1882. | FROM THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 609 
93. PuyroromMa RvTILA, Vieill. 
3. Fuerte de Andalgala, Catamarca, Arg. Rep., Sept. 21, 1880. 
RDTearrn he 3 i 4 Sept. 3, 1880. 
3, iris amber; Q, iris purple. 
The females are rather scarce and very difficult to see, as they are 
found singly and are careful to hide in the thickest parts of the 
hedges: their note was long mistaken by me for that of a cricket, 
so harsh and creaking is it. The males, however, at this season go 
in flocks, feeding upon the young shoots of the algarroba, Colora- 
tion of the sexes quite distinct. 
94. Grosirra TENUIROSTRIS (Lafr. et d’Orb.). 
3. Salto, Buenos Aires, Arg. Rep., Oct. 17, 1881. 
= ” ” ” ” Oct. 18, 1881. 
These birds are very common in the open campos, running along 
the ground and then taking a low flight. 
95. Furnartus rieuuus (Licht.). 
3. San Pedro, Santiago del Estero, Arg. Rep., July 15, 1880. 
Q. Salta, Arg. Rep., Oct. 23, 1880. 
Tris brown. 
This bird, met with in several parts of the Republic, makes a 
large nest of sticks, usually at a great height. 
[I have never seen F’. figulus from the Argentine Republic, and 
should doubt its occurrence there. The only Furnarius known to 
me from La Plata besides F’. rufus is F’. tricolor, Doering, of which 
IT have a specimen from Cordova.—P. L. S.] 
96. Furnarius RuFuS (Gm.). 
3 2. Monte Grande, Buenos Aires, Arg. Rep., Jan. 5, 1881. 
A very familiar bird over the greater part of the Argentine territory. 
Its breeding-habits are very irregular, as in Misiones I remarked 
it constructing its mud nest in midwinter, although when I was 
in Salto, Buenos Aires, in October, the breeding-season appeared 
well advanced. An instance is known to me in which one nest was 
built on the top of another by a different pair of birds, thus formiug 
a two-story house; but this is a very rare occurrence. 
With Mr. Gibson’s statement (Ibis, 1880, p. 17) that the nests 
of this bird are larger in the Banda Oriental than here, I do not 
agree. With regard to the position of the entrance, of fifteen nests 
observed personally at Salto, B. Aires, the entrance was on the left 
in eight cases, and on the right in seven. What, then, influences the 
feathery architect in selecting its position will probably remain a 
mystery. 
Thelocality chosen for the nest is usually the fork of a tree, or a post, 
or the projecting cornice of a house. It is very solid and strong, 
being made of cemented mud from 1°5 to 2°5 inches thick: one that 
I took at haphazard weighed 14 lb. 
In Salto 1 watched the operation of building. The pair began the 
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