146 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



in a village graveyard, and supposed that it had 

 chosen the spot on account of its quietude. The 

 superstitious notion about it varies : thus, some 

 think the bird is a re-incarnation in bird form of a 

 child buried there ; others that it is a little angel in 

 disguise, whose mission it is to keep watch and guard 

 over the sleeping souls of little buried children. 

 In both sexes the entire plumage is snowy white, 

 except the primaries and the tip of the tail, which 

 are black. In habits it is more sedentary than other 

 Tceniopterae, and obtains its food chiefly by patiently 

 watching the surface of the ground for its insect 

 prey. Its marvellously white plumage, and the habit 

 of sitting motionless on the summit of a bush or tree, 

 make it a most conspicuous object, so that it is strange 

 to find such a bird existing in districts which abound 

 in raptorial species ; for Hawks, I have frequently 

 noticed, will always single out a white or conspicu- 

 ously coloured bird for pursuit, and though the 

 Little Widow, like the other members of its genus, 

 is swift and strong of wing, the feeble and the young 

 must often fall victims to their shining white plumage. 

 The Little Widow is a solitary bird, and not 

 nearly so lively and playful in manner as 7\ coronata 

 and 7\ dominicana t its surpassing whiteness being 

 its most interesting feature. Its nesting habits are 

 unlike those of other Txniopterx, for it breeds only 

 in holes, usually in the bole or branch of a tree ; but 

 sometimes it takes possession of the oven of Furnarius 

 to lay in. The nest is composed chiefly of feathers 

 and contains four eggs, creamy white, with a few 



