remarkable Birds from South America. 63 



arrived liere, which is a hacienda situated oil the north- 

 eastern slope of the majestic Illirviaui. This was on the 

 14th of January. During the first eight or ten days my 

 brother and I made some excursions up and down hill to 

 reconnoitre the ground. The time was not good for 

 collecting birds, most of them being moulting. Never- 

 theless, of Aglaactis pamela, which was very common, we 

 collected a large number, and I was very much pleased to 

 find, at a great altitude near the line of eternal snow in com- 

 pany with other Ground-Finches (such as Spodiornis jelskii, 

 Diuca speculifera, etc.), the much sought-after Idiopsar 

 brachyurus. I have, so far, shot only five specimens, and 

 cannot yet say much about this curious bird. In these high 

 regions, where it rains, hails, or snows twenty hours of the 

 day, the vegetation is very scanty, and consists only of 

 gramineous plants, and such herbs as can grow between the 

 debris of rocks and blocks of stone. In such situations this 

 bird searches after insects, and is sometimes to be seen 

 sitting on the stones holding its long beak upward, which 

 is a curious sight. The people of this country know the 

 bird well, and call it ' Agusanieve,' which means that it 

 searches after insects under the snow. I was told that in 

 heavy snowfalls these birds cannot fly and are easily taken, 

 by hand.^' 



In a later letter Mr. Garlejip says that he found the 

 Idiopsar at different places on the Cordillera at the altitude 

 of 14,000 feet, and that he now thinks it feeds exclusively 

 on seeds. He also says that males and females are quite 

 alike, and that he had prepared skeletons of two moulting 

 specimens. 



As already said, I fully agree with Mr. Sclater that 

 Idiopsar is not an Icterine bird, but a true Fringilline, 

 perhaps most nearly related to Phrygilus or Diuca. It truly 

 looks like Phrygilus unicolor with a much exaggerated and 

 deformed bill. 



The males and females, as sexed by Garlepp, do not show 

 any difference either in coloration or form ; it only appears 

 that the older specimens have longer bills, which are more 



