2 2 Barrows oti Birch of the Lower Uruguay. [Januaiy 



cion, when the orange trees are just whitening with blossoms, 

 these magnificent Hummingbirds arrive from the north, and may 

 occasionally be seen about the orange trees in any garden, as 

 well as about blossoming trees elsewhere. The males seemed 

 for some reason to be much less abundant than the females, 

 hardly more than a dozen being seen in an entire season. They 

 probably nest in November and December, and leave for the north 

 again in February or March. A nearly finished nest found Novem- 

 ber 17, was very similar to that of our own Ruby-throat i^Tro- 

 chilus colubi-is) but larger, and was built in the compound fork 

 of a lai'ge limb at a height of over 25 feet from the ground. 

 It was deserted soon after, perhaps as a result of my exami- 

 nation. Ten days later another nest was found saddled on the 

 topmost horizontal limb of a dead and moss-grown stub, only 

 about seven feet from the ground, and exposed to the full force 

 of the sun. This nest contained two eggs nearly ready to hatch. 

 Both nests were beautifully covered with lichens, and the last 

 was lined with the finest of vegetable down. The female made 

 several angry rushes at me before the nest was touched, but as 

 soon as she saw that it was discovered became so shy that it 

 was difficult to secure her. The male was not seen at all. I 

 once saw a bird of this species attack and put to rout a wild 

 Dove which passed near it while feeding, and though the Dove 

 made every effort to escape, the Hummer not only kept up with 

 it easily but darted abuve and below it as well, and finally both 

 went out of sight in the distance together. 



.99. Hylocharis sapphirina {Gm.). — A single specimen of 

 this pretty little Hummer was brought me October 13, 1880, 

 having just been caught in a garden at Concepcion. I did not 

 meet with a second specimen, but from its similarity to the 

 voung of the following species it may often have passed unno- 

 ticed. At this time I had no fine shot, and was compelled to 

 depend on a blowgun for the taking of Hummingbirds. 



100. Chlorostilbon splendidus {Vieill.). Picaflor (lit- 

 erally Fi.ower-pecker). — Very abundant at Concepcion in 

 summer, arriving from the north early in September and depart- 

 ing again in April. Though found everywhere among flowers, 

 they are particularly partial to open ground, flowery fields, 

 gardens, etc., and in October it was not uncommon to have six 

 or eight in sight at once. 



