CYPSELOIDES. 381 
Nore.—Panyptila cayennensis (anted, p. 370, Jan. 1893) was included in this work 
on the evidence of a specimen obtained with its nest on the banks of the Chagres River 
by Dr. Merritt. Since then we have seen Mr. Richmond’s very interesting account of 
the bird and its breeding-habits published in the ‘ Auk’ for 1893 (p. 84). Mr. Rich- 
mond was staying at the estate of the Imperial Plantation Company, on the Rio 
Escondido, about fifty miles from Blewfields, Nicaragua, and the substance of his 
note we now transcribe :— 
“On Aug. 23, 1892, after an early morning trip in the woods, I had nearly reached 
the edge of the plantation when my attention was drawn to a mixed company of birds 
feeding on berries in an immense tree. The tree belonged to a species common in 
these forests, a giant among its surroundings, the trunk at least five feet in diameter, 
and the first limb over seventy feet from the ground... . Woundinga Yellowtail 
(Ostinops montezume), I was endeavouring to keep sight of it, when a small bird 
dashed past and disappeared on the trunk of the tree about seventy feet from the 
ground. Looking in that direction I noticed a nest, eight or nine inches in length, 
hanging from the trunk, and so nearly resembling it in colour that ordinarily it would 
have been passed unnoticed. The trunk was perfectly straight for a distance of seventy 
feet, at which point there was a division, the portion with the nest leaning very slightly, 
and the nest was attached to the smooth grayish bark on the underside of the trunk, 
hanging vertically and at the same time almost against the bark, rendering it a very 
inconspicuous object. The nest when first observed was still quivering from the move- 
ments made by the bird, proving it to be made of some soft, yielding material. The 
nest almost exactly matched the bark in colour; the entrance, at the bottom, was very 
large, nearly the diameter of the nest, which appeared to be about three inches at the 
lower end with a slight bulging near the top. On shooting into the nest there was a 
struggle inside which shook it considerably, and presently the bird dropped to the 
ground. It was a Panyptila cayennensis, and on dissection proved to be a male, with 
the sexual organs only slightly developed. 
“Visiting the spot the next day with a pair of field-glasses, I tried to identify the 
material composing the nest, but beyond its having the appearance of being stuccoed 
with some substance resembling the bark in colour, I could determine nothing. The 
bark was quite smooth, and the nest appeared to be glued on, although this was not . 
positively ascertained to be the case. 
“This Swift is quite abundant here, as is also the small gray-rumped Chetura. 
They usually fly very high, though apparently not faster than the Chimney Swift of 
Eastern North America. On cloudy afternoons, particularly after rain-storms, they 
often fly so low that specimens may be easily obtained.” 
We have recently acquired several of Mr. Richmond's specimens and find them 
rather smaller than some of the South-American series in the British Museum. As 
they vary inter se in this respect, and as the smallest is not larger than a specimen from 
British Guiana, we do not consider this difference of size of any importance. 
