THE OVEN BIRD. 



113 



kurius, whose habits of nesting, however, are very different. He says : "It builds its nest at the bottom 

 of a narrow cylindrical hole, which is said to extend horizontally to nearly six feet under ground. 

 Several of the country people told me that when boys, they had attempted to dig out the nest, but had 

 scarcely ever succeeded in getting to the end. The bird chooses any low bank of firm sandy soil by the 

 side of a road or stream. At the settlement of Bahia Blanca the Avails are built of hardened mud ; 

 and I noticed one, enclosing a court-yard where I lodged, which was penetrated by round holes in a 

 score of places. On asking the owner the cause of this, he bitterly complained of the little G'asarita, 

 several of which I afterwards observed at work." Mr. Bartlett found two species of Sclerurus in the 

 Upper Amazon, and states that these birds are always found in dense forests on the ground, hunting 

 for insects. The Spine-tails are described by M. D'Orbigny as being insect-eating birds of lively 



OVEN BIKD. 



habits, many of them being very tame, and he mentions how one species, the Synallaxis troglodytoides 

 (the Wren-like Spine-tail), visited maritime plants when he was in the neighbourhood of Bahia de San 

 Bias, in Patagonia. Each individual rested hardly two minutes in the same place, being always in 

 motion, running over each branch in turn, ascending and descending incessantly, showing no fear. The 

 whole troop flew off at once and settled again at a little distance off, but on a shot being fired, they all 

 disappeared. The same writer also states that some of the Spine-tails live more in the thickets, and 

 frequent the bushes and big plants, sometimes rather near the water, at others in more arid localities. 

 Many of them are found in the cold regions, as well as the temperate and hot portions of the American 

 continent. Of the Woodhewers, which are larger birds, but little has been recorded as regards their 

 habits. Mr. Salvin states that the Northern Woodhewer (XipJiocolaptes emigrans) was seen by him 

 in Guatemala. On each occasion the bird was observed on the trunks of the larger trees, to which it 

 clings just like a Woodpecker, and ascends rapidly to the summit. When pursued, it takes short 

 nights, of about one hundred yards or so to another tree, alighting on it near its base, and again 

 ascending to the top of its stem, whence another flight is taken. 



