322 BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 6. 



MONASA NIGRA (Muller). 



Cuculus niger Miill., Syst. Nat. Supplement, 17/6. p. 90. 

 Monasa nigra Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 103. 



Native name Pico de Lacre. Not observed on the lower Orinoco, 

 but common from near the mouth of the Meta and beyond. Also com- 

 mon on the San Feliz River, near its junction with the Cuchivero River 

 and recorded by Berlepsch and Hartert from points on the Caura River. 



In fresh birds the eye is bay brown ; bill poppy red ; feet slate grey. 



Birds of this species will frequently sit on low branches five or 

 six feet from the ground, stupidly watching one until they can be 

 almost taken in the hand. They were only observed in heavily timbered 

 districts. 



A female shot at Nericagua March 27th had an egg in the oviduct 

 that would soon have been deposited. It was pure white in color. 



A nest, with young nearly able to shift for themselves, was found 

 at La Cascabel on the San Feliz River, near its. union with the Cuchi- 

 vero River, on the 27th day of May, 1907. The nest proper was at 

 the bottom of an excavation 1.5 m. in depth. It was situated in a belt 

 of heavy timber, on level ground, bordering the San Feliz River. The 

 excavation (whether made by the puff-bird, or not, I am unable to say) 1 

 descended at an angle of about 45 from the horizontal and was about 

 7.6 cm. in diameter. 



Over the entrance had been heaped a pile of rotten coarse dead 

 twigs, as large as a half bushel measure, and having a rounded tunnel 

 running along the ground from one edge to the entrance of the ground 

 excavation. This pile of sticks forming a barrier to the real nest ent- 

 rance was unquestionably of recent construction. 



The nest was discovered by hearing the cries of the young issuing 

 from what seemed only a pile of brush. 



Birds in Juvenal plumage resemble the adults except that the 

 white patch on the bend of the wing is lacking, and the bill is a dusky 

 dirty white. 



CHELIDOPTERA TENEBROSA TENEBROSA (Pallas). 

 Cuculus tenebrosus Pallas, Neue. Nord. Beytr. III. 1782. p. 2. 

 Chelidoptera tenebrosa Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 103. 

 Eye seal brown; bill black; feet slate color. 



1 There was no loose dirt about the entrance to indicate that the cavity was of recent excavation. 



