CHRRRIE: ORNITHOLOGY OF THE) ORINOCO REGION. 323 



Not uncommon. Frequents open glades in forest regions or the 

 less heavily wooded districts bordering open savannas. 



The nesting season continues from February to June. The nest 

 is an excavation made by the birds themselves, sometimes in the bank 

 of a stream, after the manner of our Bank Swallow, and again in level 

 ground. 



A nest containing two slightly incubated eggs found at Munduapo 

 River, Orinoco, on March 2nd, 1899 (No. 12155 Coll. Geo. K. and Stella 

 M. Cherrie) was situated in the gently sloping bank of the river about 

 ten meters back from the water's edge and about two meters above its 

 surface. The excavation went straight back from the entrance to the 

 nest proper, sloping downward at an angle of 30° with the horizontal, 

 and for a distance of 150 cm. from the entrance. The nest chamber 

 was merely a slight enlargement of the end of the tunnel. There was 

 no nesting material and the eggs lay on the bare sand. The bottom 

 of the nest was 75 cm. from the surface. The parent bird was seen to 

 come from the nest, and during my excavating of the two slightly 

 glossy pure white eggs she remained sitting within easy range on the 

 topmost branch of a tree on the shore. Not a note (that I heard) did 

 she utter or show any special interest in the locality. 



A nest containing two eggs, with incubation far advanced was 

 found at Caicara, May 6, 1905. The excavation for this nest was made 

 in nearly level ground at the edge of the open savanna. The burrow 

 extended straight backward and downward at an angle of about 30° 

 with the surface. The nest chamber was about one meter from the 

 entrance and 30 cm. below the surface. A small quantity of short bits 

 of dead grass had been taken in as a nest lining. One of the eggs is 

 short ovate in form, the other ovate. They measured 24 x 19 and 

 26 X 19.5 cm. 



A rather remarkable thing about these nests, as in that of Monasa 

 nigra, is that the dirt that is excavated is not seen about the mouth of 

 the entrance tunnel. 



Near Caicara, on the 8th of May, 1907, I found two nests each with 

 two young birds. Judging from the young found in these two nests, 

 and from those found in other nests examined, I believe that ordinar- 

 ily one of the two young is born several days before the other. At birth 

 the young are slate black in color, they are entirely naked (without a 

 trace of natal down) and the eyes do not open until about the third or 

 fourth day. When about half grown or a little less, the pin feathers 



