20 Barrows on Birds of the Loxver Uruguay. [January 



in the water my feet and limbs were painfully cold. Colorado lies 

 farther south, and the elevation is not so great, but the waters are 

 made largely from the melting snows, and must be cold so early 

 in the season. I am inclined to think rather that at the time the 

 birds were first discovered the males, and hen birds not mated or 

 laying, were near their nesting grounds, and that those on their 

 nests, after covering their eggs, dove off, came up in the flock 

 and swam away with it, returning one b}^ one when the cause for 

 alarm was removed. By swimming under water, with only the 

 bill out at times to breathe (a well known habit of the birds), they 

 could easily reach their nests unnoticed. Or it may be, as Mr. 

 Henshaw only found three eggs in a nest — four to five being a full 

 set — that none of the birds were sitting. In this case there would 

 be no necessity for a hurried return, as absence during the day 

 would do no harm. 



BIRDS OF THE LOWER URUGUAY. 



BY WALTER B. BARROWS. 



{Continued from Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. VIII. p. 212.) 



94. Drymornis bridgesi Eytojt. Carpintero (Carpen- 

 ter, Woodpecker, — from its similarity in some respects to 

 these birds). — Resident and abundant at Concepcion, where it 

 undoubtedly breeds, though I was not fortunate enough to find 

 the nest. 



The birds are somewhat gregarious, being oftenest seen in 

 small parties of six to ten. They sometimes cling against the 

 bark of a tree in the manner of Woodpeckers, but also spend 

 much of their time on the ground. Though extremely similar 

 in general structure to the following species, I think they use 

 the curved bill (3 or 4 inches in length) much oftener for pro- 

 bing in the ground than for searching the bark of trees, as many 

 of those shot had the base of the bill and the frontal feathers 

 plastered with mud. In the stomach of the first one killed I 



