80 Proceedings of the Boyal Physical Society. 



resort. Tliey are occasionally tamed as pets, and my corre- 

 spondent saw a pair in a cage at Monte Video. 



Clutcli of two eggs, taken 20tli ^N'ovember 1880, from a 

 nest placed inside of a shed in Tala garden. Another, also of 

 two eggs, taken in same shed on 11th December 1880. These 

 are all of the same dimensions, viz., |^ x |-§- inch, of an elon- 

 gated ovate shape and pure white colour. 



Both of the above nests were sent along with the eggs. 

 The first of these is a beautiful little structure, formed of a 

 few straws, lichens, and a material resembling palm fibre 

 and lined with a white cottony substance, possibly the cat- 

 kins of some plant. It is IJ inch in external diameter, 1 

 inch across the cavity, and | of an inch deep. The second 

 nest, although alike in size and shape, differs in wanting the 

 white lining and in containing some fine grass and hair in its 

 composition. The nest is, as in the above instances, some- 

 times built in sheds and sometimes in trees. In the latter 

 case it is not placed above but suspended below a branch. 

 Sometimes it is placed low, at other times at some height 

 above the ground, and great care seems to be taken to assimi- 

 late the colour of the materials to the situation the nest is to 

 occupy. They " hum " while engaged in building. 



28. Synallaxis striaticeps (Lafr. et d'Orb.). — The name of 

 ''Eatonero," or little mouse, is applied to this species in 

 common with some others, probably from their retiring habits. 

 It is found in Bolivia, the Argentine Eepublic, Uruguay, and 

 on the Eio Negro of Patagonia, where, however, it is rare. It 

 frequents the neighbourhood of water, and seems to resemble 

 in habits our sedge warbler. It is figured, as well as its egg, 

 in the work of D'Orbigny, who observed it at a level of about 

 6500 feet above the sea. It feeds on small insects, and is of 

 solitary habits, frequenting thick bushes. It is not a common 

 species at Tala. 



Two eggs, taken 10th November 1880, from a nest placed 

 in a low bush, probably an incomplete clutch, other species 

 of this genus generally laying four or five eggs. They 

 measure H^ H inch, and are in shape of a j)ointed oval, and 

 in colour of a creamy white. 



The nest is a curious structure, formed entirely of a grey 



