256 PASSERES. — FRINGILLAD^. 



large cumulative nests, on liigh cotton-trees, having 

 exactly the same appearance as those of the Black 

 Shrike, (p. 190,) and that he has heard them utter 

 the same remarkable cry. The suspicion was ob- 

 vious, considering that both birds are black, and 

 nearly of one size, that he had confounded the one 

 with the other. Yet against this, I may state, 

 that he is perfectly familiar with both species, that 

 he is accustomed to discriminating observations, 

 and that he asserts that it was impossible for him 

 to be mistaken in one of the cases. I would add, 

 that notwithstanding colour and size, the appear- 

 ance of the two birds is very different. Yet on the 

 16th of June, a lad brought me a nest of small 

 size and cup-like form, which he named as the nest 

 of the " Black Sparrow," and described the bird 

 which frequented the nest, and which he had driven 

 from it when about to take it, as being wholly 

 black, except the throat which was red ; a descrip- 

 tion which will apply to no other than this. More- 

 over, the nest was placed on a coffee-tree, agreeing 

 with the fact that in some districts the species is 

 named " Coffee-bird." It is a rather deep cup, about 

 2J inches wide in the clear, made of very coarse 

 materials, such as dried and half-decayed leaves of 

 trees, the long broad leaves of rushes or flags, in- 

 termingled with stalks of grass and herbaceous 

 weeds, and with slender roots : there is a slight 

 lining of thatch-threads, and of blades of grass torn 

 into narrow strips, and arranged circularly. From 

 such materials, it may be supposed that the work- 

 manship was loose and slovenly. Three eggs were 



