10 LIFE HISTOEIES OP NOETH AMERICAN BIEDS. 



" GrotopMga siilcirostris is known to the inhabitants here as the Pijon and 

 Garrapatero. It is a social bird, being usually found in small companies of from 

 six to fifteen individuals, absolutely monogamous, sedentary, and of semidomes- 

 ticated habits, frequenting the haciendas and the fields and pastures in their 

 vicinity, and as it is considered very useful because of its habit of destroying 

 large numbers of parasites infesting the cattle, it is not molested by the inhabi- 

 tants, and becomes very tame. It extracts the Ixodes and other Acaridans with 

 remarkable skill, without causing ulcerations which might result from the pro- 

 boscis or sucker remaining in the fibers of the skin, and it must be regarded as 

 one of the most useful birds of Mexico, especially of the warm regions, so 

 abounding in parasites of all kinds. It is noteworthy that all the Crotophagoi I 

 have collected were remarkably lean, which the natives assert is their normal 

 condition; and without exception the Garrapatero is found in all the warmer 

 parts of Mexico where there are cattle." 



Mr. E. Kirby Smith, of Jataplan, Vera Cruz, Mexico, writes me that the 

 Groove-billed Ani is locally known there as the CMciiya, usually inhabiting 

 the thick cha]Darral and uttering, almost constantly, a peculiar cracking sound 

 He has found their nests in brush thickets, usually not more than 6 feet from 

 the ground — rather loose structures, resembling the nests of the Cardinal 

 (Gardinalis cardinalis), but larger, and has observed as many as fifteen eggs 

 in a nest. 



Mr. Charles W. Richmond has kindly furnished me with the following 

 notes on the general habits of this species as observed by him in the vicinity of 

 Bluefields, Nicaragua: 



"Avery abundant resident. It appears to breed at various times during 

 the year, as I have found fresh eggs July 6, 1892, and young birds, recently from 

 the nest, November 29, the breeding season spreading- over seven months of the 

 year at least, as it begins nesting earlier than the date of taking my first eggs. 

 Nests are frequently built in the heart of a thick, thorny orange or lemon tree, 

 and this appears to be a favorite situation. In this case the nest is from 4 to 7 

 feet from the ground, and, besides being difficult to get at, is somewhat protected 

 from invasion by the wasps which almost invariably take up their abode in the 

 same tree. In going tlu-ough a small lemon grove I found an old nest of this 

 species. In the cavity there were no eggs, but on poking the nest to pieces six 

 badly decayed eggs rolled out. 



"One nest containing three eggs in the proper place and two others at the 

 bottom, under the lining of green leaves, was located in a bamboo about 12 feet 

 from the ground. The eggs were fresh, and more would probably have been 

 deposited ; the leaves forming the lining were still green. The parent birds 

 were away at the time. Anothei- nest was situated in some vines which had 

 overrun an old tree stub, and was about 15 feet from the ground. 



"It may be that where numerous eggs are deposited in one nest only those 

 eggs that are deposited in the proper place and directly influenced by the 

 incubating bird are hatched, while those placed among the sticks forming the 



