PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIOXAL MUSEUM. 665 



bird, with rapid vibrating wings, beneath the open fruit, by means of 

 its long beak extracted the seeds from the depths of the cavities. The 

 parrots, too heavy for such work and with beaks too thick to enter the 

 cavities, hung head downward on the fruit and tore its thick and 

 gummy outer rind into fragments to get at the coveted interior. When 

 a flock of parrots was at work in a copey, the bits of rind fell like a 

 shower. The Juice of the rind hardens on their beaks and plumage 

 like India rubber, and I found it imi)ossible to remove it with water, 

 although spirits of turpentine dissolved it freely. One of my parrots, 

 a female, had the tips of all of her tail feathers so badly worn that I 

 thought at first that I had sliot an escaped cage bird, but I was told 

 that they nest in hollow trees and tliat their tails are worn by the 

 smallness of the hollows. 



[The specimens collected by Lieutenant Robinson are typical of 

 A. amazonica. — (J. W. IJ.J 



Family CUCULID.E. 



38. CROTOPHAGA ANI, Linnaeus. 

 ANI. 



N^ative name " garrapatero," i. e., tick eater, from its alleged habit of 

 eating the " garrapatos," or ticks, from the backs of cattle. 



Common and usually in small parties of from six to a dozen individ- 

 uals. Found in open land, and often seen walking about among cattle 

 like our cow bird. I am inclined to believe that these birds not only 

 associate in communities, but have a nest in common. Upon arriving 

 at Laguayra, I discovered one of their nests, a bulky structure of coarse 

 twigs, in a cocoanut palm near the town. I made no attempt to get it, 

 but on the night of June 25 there was a high wind, and, going out the 

 Dext morning, I found that the nest had blown down. It had fallen in 

 rank grass, and all of the eggs were not broken. It had contained 15 

 fresh eggs, of which nine were uninjured. 



39. DIPLOPTERUS N^VIUS (Linnaeus). 



TAWNY CUCKOO, 

 l^ative name " sentin." 



I saw several pairs of these birds in the small thickets on the partly 

 bare hillsides near El Valle, and obtained one specimen. 



Family BUCCONID.E. 



40. BUCCO BICINCTUS (Gould). 



TWO-BANUED PCFF-BIED. 



Common, especially in the fringe of trees along the stream from El 

 Yalle. They are very (piiet birds, and will sit motionless whilst they 

 are observed from a distance of a few feet. They have a note a little 



