Dr. E. A. Goeldi on Myiopatis semifusca. \?7 



and planting the indigestible seeds. Consequently the only 

 part of the fruit utilized is the pulp. I have shot several of 

 these small birds and examined the contents of their crops, 

 and have found nothing else but the pulp and seeds of the 

 berries of the ' herva de passarinho.' It might be supposed 

 that as soon as the fruit is taken in the beak they separate 

 the pulp from the seed and expel the latter. Such, however, 

 is not the case : in all the specimens which I examined L 

 found the crop full of seeds and none in the beak. 



" It seems strange to me that this small Tyrant should be 

 one of the most assiduous planters of the 'herva de passa- 

 rinho/ I should have expected, from the form of its beak, 

 to find that it was insectivorous rather than frugivorous. 



" I have never yet seen any other birds get rid of the seeds 

 of 'herva de passarinho' in this manner. It is probable 

 that larger birds, such as Thrushes, Pigeons, &c, digest the 

 seeds, or at least do not reject them from the crop. It is 

 therefore not likely that they are planters of the berries in 

 this way. For this reason we may consider the ' Caga-sebo/ 

 and perhaps others of the same tribe and size, if not the 

 only at least the most active propagators of the ' herva de 

 passarinho.' 



" To rid themselves of the seeds, the ' Caga-sebos ' make no 

 selection of places. Wherever they may be perched and feel 

 the need of ejecting the seeds, there they wipe their beaks 

 and the seed sticks fast. Even our electric-lighting wires, 

 at the time when these berries are ripe, are constantly covered 

 with fresh and sprouting seeds. In the same way also the 

 wires which serve as a support to the branches of the grape- 

 vines, as well as the branches themselves, and the branches 

 and the twigs of the trees and bushes, are covered every year 

 with these seeds. Wherever favorable conditions are found, 

 which seems to be on living branches and twigs of plants and 

 trees, these seeds germinate and develop normally if they 

 are not immediately destroyed, while on the wires and dry 

 sticks they soon die on account of the lack of the proper 

 substratum in which to take root. 



" The manner in which the Loranthi are disseminated is 



