146 BIRDS OF pi PLATA 
in a village graveyard, and supposed that it had 
chosen the spot on account of its quietude. The 
superstitious notion about it varies: thus, some 
think the bird is a re-incarnation in bird form of a 
child buried there ; others that it is a little angel in 
disguise, whose mission it is to keep watch and guard 
over the sleeping souls of little buried children. 
In both sexes the entire plumage is snowy white, 
except the primaries and the tip of the tail, which 
are black. In habits it is more sedentary than other 
Tzniopterz, and obtains its food chiefly by patiently 
watching the surface of the ground for its insect 
prey. Its marvellously white plumage, and the habit 
of sitting motionless on the summit of a bush or tree, 
make it a most conspicuous object, so that it is strange 
to find such a bird existing in districts which abound 
in raptorial species; for Hawks, I have frequently 
noticed, will always single out a white or conspicu- 
ously coloured bird for pursuit, and though the 
Little Widow, like the other members of its genus, 
is swift and strong of wing, the feeble and the young 
must often fall victims to their shining white plumage. 
The Little Widow is a solitary bird, and not 
nearly so lively and playful in manner as T. coronata 
and TI. dominicana, its surpassing whiteness being 
its most interesting feature. Its nesting habits are 
unlike those of other Tznioptere, for it breeds only 
in holes, usually in the bole or branch of a tree; but 
sometimes it takes possession of the oven of Furnarius 
to lay in. The nest is composed chiefly of feathers 
and contains four eggs, creamy white, with a few 
