36 Mr. H. Durnford on some Birds observed 



than nine inches ; but with these exceptions it was exactly 

 like the nests found on the 1st inst. The eggs^ two in num- 

 ber, are of the same length as the last mentioned, but slightly 

 broader. There were several nests of the same character, 

 viz. with a passage, in the neighbourhood. 



On the 26th I shot a Synallxis sordida, which proved 

 to be a male, at the same time seeing another leave one of 

 the nests without a passage. 



The result of these observations may be shortly summarized 

 as follows : — 



We have two distinct classes of nests of Synallaxis, which 

 we will call A and B (A being those having no passage to 

 the nest, B those with this addition), both common, both 

 built in precisely similar places, but those of one class never 

 found in the vicinity of those of the other. In three or four 

 instances S. patagonica is seen to leave nests classed A, and 

 in one case a nest classed B. A ^S^. sordida in one in- 

 stance is seen to leave a nest classed A. The eggs from 

 two A nests differ "1 of an inch in length and breadth from 

 each other ; and seen lying side by side it is difficult to imagine 

 they can both belong to the same species ; at the same time 

 two eggs from a B nest, and from which a S. sordida was 

 flushed, are of the same size as the larger sitting of eggs from 

 one of the A nests. These apparent discrej)ancies are diffi- 

 cult to reconcile. Can it be that the two species construct 

 nests of such very different characters, and that each is pa- 

 rasitic on the other ? 



Both have very similar habits, when frightened creeping 

 into the thickest part of the bush, and when driven from that 

 shelter only flying as far as the next one. 



Synallaxis hudsoni, Scl. 



Not uncommon. Found in dry places in the valley, but 

 not seen on the hills, and appears to live on the ground. On 

 the 5th November I shot a male. 



HOMORUS GUTTURALIS. 



On the 27th November I saw a pair of these birds on the 

 hills about four miles to the south-west of the village, and 



