4G4 NORTH AMEKICAX UIKDS. 



TJiG male liinl is very ]mifiiaei()iis, and was observed to attack and drive 

 away an Anipiti-r fusms, the Hawk' reti'eatin<f as ra])idly as possible. WJieu 

 the nest is ajiproaehed, the male often rises hinh into the air and then sweefts 

 down almost to the head oi' the intruder, its swil't descent Ijeinjf accompa- 

 nied by a very jieciiliar shrill, screeching buzz, ol' an extraordinary degree 

 of loudness to lie ])roduced by so small a creature. The same sound ^Iv. 

 Iiidgway noticed when the l)ird was passing overhead, in a manner not ob- 

 served in any other sjiecies, its horizontal flight being by a ]ieculiar undu- 

 lating course. The shrill noise made Ijy the male of this .species he suggests 

 may be cau.sed by the curious attenuated and still'ened outer jirimary. He 

 noticed a curious piece of ingenuity in nest-making on the part of this .sjjecies. 

 The nest in ([uestiou was fastened npon a dead twig of a small cottonwood- 

 trce; the loo.sening bark, which probably had .separated after the nest was 

 finished, had allowed the nest to turn around so as to hang beneath the 

 branch, thus spilling the eggs \\\mi\ the ground. Tlie owners, however, built 

 anotlier nest upon the top of the branch, iastening its sides to that of the 

 old one, and making the new nest lighter and less bulky, so tiiat the weight 

 of the older nest kept the other iu a permanently upright position. 



Gk.nls ATTHIS, Ukicuexbach. 



Aithis, Hkich. Cnli. .Imir. I'. Oin. ixtralu'l't liir 1853, 1854. Appenili.v B. (Type, Onys- 

 inija lichiisd, Lics.siis, l)i;i,. ) 



Gi:n-. CiiAK. Size vory (liiniimtivc; bill short, .-scarcely loiicror than the head. Outer 

 primary atteiiuatc(l nearly us in Scla^phonis ; the tail frraduated, the ("cat hei-s, however, 



not lanceolate-acute, but rounded at eip md tipped witli 

 white in the male. 



Tills genus seems closely related to SclastjjJio- 

 nis, agreeing in character of throat, the curious 

 attenuation of outer iirimary, and the general 

 .shape of the tail, witii its rufous base and edg- 

 ing. The feathers, however, are not lanceolate 

 and pointed, either sharply as in »S'. ru/iis, or ob- 

 tusely as in philjicrnvs, but are more ecpial to near the end, where they round 

 oil'. The white tip of the tail in the male seems to be the principal reason 

 why ^fr. (ioidd removes the single s])ecies from Mn.y>/ioni.% where it was 

 previously placed by him, and \\-hcre perhaps it might luue not inappropri- 

 ately remained. 



