upper parts black, faintly washed with olive; superciliary stripe pale straw-colour; two outer tail-feathers on each side tipped with white; throat and under surface bright chestnut; centre of abdomen white; under tail-coverts pale buff: total length 5·8 inches, wing 2·5, tail 2·2. Female: upper parts not so dark as in male; underparts light buff, mottled and striped with blackish.
Hab. South Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.
This sweet-voiced little songster appears in Buenos Ayres at the end of September; it is a common bird in grounds abounding in bushes and scattered trees, and, in its bright ruddy breast and dark upper plumage, has some resemblance to the English Robin; only it has a very conspicuous straw-coloured line above the eye. Its voice also, in purity and sweetness of tone, is not unlike that of the Robin; but the song, composed of six unvarying notes, is uttered in a deliberate, business-like manner at regular intervals, and is monotonous. Never more than two birds are seen together; they feed on the ground in humid situations, the male frequently seeking a perch to sing. The nest is made on the round, or in a close bush near the surface; the eggs have a pale bluish ground-colour, irregularly marked with black and very dark brown spots, and in some instances clouded with faint grey.
[60.] POOSPIZA WHITII, Scl.
(WHITE’S WARBLING FINCH.)
Poospiza whitii, Scl. P. Z. S. 1883, p. 43, pl. ix.
Description.—Above clear grey, very faintly washed with olive; tail black, the outer feathers on each side tipped with white, as in P. erythrophrys; patch between bill and eye, the anterior half of superciliary stripe, and chin white; hinder part of superciliary stripe and under surface chestnut; middle of belly white; under tail-coverts buff: total length 5·5 inches, wing 2·4, tail 2·6. Female similar, but breast pale rufous; abdomen white; sides grey and buff.
Hab. Province of Cordova, Rep. Arg.
This species has only been obtained by the late Mr. E. W. White. He met with specimens of it at Cosquin, Cordova, in June, July, and August, 1882. It has been dedicated to its discoverer, who has so largely augmented our knowledge of the Argentine avifauna, and whose premature death was a veritable loss for science.