[87.] CHRYSOMITRIS ICTERICA (Licht.).
(BLACK-HEADED SISKIN.)
Chrysomitris barbata, Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 140 (Buenos Ayres); Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 172 (Buenos Ayres); White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 600 (Catamarca, Misiones); Döring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool. p. 40 (R. Sauce, R. Colorado, R. Negro); Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl. viii. p. 132 (Concepcion). Chrysomitris magellanica, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 489; Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 30 (Buenos Ayres); Salvin, Ibis, 1880, p. 355 (Salta). Chrysomitris icterica, Sharpe, Cat. B. xii. p. 217.
Description.—Above light olive-green; lesser wing-coverts same as the back; wings black, a broad bright yellow band across the base of the feathers; rump yellow; upper tail-coverts olive-green; tail-feathers yellow at the base and black at the ends; head all round and throat velvety black; beneath and under wing-coverts bright yellow: total length 5·0 inches, wing 3·0, tail 1·8. Female without the black on the head, otherwise similar to the male, but less bright.
Hab. Brazil and Argentina.
This beautiful little golden-plumaged Finch, the male distinguished from his consort by a brighter yellow colour and a black head, is extremely common throughout the entire length of the Argentine country from Brazil to Patagonia. In the Buenos-Ayrean district it probably has a partial migration, as small flocks are seen to arrive in spring; but further south, in Patagonia, it appears to be strictly resident. In settled districts they are always more abundant than in the woods, and they have a special predilection for poplar groves, and always prefer a poplar to build in. They go in small flocks, seldom more than about a dozen birds together, have a rapid, undulating flight, feed chiefly on the ground like most Finches, and also frequently alight in the seeding-time on plants like the lettuce and Sonchus asper (a common weed) and, clinging to the stem, dexterously pick off the seed, scattering the down about them in a little cloud. They are very tuneful, restless, quick in their motions, apparently always in a light-hearted merry mood. Being much admired for their song, they are often kept in cages; and certainly, for cheerfulness and constancy in singing, they take the foremost place amongst the Finches; but there is little expression in the song, which is composed of a variety of short twittering notes, uttered with great rapidity, as the bird sits perched on a twig or undulates from tree to tree. Usually the notes flow in a continuous stream, but occasionally the bird sings in a different manner, making a pause of two or three seconds of silence after every eight or ten short notes. When the female is on the nest the male sometimes perches near her amongst the leaves and sings sotto voce, apparently for her pleasure only, the notes being so low that, at a distance of ten yards, they can scarcely be heard.
The nest is usually placed between the angle formed by a small branch and the bole of the tree, and is a deep, well-made structure composed of many materials, and lined with horsehair, down, or feathers. The eggs are five, very small for the bird, pure white, and so frail that it is not easy to take them from the nest without breaking them.
While engaged in building, the birds constantly utter a low, soft, trilling note; and when the nest is approached they break out into long, somewhat reedy notes, resembling those of the Canary, expressive of alarm or curiosity.