192 BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2, 6. 



in the nest. It is ovate in form, pale bluish white in color, thickly 

 marked all over with specks and spots varying in color from clove brown 

 to olive brown, the lighter colors underlying the darker markings. The 

 egg measures 19.5 by 15 mm. 



On my first expedition to the Orinoco I found a nest of this 

 Species which from its history is worth recording. This nest was 

 found at Caicara, June 27, 1898. It was a nest within a nest, the 

 original builders having been Orioles (Icterus xanthornus), and was 

 first discovered the last of April, at that time new, and containing 

 young Orioles. The entrance then was at the top as is ordinary. 

 After the Orioles left the nest it evidently whipped about in sunshine 

 and rain and the neck or entrance dried and drew together and the 

 nest came to look old and weather worn. But this apparently suited 

 the new house hunters who made a neat small round hole in the body 

 of the nest and carried in some fine soft grass and woody hair-like 

 fibres as a nest lining. The remodelled nest contained three fresh 

 eggs, which was evidently a full set, for the female was shot as she 

 left the nest and dissection proved that no more eggs would have been 

 laid. The nest was about 2.5 m. from the ground. "The eggs 

 resemble those of a sparrow, being white, profusely covered with brown, 

 and a few underlying pale gray spots, the spots almost entirely 

 covering the thick end. They measure 20.5x14.5; 21.1x14.5 and 

 21. 1 X 14.3 mm. and are rather pointed ovate.^" 



In 1907 additional nests and eggs were found, and notes relative to 

 the nesting habits of this species were made as follows : 



A set of three partially incubated eggs, collected at Caicara, June 

 6th, were taken from a nest with a story. One day toward the end 

 of May while passing under the boughs of a tree containing a colony 

 of the yellow-rumped hang-nest (Cacicus cela), a nest was picked up 

 that had been broken away from its fellows and had fallen to the 

 ground. It was carried for a short distance and then carelessly 

 tossed among the branches of a tree, where it lodged. Passing that 

 way some days later I was surprised to see a yellow finch fly from 

 the old nest. An examination showed that a lining of soft, dry 

 grasses had been taken in and that the old nest now sheltered new 

 bird tenants. 



The eggs found in this nest are similar in color to those described 



iBerlepsch & Hartert, p. 27. 



