238 BROOKFAN IXSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 6. 



Three nests of this species collected within a few days of one an- 

 other, and in the same general locality (within an area of a circle, the 

 radius of which would not exceed 75 metres) seem to the writer excel- 

 lent examples of the individual tastes of birds. Each nest is con- 

 structed of material distinct not only iii its character but 

 also in its color. The various materials from my observations 

 seemed equally abundant, yet one nest is constructed entirely of black 

 fibers and each of the others of a distinct shade and texture of gray- 

 ish brown fibers. Not only was the character and color of the mater- 

 ials employed in each case distinct, but the builders displayed indi- 

 vidual taste in the execution and style of the exterior of the nest 

 structure. 



Ramphotrigon ruficauda (Spix). 



Platyrhynchus ruficauda Spix, Av. Bras. II. 1825, p. 9. PI. 11, fig. i. 

 Ramphotrigon ruficauda Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 47. 



The writer obtained a single specimen, an adult female at Mun- 

 duapo, March 15th, 1899. No others were observed. Specimens were, 

 however, collected by both Klages and Andre on the Caura River at 

 Suapure and La Pricion respectively, and there is a single example 

 in the American Museum, collected at La Union, Caura River, by 

 Klages. 



CoNOPiAS iNORNATus (Lawrence). 

 Myiosetetes inornatus Lawr., Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. IX. 1869. 



p. 268. 

 'Conopias inornatus Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 47. 



A not uncommon species frequenting the sparsely wooded 

 savanna regions occasionally in company with species of Myiozctctcs. 

 It was observed at various points from Ciudad Bolivar up as far as 

 Caicara. 



Eye dark brown ; bill black ; feet blackish. 



A nest and -set of eggs together with the female parent bird were 

 collected at Caicara May 6th, 1907. The nest is an open, cup-shaped 

 affair, closely resembling that of our wood-pewee {Myiochancs virens). 

 It was saddled on to the forks of a good sized limb, about 4.57 m. 

 from the ground. The tree in which it was placed stood just at the 

 edge of a belt of heavy timber bordering the river. The nest walls 

 seem to be composed almost entirely of grey lichens that are bound 

 together by cobwebs. There is a somewhat scant lining of fine 



