NESTING HABITS OF OROPENDOLA — CHAPMAN 383 



The date of hatch injjj was not ascertained but on February 3. during 

 the process of feedinjr, the bills of the young could be seen above 

 the rim of the nest. One of these young left the nest on February 

 20, the other on February 22. On March 12 a female, presumably 

 the mother of the first brood, was seen on the nest, which had been 

 renovated, apparently laying. On March 14 she began to sit and 

 she was still incubating when last I saw her on March 24. 



Cotinfia nattereri}'' — On March 24, 1927, 1 discovered a nest of 

 Natterer's cotinga in the sand-box tree. So far as I am aware it 

 is not only the first recorded nest of the species but of any member 

 of the group of blue cotingas. It was about 90 feet above the ground, 

 halfwav between the trunk and the terminal twigs in the anfjle 

 formed by an orchid growing from the side of a nearly horizontal 

 limb about 5 inches in diameter. It was occupied by a female brood- 

 ing two young that were covered, apparently, with sno^^'y white 

 down. 



On March 31 the young were missing and on April 2 the nest was 

 partly pulled to pieces by the female. During this period no male 

 cotinga was seen. 



On February 8, 1928. a female cotinga Avas seen building a nest 

 in exactly the same place occupied by this species the preceding 

 year. February 16 the female was on the nest, evidently laying, 

 and from this date she was seen sitting on the nest until March 12. 

 On March 13 she was missing and no cotinga was seen until March 

 20 when a female was observed perched in the top of the sand-box 

 tree for about 30 minutes. She was not seen to visit the deserted 

 nest. Four days later a female was seen in the sand-box tree with 

 a rootlet in her bill and on March 28 a female began to build a nest 

 on the north side of the tree, slightly above and about 50 feet 

 from the abandoned nest. 



It seems not improbable that the owner of the first nest, having 

 been robbed of her eggs, had started a new nest. However that 

 may be, I give these facts for the additional proof they afford that 

 tropical birds ma}' return to the same nest site and nest at approxi- 

 mately the same date in successive years. If the nest of 1928 had 

 not been disturbed, the dates given indicate that the young would 

 have hatched shortly, when on March 24, the nest would have 

 contained young of approximately tlio same age as those discovered 

 in the same nest site the preceding year. 



On two occasions a female Cotiruja nattererl was observed on the 

 sand-box tree in 1920, but, as I have before remarketl, the tree was 

 not then under close observation and no nest was discovered though 

 it is by no means unlikely that one existed. 



" I Include certain of my notes on this species for the bearlnR they have on localization, 

 periodicity and sexual relation In Z<^rhynchuK. 



