Journey through Colombia and Ecuador. 477 



swallow auy food at all. Bill wholly leraou-yellow. Iris 

 pale blue. 



150. OSTINOPS ALFRED! (DcS Murs). 



Ostinops alfredi Scl. Cat. B. xi. p. 318. 



We shot a male and female of this species at Milligalli 

 (6000 feet), and odd males at San Nicolas and Gualea at 

 much lower elevations^ all in "West Ecuador. These two odd 

 males are fully adult and are alike in every respect, but the 

 pair from Milligalli differ from them in having the foreheads 

 of a paler primrose-colour, and also a stripe of the same 

 colour over the eyes. The San Nicolas and Gualea males 

 show no trace of this, and their foreheads are of a darker 

 yellow. The Milligalli male is but very little larger than 

 the female, while the latter lacks the elongated feathers on 

 the crown. In all cases the bills are deep chrome-yellow. 

 The birds were nesting at Milligalli in September, and many 

 of their long nests hung from one tree in inaccessible posi- 

 tions over the torrent. We met with them in the forests at 

 San Nicolas in small flocks of seven or eight. They keep up 

 a loud noise, which may be heard at a great distance. They 

 have a peculiar pungent odour, which my skins still partially 

 retain. 



151. Cassicus persicus (Linn.). 



A series from the Upper Napo, East Ecuador. They were 

 nesting there in May and June, and on one tree I counted 

 62 of their hanging nests. They prefer tall trees standing 

 well out in the clearings, or those on the edge that rise 

 above the general forest-level. Each of the nests that I 

 took contained five young, which varied considerably in 

 size. Even before these are fledged they run up the inside 

 of the nests to be fed at the opening at the top, and 

 before they can fly they sit about on the outside, but 

 rapidly vanish inside at the sight of a Hawk or any 

 other large bird. In the young the black parts are of a 

 rusty colour, with a strong yellowish hue about the lower 

 part of the breast and thighs, which gives them an almost 

 olive-green appearance. The bills of the adult birds are 



