PHACELLODOMUS SIBILATRIX. 193 



the two next pairs brown, like the back ; beneath dirty brownish white, washed 

 with ochraceous on the flanks ; under wing-coverts bright cinnamon : whole 

 length 5-3 inches, wing 2-2, tail 2-2. 



Hab. Argentina. 



This species resembles P. frontalis, but differs in its much smaller 

 size, and in having the upper lesser wing-coverts bright rufous. 



It inhabits the thorny woods of the northern districts of the Argen- 

 tine country, but 1 have 110 reason to regret that I have not personally 

 observed this species, since Mr. Barrows's careful account of its nesting- 

 habits leaves nothing to be desired. He writes: "An abundant 

 species among the open woods along the Uruguay, and hardly distin- 

 guishable at ten paces from half a dozen others. Its nest, however, is 

 unmistakable. The birds begin by fixing a few crooked and thorny 

 twigs among the terminal sprays of some slender branch which juts out 

 horizontally from a tree, or rises obliquely from near its base, and 

 around these twigs as a nucleus more are gathered, until, by the time 

 the nest has reached the proper size, its weight has bent the branch so 

 that its tip points directly to the earth. Nests which are thus begun 

 at a distance of fifteen or twenty feet from the ground are often only 

 two or three feet from it when finished, and a thorough soaking by a 

 heavy rain will sometimes weigh them down until they actually touch. 

 They are more or less oval or cylindrical in shape, and commonly about 

 two feet long by twelve or fifteen inches in diameter, and contain from 

 a peck to a bushel of twigs and thorns. The nest-cavity within is 

 small in proportion to the size of the nest, and occupies its upper part. 

 It is reached by a more or less direct passage-way from below, the 

 external opening being very nearly at the lowest part of the nest, 

 though sometimes a little shelf, or even a pocket, is built on to the side, 

 forming a resting-place in front of the door. 



" The nests vary interminably in size and shape, but are pretty con- 

 stant in the material used; this being almost always irregular and 

 thorny twigs of various trees growing in the neighbourhood, while the 

 interior is formed of less thorny twigs and with some wool and hair. 

 Usually, also, if the material be at hand, a quantity of old dry horse- 

 droppings is placed loosely on the top of the nest, and gradually becomes 

 felted into it, rendering it more nearly waterproof. In place of this 

 I have frequently found quantities of broken straw, weed-stalks, grass, 

 and even chips ; all doubtless collected from the ridges of drift which 

 the last overflow of the river had left near at hand. So compactly is 

 the whole nest built, that it often lasts more than one year, and may 

 sometimes serve the same pair two successive summers. More often, 

 however, a new nest is built directly above the old one, which serves as 



VOL. I. 



