''ma!'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 407 



place of safety, chattering ratber harshly at being interfered with. 

 They also have notes of one or two syllables, bnt althongh I observed 

 them on many occasions and noted their habits minutely T never heard 

 the song which Mr. Nutting si>eaks of (Proc. U. S. National Museum, 

 VI, 1.SS3, p. 404), and a,m imilined to think some mistake was made 

 when he gave this bird credit for a song. On the Escondido the birds 

 are often found in the dense masses of vines and parasitic plants at- 

 tached to the trunks of trees standing in the plantations, in which they 

 find favorable places for concealment. It is an easy matter to bring 

 one of these birds out into plain sight by squeaking, as they show 

 much curiosity. Tn their habits they resemble the Wrens, but exhibit 

 less nervousness than those birds. * 



The nest is built in a busji, from 3 to 5 feet from the girmnd. It 

 resembles a retort to some extent, in having a bowl Avitli a neck at the 

 top slanting downward. The nest is made of small thorny sticks closely 

 laced together,- the neck or entrance is built out and downward until 

 it is below the level of the body of the nest. Sometimes this covered 

 way is not very well defined, being h)st in the mass of sticks. The 

 nest is so compactly ])ut together that it is not an easy matter to open 

 it bare-handed. The si)ecies appears to go much better with this fam- 

 ily than with the Dendrocolaptidcv, where it has long been placed. 



Iris reddish brown. 



Family DKNDEOCOLAPTII).^. 

 90. Automolus pallidigularis Ijiiwr. 



('ommon in the woods on the Plscondido. ])oes not cling to the 

 trunk of a tree, but hops about and juTches somewhat like a Robin. 

 Its note very much resembles that of the Red-breasted Nuthatch 

 (SiUo c<(im(Unsis). It passes much of its time searching in the rub- 

 bisli that gathers on the broad palm leaves. 



My specimens appear to be paUidignlaris, although probably not 

 typical. In two examples the under parts agree exactly in color with 

 cervimgularh from Guatemala, marked '• Compared with tyi)e." 



91. Xenops geiiibarbis 111. 



One individual shot in the forest near Castillo. It was hopping 

 about in a tree, some distance from tlie ground. 



92. Glyphorhynchus cuneatus (Li(;ht.). 



This was the most abundant species of the family in the fonvst re-- 

 gion embraced in this paper. Usually found in pairs. It clind)s 

 like a Woodpecker, frequently uttering its sharp "chip," sometimes a 

 rapid succession of " chips. " The bird is very tame and unsuspicious. 



A nest found May 26 was in a small, natural cavity at the foot of a 

 tree, not moi-e than 10 inches from the ground, and the nest itself was 

 level with, if not below, the ground. The eggs, two in number, were 

 Proc. N. M, 03 32 



