182 Mr. O. V. Aplin on the 



hedgesj braaclies of trees^ vine trellis, houses, cross-bars of 

 well- windlasses, and other works of man. One actually built 

 its nest on one of the arms of a tall white cross — about the 

 most conspicuous place it could have found. I saw some 

 nests being constructed in November, just after a little rain, 

 but the seca soon put an end to the building operations. 

 Fresh eggs were taken in the middle of the month. It is 

 probable that many nests are built in autumn and winter. 

 After heavy rain at the end of March, the birds begin to 

 build. I noticed two on fence-posts, close together, on the 

 2nd April, another on the 7th, and several afterwards, all in 

 course of constrnction. 



57. CiNCLODES Fuscus. Brown Cinclodes. 



An autumn visitor, probably for the winter. The first I 

 shot was wading about in marshy ground and shallow water 

 on the 3rd April. By the middle of the month they were 

 fairly common. I never saw it far from a river or Canada. 



58. Phlceockyptes melanops. Bush-loving Spine-tail. 

 Not common. One of its mud-and-rush-formed nests, 



containing two eggs, was taken at the end of Decembei', but 

 I procured only one bird, though I saw others which I could 

 not have recovered had I shot them. It is easily over- 

 looked, as it never seems to leave the rushes or other cover, 

 and I have never seen it except actually over water. 



59. Leptasthenura ^githaloides. Tit-like Spine-tail. 



I used to see this little long-tailed bird twisting about 

 among the branchlets of a tala in the monte or among the 

 rocks, or in an acacia or other tree in the quinta, uttering a 

 series of sharp Tit-like notes ; its habits and appearance 

 (apart from its colour and elevated crest-feathers) are not 

 unlike those of a Long-tailed Tit. 



60. Synallaxis sTRiATicEPs. Striped Spine-tail. 



Met with occasionally in the monte, generally creeping 

 about the branches. 



61. Synallaxis hudsoni. Spine-tail. 



I secured only one specimen of this bird ( ? , 3rd May, Sta. 



