20 RicHMoxiJ, ffabifs of Porzana ctncreiceps. 



Auk 



my trip did not include the heavy forest region, to which such 

 forms are largely confined. Probably the most conspicuous 

 birds noticed were the swarms of small black Seedeaters 

 {Sporophila corvina) flying back and forth across the road and 

 chasing one another about, all the while chanting in a low, 

 monotonous strain. Small squads of Jew-birds {Crotophaga 

 sulcirostris) wandered about in the open places, and occasionally 

 a spiny-tailed Synallaxis pudica would announce its presence from 

 a brush pile close at hand. In addition to the absence of birds 

 of bright plumage and strange forms, such common United 

 States species as the Summer Warbler and Catbird conspired to 

 break down my picture of tropical bird-life. Hence I was not a 

 little disappointed with my first experiences. There was a 

 redeeming feature, however, in the great variety of strange bird 

 voices heard on all sides. All of them were perfectly new to me, 

 from the explosive bickerings of a diminutive Flycatcher 

 {Todirostnim cinereum) near the roadside, to the long-drawn 

 chucklings of the Ant-thrushes deeper in the thickets. 



Passing a small pool on the edge of the thicket I was suddenly 

 startled by aloud Chir-r-r-r-r-r-r-7--7'-r — rr — rr — ;-/-, uttered in a 

 high-pitched strain, with two or three wavering syllables falling off 

 at the end. Almost at the same instant I caught sight of the 

 author, a small, brown Rail, who walked leisurely and carefully 

 about near the edge of the water, not more than seven feet away, 

 apparently not at all alarmed by my presence. Thinking that, 

 Rail-like, it might disappear at any moment I shot it without 

 making any further observations. It proved to be a male Porzana 

 cinereiceps in perfect plumage. At the time, I thought the bird 

 was somewhat out of place, surrounded by dense thickets with 

 sandy roads leading here and there, and the nearest available 

 marsh several hundred yards distant, but subsequent observations 

 proved the bird to inhabit all situations where the necessary 

 marshy places and water occurred, except in the heavy forests. 

 The birds are, however, most partial to the gras.s-grown banks of 

 the rivers and smaller streams. 



The note of alarm, which first drew my attention to the species, 

 is very characteristic and quite unlike the notes of any other 

 birds of the lowlands of eastern Nicaragua. On becoming more 



