176 Dr. E. A. Goeldi on Myiopatis semifusca. 



one of the family of Tyrants, commonly called ' Caga-sebo.' 

 The birds hopped from branch to branch, and sometimes to 

 the ground, and it seemed to me that, as is usual with other 

 Tyrants, they were catching insects, which were abundant 

 in that place. Perched again on one of the branches, they 

 made a peculiar movement, as if something in their ali- 

 mentary canal was giving them trouble. In a short time 

 there was expelled from their beak a seed of the f herva 

 de passarinho.' The seed, owing to the viscous matter 

 with which it is covered, was very difficult to remove from 

 their beaks, so that the birds were obliged to wipe them 

 repeatedly on both sides of the branch, to which the ejected 

 seed immediately became glued fast. It was sometimes 

 troublesome for the bird to get rid of the seed, because the 

 viscous matter formed strings so long and so sticky that 

 it was obliged to raise its head as high as possible. At other 

 times it seemed to me that in order to gain its end it became 

 necessary to fly away to another perch to break the trouble- 

 some string of seeds. Very few of the seeds, I observed, 

 fell to the ground, nearly all remaining stuck fast to the 

 branches. 



"The observation proved to me that the 'herva de passa- 

 rinho ' is not disseminated by means of excrement, but 

 rather in consequence of the seeds being indigestible, at 

 least for these particular birds. For this latter reason, as 

 well as on account of the great volume of the seeds in com- 

 parison with the size of the intestines, the birds vomit them 

 up and. glue them to the twigs, branches, and wires, in 

 short to anything convenient for the purpose. 



" Near the place where I made these observations there 

 Avere several well-grown clusters of bamboos, full of 'herva 

 de passarinho,' with abundance of ripe berries. Every day 

 these ' Caga-sebos ' were to be seen banqueting there. More- 

 over, in this operation of vomiting and planting the seeds of 

 the parasite, I was always able to observe them early in the 

 morning. During the rest of the day this is somewhat more 

 difficult, as the birds probably retire to shady thickets and 

 there busy themselves in eating the berries and in ejecting 



