Cape San Antonio, Buenos Ayres. 31 
tapera, is parasitical on the Red Oven-bird (Furnarius rufus) ; 
that is to say, it takes possession of either a recently disoc- 
cupied or old nest of the latter, and entirely fills up the in- 
terior with wool, dry grass, and (principally) feathers: the 
last-named might be counted by thousands in some cases, I 
think. It is strange that two birds should be dependent on 
F. rufus for nests ; but this is only on a par with such ano- 
malies as that of Pseudoleistes virescens, which either makes a 
nest for itself or deposits its eggs in those of other birds, 
or that of a nest of Zonotrichia pileata containing thirteen 
eggs, of three different species, not one of which is a Sparrow’s. 
L. egithaloides breeds from the middle of October to the 
end of November, laying three or four roundish eggs, of a 
warm or creamy-white colour, and averaging #7 x #4. 
35. TROGLODYTES FURVUS. 
Very common, and frequents both the houses and woods. 
It is a quiet, familiar, prying little individual, and has hardly 
any fear of man. One used to haunt our dwelling-house, 
hopping in and out of all the rooms, and inspecting the ceil- 
ings and corners for its insect prey. On one occasion, while 
I was lying on my bed reading, during the siesta time, it 
alighted first on the top of the bedstead, then on my brow, 
and from there hopped onto the book I was reading, retaining 
that position sufficiently long to take a good look at me before 
flying away again! ‘The same bird built its nest on a shelf, 
‘behind some phials, in one of the other rooms, but from some 
caprice left it when finished. 
I would beg to note, by the way, that T. furvus carries its 
tail straight, and not after the ridiculous fashion cf the 
British species. 
It has rather a pretty little song, two or three notes of 
which it often indulges in during the night. Its more general 
utterance is an angry harsh chatter, like a rolling string of r’s. 
Breeding-Notes.—In the woods T. furvus constructs its nest 
in any hole in a tree, filling up the cavity with a lot of the 
smallest and most thorny of tala twigs, then a framework of 
horsehair, and lining it with soft small feathers, often of very 
