SCARLET TYRANT 181 
is placed near the top. Outside, the nest has a very 
disorderly appearance, as there are always long straws 
and sometimes rags hanging down; the cavity is 
deeply lined with feathers, and is the hottest nest I 
know. The eggs are five, very long, pointed, cream- 
coloured, and spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with 
chocolate and purple. 
They are bold in defence of their nest; one pair 
which bred annually in my orchard always attacked 
me with the greatest fury whenever I ventured near 
the peach-tree in which they had their big nest of 
wool, darting down repeatedly and striking my head 
with beak and wings. 
SCARLET TYRANT 
Pyrocephalus rubineus 
Above very dark cinereous, crested head and body below scarlet ; 
bill and feet black; length 5.2 inches, Female, above pale cinereous, 
below white ; breast striated with crimson; belly more or less rosy 
red, 
THE Scarlet Tyrant is about five and a half inches 
long; the neck, back, wings, and tail are black ; 
all the rest of the plumage the most vivid scarlet 
imaginable. The loose feathers of the crown, which 
form a crest, are especially brilliant, and seem to 
glow like a live coal amidst the green foliage. Beside 
this bright Tyrant-bird even the Rainbow Tanagers 
+? 
look pale, and the “ Jewel Humming-birds,” seen 
