VII 



DENDROCOLAPTIDAE 



485 



Sii^tornis alhiceps being white. The bill may be red, or excep- 

 tionally the feet white, as in Furnarvus leucopus. Crests are 

 found in F. cristatus, Synallaxis semicinerea, CoryiMstera, and 

 Homorus. The sexes, as far as known, are similar. The large 

 Drijmornis hridgesi is over a foot long, but many forms are not 

 half that size, and most are comparatively small. 



The habits are extremely diverse. Geositta cunicularia flits 

 along low and swiftly, like a Wheatear, with the tail in motion, 

 or crouches and runs before the pedestrian, uttering a note re- 

 sembling " piti-piti," varied by a ringing trill. It frequents bare 



Fig. 105. Xest of Oven-bird {Furnarius). xi. 



spots, and bores oblique tunnels in biscacha burrows, sandy banks, 

 or mud walls, ending in cavities lined with soft grasses, where it 

 lays five white eggs. The food consists of seeds, insects, and 

 their larvae, the bill being commonly used to dig. Lochmias 

 nematura fills a similar hole with a large-domed nest of twigs and 

 roots, lined with leaves, which contains two white eggs. The Oven- 

 birds {Furnarius) run or hop unconcernedly among the wayfarers 

 with the head thrown back, or pause with one foot uplifted ; 

 they utter incessant and loud, but not unmelodious, cries with 

 the beak outstretched, which are even heard at night.^ AVorms, 



^ Duets are said to be sung ; cf. Hudson Argentine Ornithology, i. 1888, p. 168. 



