SAPPHO COMET. — Comites sparganurus. 



YAKEELL'S yiOODSTAU.—Calothorax Yarrellii. 



" It arrives in the envii'ons of Cliuquesaqiia in the months of September and October, 

 and takes up its residence in the shrubberies of the city and the gardens of the Indian 

 cottages ; the hill-side of the neighbouring country, clothed with indigenous trees and 

 shrubs, also affords it a fit place of abode, whence it descends several times a day to the 

 cultivated plains below, pai'ticularly to the fields of maize, pulse, and other leguminous 

 plants ; the rich flowers of the large cacti are also frequently visited, as they afford it a 

 constant and abundant supply of insect food. 



Soon after their arrival the task of incubation is commenced ; and when the summer is 

 over, both the old and the young, actuated as it were by the same impulse, wend their way 

 southward, to return again when the spring has once more gladdened the earth. 



The nest is a somewhat loose structure, outwardly composed of interlaced vegetable fibres, 

 slight twigs, moss, &c., and frequently lined with soft hairs like those of the viscacha, with 

 the lower portion prolonged considerably below the bottom of the cup-shaped interior, 

 which is about an inch and a half in diameter and an inch in depth ; the total length of 

 the nest averaging from two and a half to three inches. The nest is placed in situations 

 similar to those selected for the like purpose by the spotted flycatcher, namely, against the 

 sides of the walls, supported or entirely sustained by any hanging root or twig that may be 



