RED THORN-BIRD 229 



builds a large oblong nest of sticks, about two feet 

 deep, and placed obliquely among the thorny twigs 

 of a bush or low tree, Mr, Barrows writes : " There 

 are commonly two cavities in the nest, one being half 

 open to the weather, and forming the entrance, the 

 other further back and connected with the former 

 by only a short passage-way, which in many cases is 

 reduced to a simple hole through a broad partition, 

 which alone separates them/' The eggs are four and 

 of a pure white. 



The bird described is one of a group of four 

 species found in Argentina, Of these the smallest 

 and most interesting in its nesting habits is the 

 Whistling Thorn-bird, Phacellodomus sibilatrix. 



It inhabits the thorny woods of the northern 

 districts of the Argentine country, but I have no 

 reason to regret tha^I have not personally observed 

 this species, since Mr, Barrows' 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 distinguish- 

 able 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 



