104 Zoologica: N. Y. Zoological Society. [I; 3 



pitch lake. A male secured on April 9th was in breeding condi- 

 tion and had been feeding on small seeds. 



The same locality was inhabited by several male black- 

 headed ant-thrushes, Tham.nophilus canadensis trinitatis, and at 

 a distance there was a striking resemblance between these two 

 unrelated species, which were nesting in close proximity to each 

 other. 



Family ICTERIDAE. 



Ostinops decumanus (Pall.). Great Black Cassique. 



Fairly common and generally distributed through the deeper 

 forest. Here and there along the Rio Guarapiche, their nests, 

 fully three feet in length, could be seen, attached, in groups of 

 three to eight, to the outermost twigs of giant, smooth-boled 

 trees. These were wary birds and usually left their nests when 

 we came within sight, and would not return for many minutes. 

 Their notes were like deep, resonant cow-bells, ringing out clear 

 and metallic and audible a long distance through the jungle. 



The nearest nests of this species, a group of five, were about 

 three hundred yards distant from our house at Guanoco. The 

 black cassique seemed invariably to trust to the unclimbable 

 character of its nesting tree to avoid its arboreal enemies. Their 

 chief food consisted of small berries and insects, especially 

 beetles. 



Ostinops viridis (Miill.). Green Cassique. 



A pair of green cassiques were completing a three-foot nest 

 on April 12th. It was placed like those of Ostinops decumanus, 

 high up in an enormous isolated white-boled tree fifty yards in 

 front of our Guanoco house. On the same branch was the re- 

 mains of last year's nest. Their call-note resembled those of the 

 black cassique, consisting of a series of four or five deep, metal- 

 lic clinks. 



Cacicus persicus (Linn.). Yellow-backed Cassique. 



One of the dominant avian features in the fauna of this 

 region was this interesting bird. 



We first noticed them at Cano Colorado, where, in a tall 

 isolated tree, standing in the center of the village clearing and 

 directly in the rear of the custom house, were over one hundred 

 and fifty nests. These were in all stages of construction, a few 

 in the process of being built while some birds were carrying food 

 to their young, and other nests were already deserted. Many 

 scores of birds were in sight at once in the tree, while those re- 



