RED THORN-BIRD 229 
builds a large oblong nest of sticks, about two feet 
deep, and placed obliquely among the thorny twigs 
of a bush or low tree. Mr. Barrows writes: “‘ There 
are commonly two cavities in the nest, one being half 
open to the weather, and forming the entrance, the 
other further back and connected with the former 
by only a short passage-way, which in many cases is 
reduced to a simple hole through a broad partition, 
which alone separates them.” The eggs are four and 
of a pure white. 
The bird described is one of a group of four 
species found in Argentina. Of these the smallest 
and most interesting in its nesting habits is the 
Whistling Thorn-bird, Phacellodomus sibilatrix. 
It inhabits the thorny woods of the northern 
districts of the Argentine country, but I have no 
reason to regret that I have not personally observed 
this species, since Mr. Barrows’ careful account of 
its nesting-habits leaves nothing to be desired. He 
writes: ‘‘ An abundant species among the open 
woods along the Uruguay, and hardly distinguish- 
able at ten paces from half a dozen others. Its 
nest, however, is unmistakable. The birds begin by 
fixing a few crooked and thorny twigs among the 
terminal sprays of some slender branch which juts 
out horizontally from a tree, or rises obliquely from 
near its base, and around these twigs as a nucleus 
more are gathered, until by the time the nest has 
reached the proper size, its weight has bent the _ 
branch so that its tip points directly to the earth. 
Nests which are thus begun at a distance of fifteen 
