92 



FASSERES. 



of minute insects. They usually carry their heads erect, and utter, 

 at intervals, a shrill note, quickly repeated. Their flight is jerk- 

 ing, and they walk upon the ground with considerable ease and 

 activity, collecting food from the withered herbage. Their nests 

 are cylindrical, very large, and generally placed in the middle of a 

 compact bush. They are composed outwardly of prickly twigs, 

 with the entrance at the upper end, from which a curved passage 

 leads to the interior, which is lined with feathers and hair. 



Fig. 46. — The Chilian Synallaxis {Syitaliaxis niJicapiUa). 



Some species build a nursery for their young of very elaborate 

 construction, placed at the extremity of the branch of a prickly 

 tree, or occasionally in the middle of an isolated bush : the size of 

 this nest is enormous when we take into account the small dimen- 

 sions of its little artificers : it measures, sometimes, two feet in 

 height and a foot and a half in diameter. This large structure is 

 of an elongated oval form, having the broadest part below. Ex- 

 ternally it is protected by many large thorny branches, intertwined 

 with such art that they cannot be pulled asunder without destroy- 

 ing the entire fabric, which is lined with feathers, hair, and straws. 

 Internally it consists of two chambers, of which one is rather 

 spacious, and opens on the side or top. In this chamber there is 

 a corridor, which at first ascends and then leads down to a second 



