Birds of Urvguay. 185 



QQ. Thamnophilus c.erulescens. Slaty-blue Bush-bird. 

 Met with once (a male) in the monte of the Arroyo Grande 

 at Sta. Elena on the 16th March. 



■^'Thamnophilus ruficapillus. Red-capped Bush-bird. 

 One from Uruguay in the Museo de Historia Natural. 



■^Calliperidia furcifera. Angela Humming-bird. 

 One from Uruguay iu the Museo de Historia Natural. 



67. Chlorostilbon splendidus. Glittering Hummiug- 

 bird. 



In consequence probably of the seca, and the scarcity of 

 flowers. Humming-birds were said to be unusually few. Yet 

 there was a pair about most houses boasting any garden and 

 trees ; at Sta. Elena I think we had two pairs at the house, 

 and another about some young gums in a belt of new planta- 

 tion where there was a large patch of a plant of the Borage 

 order with blue and red flowers — known as the flor morada. 

 The first I saw was on 30th October. On the 10th November, 

 just as I was finishing dressing at G.45 a.m., one came and 

 hovered outside my window, probably in search of insects. 

 Going out into the quinta a few minutes after, I found two 

 or three about the orange-blossoms. Although the sun was 

 bright, the air was very cold, only 31° at sun-up, and 51° at 

 7.15 a.m. Next morning, while we were having our early 

 tea, another came to the window. I used to watch the birds 

 over the flor morada patch ; they settled sometimes on the 

 wires of the fence or the twig of a young gum ; on these 

 occasions I sometimes heard a shrill, weak, twittering note. 

 A male shot had the crop and stomach full of remains of 

 small insects, some having quite hard cases. On the Rio 

 Negro I observed this species several times : they are there 

 always attracted by the sprays of large dark Indian-red 

 flowers of the ceiba [Erythrina) . One pair has bred for some 

 years in a paja-thatched summer-house at Sta. Elena. For 

 the last three years they have repaired the old nest, which, 

 when I saw it, was about 3| inches high, as it grew taller 

 each year. In 1892 the pair built a new nest, within a few 



