CH^RRIE: ORNITHOLOGY OF THE ORINOCO REGION. 211 



which blends into the color of the chin and upper throat which is 

 olive yellow. No. 4862 (Bklyn. Inst. Mus.), is of a somewhat 

 lighter shade of greyish hair brown ; the olive yellowish wash is perhaps 

 a trifle more pronounced, but does not extend on to the chin or the 

 throat which is pale, dusky grey. This specimen is further distinguished 

 from the other two examples by distinct dusky shaft streaks on the 

 feathers of the breast and sides. No. 4863 (Bklyn. Inst. Mus.), is 

 nearly uniform greyish hair brown, with only a trace of olive yellow 

 wash on the breast, and the chin and upper throat scarcely any paler 

 than the belly. 



Eggs that are believed to be of this species were taken on two occasions. 

 One, with a nest and set of eggs of Gymnowystax mexicanus, was col- 

 lected at Caicara May 8, 1907. This egg was fresh. It is short ovate 

 in form and measures 22x17 mm. It is thickly spotted with brown 

 varying in shade from hazel to dark chestnut; the lighter markings are 

 overlaid by the darker ones of chestnut ; about the larger end the 

 whitish ground color is entirely concealed. 



Two fresh eggs taken at Caicara July 2, 1907, with a nest and set 

 of eggs of Synalla.vis cinnamomea, are short ovate in form and 

 measure 21.5x17 and 21x16.5 "im. They are similar to the single 

 tgg described above, but have the entire surface thickly covered with 

 the hazel and chestnut spots but not uniting at any point to conceal 

 the ground color. 



HoLOQUiscALUs LUGUBRis (Swainson). 



Quiscalus lugubris Sws., Anim. in Menag. 1838. p. 299; Berlepsch & 

 Hartert, p. 33. 



Native name Tordito. During my stay at Ciudad Bolivar in April 

 (1905), large flocks of this species of grackle were to be seen feeding in 

 the same localities with Gymnomystax mexicanus and M,olothrus bona- 

 riensis venezuelensis. They are gregarious at all seasons. I found a 

 small colony breeding in a swamp near Caicara early in June. The 

 nests were placed in the tops of small cabbage palms, the M'Oriches of 

 the natives, four and five nests often in a single tree. The nests are 

 strongly built, first having a foundation of dead leaves and mud, mixed ; 

 then there is a, superstructure of rather coarse dead grass and weed 

 stems and a lining of moderately fine dead plant tendrils. The outside 

 measurements of a nest now before me which was collected June 3, 1905, 



