CASSIQUES. 



of Spanish moss, while others are mainly built of small 

 round stems of creeping plants, which are flexible 

 enough to admit of their being securely woven together. 

 Mud is often used to bind the materials together, and 

 the upper rim of the nest is generally securely fastened 

 to the surrounding branches or reed stalks among which 

 it is placed. Some nests show no traces of mud in their 

 composition, but the materials forming the outer walls 

 appear to have been quite wet when gathered. The 

 lining usually consists of dry grass and fine roots, and 

 when near towns bits of cotton cloth, feathers, paper, 

 etc., are often found mixed among the other materials. 



" Nidification usually begins during the latter part 

 of April ; it is at its height in the first half of May and 

 and lasts through June. One, and sometimes two, 

 broods are reared in a season. Young birds of various 

 sizes and fresh eggs may frequently be found in the 

 same colony. The earliest record I have of eggs being 

 taken is one by Dr. Merrill, United States Army, at 

 Brownsville, Texas, on April 4th. Both sexes assist in 

 incubation, which lasts about fifteen days, and in the 

 care of the young, for which they show a great deal 

 of solicitude. 



" The number of eggs laid to a set is usually three 

 or four. Sets of five are occasionally found, but 

 clutches of this size are rather rare. 



" The ground colour is usually pale greenish-blue, and 

 is often more or less clouded over with purple- vinaceous 

 and smoky, pale, umber tints, which are usually heaviest 

 and most pronounced about the smaller end of the egg. 

 The markings consist mainly of coarse, irregularly- 

 shaped lines and tracings of different shades of dark 

 brown, black, and smoky grey, and less defined tints of 

 plumbeous. In rare instances an egg is found which 

 is only faintly marked with a few indistinct lines of 

 lavender-grey about the small end, the rest of the shell 

 being immaculate. They are mostly elongate-ovate in 

 shape ; a few are blunt-ovate, while others approach a 

 cylindrical-ovate. ' ' 



According to Euss, one of the rarest Starlings in the 

 market. E. von Schlechtendal secured it in 1879. 



BLACK TROUPIAL (Quiscalus lugubris). 



Black, with vivid violaceous gloss ; wings and tail 

 with a slight greenish gloss ; bill and feet black. 

 Female smoky-blackish, with no violaceous gloss ; wings 

 and tail darker ; bill, seen from above, slightly narrower 

 towards base than that of the male. Hab., Trinidad, 

 Venezuela, and Cayenne. 



Burmeister publishes no field notes on this species 

 beyond the fact that it lives in open spots by the road- 

 side, and searches in horse-dung for beetles as food ; 

 nor can I discover anything else respecting the wild 

 life. It reached the London Zoological Gardens in 

 1862, and the Amsterdam Gardens in 1886. 



CHOPI TROUPIAL (Aphobus chojn}. 



Black, slightly glossy ; bill and feet black ; lower 

 mandible of bill obliquely furrowed (sulcated). Female 

 smaller and duller ; the lower mandible of bill not 

 sulcated. Hab., South Brazil, Paraguay, Northern 

 Argentine, Bolivia, and Peru. 



According to Azara (Apunt. I., p. 282) the Chopi 

 is a highly sagacious bird, and although a frequent 

 visitor to courtyards and verandahs of houses in Para- 

 guay, too shy and suspicious to be caught with snares, 

 it has a strong and easy flight, and readily attacks any 

 large bird passing near, following it persistently in the 

 air, or, pouncing down, fastens itself on its enemy's 

 back. If the Caracara Eagle (Polyborus) alights in 



order to shake off its persecutor, the Chopi perches at a 

 distance of a few feet, where it assumes an indifferent 

 manner ; but no sooner does the Caracara allow its 

 attention to wander from its adversary, than it is again 

 subjected to fresh insult. These attacks on so large 

 and powerful a species may be regarded as mere imper- 

 tinences, but by practising them the Chopi is soon able 

 to rid himself of the presence of any unwelcome bird. 

 From a long distance he recognises an enemy by its 

 figure, or even its shadow, and warns all birds of the 

 coming danger with a loud whistle, which at once sends, 

 them into hiding, while the Chopi goes bravely out to 

 the encounter ; and the result is invariably a victorious 

 song on his part, beginning with the sound of his own 

 name, and running through a variety of whistled notes. 

 He also sings well in captivity, and when his mate is 

 incubating, and his voice is first heard welcoming the 

 dawn from the eaves and tiled roofs of houses where he 

 roosts. The pairing season is in November ; and 

 Noseda adds : The breeding place is a hole in a bank 

 or tree trunk, or in a wall under the eaves, and occa- 

 sionally the nest is made in the small branches of an 

 orange or other close-leafed tree, and is built of sticks 

 and straws, carelessly disposed, with a few feathers for 

 lining. The eggs are four, and white (cf. "Argentine 

 Ornithology," Vol. I., p. 109). 



Cassiques ( 



BLACK CASSIQUE (Cassidix oryzivora). 



Black, with a well-defined violaceous gloss ; neck 

 feathers lengthened and expanded ; bill and feet black ; 

 irides red. Female much smaller and duller; neck 

 feathers not expanded. Hab., South Mexico to Peru 

 and Paraguay. 



Mangelsdorff observes that this species is very Crow- 

 like in behaviour, is bold, lives in companies, not so 

 much in forest as in open places, where it is abundant 

 in cattle-pastures ; it struts about after the manner of 

 a Crow, and feeds upon all kinds of grubs, which it 

 picks up on the ground. The Brazilians not infre- 

 quently catch it and keep it in the house like a Jack- 

 daw, where, moreover, it accepts all kinds of human 

 food." Natterer met with it in Caigara in January 

 in flocks ; on a maize-plantation with already fledged 

 young in February and March ; in small companies in 

 the forest at the border of Lagoa do Chacurure, where 

 they were very shy, in October and November ; in 

 Eugentio do Gama in small flocks in July, August 

 and September ; on the River Amazon and Para in 

 December. In the crop of one male which he secured 

 he found seeds. It settles on swine, seeking for ticks. 

 The food, according to Mangelsdorff, consists of 

 grain, rice, maize, etc., and insects. 



Herr Kuschel (The Ibis, 1896) observes that he has 

 eggs of this species found in nests of Cassicus persicus. 

 He says : " The eggs that I possess were obtained near 

 Para, Brazil, by Mr. A. Schulz. This collector found 

 amongst partially-incubated eggs of Cassicus persicus 

 some that were larger in size and different in shape, and 

 observed that females of Cassidix oryzivorus entered 

 the nests of the Cassicus. Having shot a female of 

 Cassidix while flying into a nest of the Cassicus, he 

 found in its oviduct a mature egg resembling the larger 

 eggs met with in the nests of the Cassicus. This egg, 

 broken, is now in my collection." If confirmed, this 

 would prove that Cassidix is sometimes parasitic. 



In "Timehri," Vol. X., New Series, p. 37 (vide 

 The Ibi&, 1897), Mr. C. A. Lloyd published an article 



