84 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



it is occasionally destructive to the seed beds. It is rather 

 solitary in habits, and is fond of perching alone on tree tops, 

 hence no doubt the name melancholicus. It frequents the 

 neighbourhood of houses in winter, picking up any morsels 

 which may come in its way. Its food consists otherwise of 

 insects and seeds. 



Clutch of two eggs, taken 29th I^ovember 1880, from a nest 

 placed on the ground. These measure respectively |^ x fl- 

 inch and H- X l-J- inch. The egg is of an elongated oval, 

 with a white ground streaked longitudinally with brown and 

 greyish lilac markings. It is figured in the Ihis, 1859, PI. 

 v., page 121. The nest is usually placed in a low fork of a 

 tree, but in this case it was on the ground. It is formed of 

 coarse grasses, roots, or vine tendrils, and a few pellets of 

 wool, and is lined with fine grasses and horse hair. It 

 measures four inches in external diameter, 2 J inches across 

 the cavity, and IJ inch in depth. 



34. Sycalis arvensis (Kittl.) — native name " Canaria." — 

 This finch is found from Colombia to Chili and the Argentine 

 Eepublic. It goes much in flocks in the open in the campo 

 or plains, but after the breeding season is over it often sits 

 in trees all day singing and twittering. It lives, like other 

 finches, chiefly on seeds. At Tala it is migratory, arriving in 

 October and leaving in March. 



Clutch of five eggs, taken 29th November 1880. Another of 

 four eggs, taken on same date. These vary in size from 

 fl X |i inch to -f-g- X |-g- inch. They are white, of a bluish 

 tinge, and spotted chiefly towards the large end with small 

 reddish brown and a few lilac markings. 



The nest sent is formed of old withered grasses, lined with 

 finer material of the same nature ; it measures 2 J inches 

 across the shallow cavity. It was as usual placed on the 

 ground. 



35. Bolhorhyoichus inoiiachus (Bodd.) — native name " La- 

 tere." — This the only species of Parroquet found at Tala is 

 also found in Brazil, the Argentine Eepublic, and the other 

 States on the Paver Plata. It is numerous at Tala, but is 

 not found in such enormous flocks as Gibson describes in the 

 Argentine Ptepublic, where it is very destructive to fruit and 



