268 BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 6. 



Eye seal brown; bill above dusky fawn color, below ecru drab; 

 feet olive greenish or greenish gray. 



DENDROPLEX PICUS PICUS (Gmelin). 

 Oriolus picus Gm., Syst. Nat. I. 1788. p. 384. 

 Dendroplex picus Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 65. 



Three taken at Ciudad Bolivar, two females April I3th, male. 

 April I4th. 



On my previous expedition not observed until I had reached 

 Perico in the neighborhood of the falls of Atures. 



DENDROPLEX PICIROSTRIS (Lafresnaye). 

 Dendrocolaptes picirostris Lafr., Rev. Zool. 1847. p. 76. 

 Dendroplex picirostris Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 65. 



Not uncommon in the heavily timbered areas bordering the river. 

 Observed and collected at Ciudad Bolivar, Altagracia and Caicara. 

 Specimens display a considerable variation in color, especially on 

 the under parts, where the throat in a female, taken April 2Qth, is 

 "a deep buff; in the male, taken May 8th (both collected at Caicara), 

 it is a pale cream color. All display a reddish brown wash on the 

 belly, very prominent in the male taken June 3rd and faintly indi- 

 cated in the one taken May 8th. 



A set of three fresh eggs, together with the male parent bird, 

 was taken May 8th. The eggs are white, without gloss and between 

 an elliptical oval and an oval in form and measure 27.2 x 20.2 ; 25.5 x 

 19.6 and 26.5 x 20.2 mm. The nest was at the bottom of the hollow 

 centre of an old stump, about 40 cm. down. No nesting material had 

 been carried in. 



A second set of two eggs was taken with the parent bird (female) 

 May nth. One of these eggs is elliptfcal ovate and the other ovate 

 in form. They measure 28.3 x 19.6 and 27.5 x 20.5 mm. This nest 

 was at the bottom of a natural hollow in a tree trunk about 1.25 

 metres from the ground. Bits of rather thick bark from 15 to 50 

 mm. across had been carried in to fill up the lower part of the cavity 

 which communicated with a hollow at the foot of the tree. The eggs 

 were about 40 cm. down from the opening and I obtained them by 

 digging out the bottom of the nest ! June 3rd I noted that the lower 

 part of the hole in this tree had again been filled with bits of bark. 



