380 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



kept well to the tops of the taller trees; and everglade kites 

 flew gracefully and swiftly overhead, usually singly, and 

 rarely in pairs. We heard the weird call of chachalacas 

 almost daily, but these birds had been persecuted by native 

 hunters until they had acquired enough wisdom to avoid 

 hunters and human beings in general. In one wet strip 

 of woods we found limpkins in limited numbers. They 

 did not seem to ever come out into the open country. There 

 was not time to study the frogs, fish, and small snakes that 

 we saw occasionally; nor to more than admire the myriads 

 of flowers and curious plants growing on all sides. There 

 was, however, another naturalist (Jose Steinbach) working 

 in the locality at the time of our visit, and fortunately he 

 devoted practically all his energies to the study of the very 

 things we had to omit, so between both expeditions the 

 fauna and flora were pretty well covered. 



Many of the available trees were burdened with the huge 

 stick nests of the lenateros (Synallaxis) . Some of the struc- 

 tures measured six feet long and two feet through. They 

 were built of thorny twigs, at the ends of branches. A heap 

 of material is first placed at the very tip of a limb, and as 

 the weight causes it to sag downward, more sticks are added 

 until the huge mass hangs suspended in a vertical position. 

 The thorns cause the whole affair to hold together so well 

 that opossums and other predatory animals find it impos- 

 sible to burrow their way through the walls to the interior 

 cavity where the four or five white eggs, or the young birds, 

 are cleverly concealed in a downy cup. There is usually 

 a second chamber near the top of the nest; this is the male 

 bird's night quarters while his mate is incubating or brood- 

 ing in the lower story. 



Blue-headed tanagers (Thraupis) preferred to nest in 

 the trees and bushes near to some human habitation, while 

 blue grosbeaks selected more secluded sites in some little 

 woods or thickets. The latter birds breed before the male 

 changes his brown nestling plumage to the deep indigo-blue 

 coat of the adult. 



