1SS4. 1 l?.\RK()ws 0)1 Hi yds. of tlic Loivcr Urmriiay. 2 1 



touiul tlic silken sac, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, of the 

 e*>gs of a larti^e spicier, which makes holes ten or twelve inches 

 deep in the hard soil e\'ervwherc. In [annar\- and I'ehruarv the 

 birds were moulting-. 



95. Lepidocolaptes atripes Bitrm. — A common resident, 

 and doubtless breeds in all the larji^er tracts of forest. Alth(ni<^h 

 nearly ten inches in length, it has the general form and habits of 

 a Cert/i/'a, hitching restlessly up old tree trunks, and ha\ing 

 finished one, beginning at the foot of another, probing everywhere 

 for insects., but never alighting on the ground. Of its nesting 

 habits I know nothing, but was told bv natives that both this 

 and the preceding species nested in holes in trees. 



96. Thamnophilus caerulescens Vieill. — Much less com- 

 mon than the following species vet quite frequently seen, espec- 

 iallv in wintei . I do not think the birds are really any more 

 abundant in cold weather, but as many of the shrubs are then leaf- 

 less, the thickets are more easily examined and so the birds are more 

 often seen. Both species prefer the densest clumps and most tan- 

 gled masses of swampy shrubs and vines, where each bird shot was 

 paid for .with many a scratch and tear, and often (miIv recovered 

 after a free use of the bush-knife. 



A nest taken November 34 was almost precisely like that of 

 our Red-eyed Vireo ( ['. olivace^is) , being pensile in the fork of 

 a horizontal spray, only four feet from the ground. It contained 

 three fresh eggs, white, with spots and dashes of light brown. 

 This has been considered one of the rare species of the province, 

 and I found no specimen of it in the museum at Buenos Aires. 



97. Thamnophilus argentinus Cab. — Abundant, summer 

 and winter, and in the same localities as the preceding. The 

 nests are very similar, but that of the present species is rather 

 larger, as are also the eggs, which in other respects are quite 

 similar. The first nest was found February 8, iSSo. that is in 

 autumn, and when onh- one or two other birds were nesting at 

 all. I think this is unusual, however, since no more nests w'ere 

 found until the following spring, when, during November, they 

 were not uncommon. On November 16, I saw yovmg following 

 the parent, and within half an hour found a nest with three fresh 

 eggs, the usual number. 



98. Heliomaster furcifer {Shazv). Picaflor ■ mavok 

 (Larger Hum.mingbird). — Early in September, at Concep- 



