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fined solely to Ecuador, whereas the other one is found also in

the vicinity of Bogota.


Another brightly coloured bird from Pichiucha is the blue

Zanthura turcosa; this likewise was still more plentiful on the

Eastern range at Papallacta, and all those we shot there were

much brighter than those from the Western range, which may or

may not have had something to do with the season. On Pi-

chincha we seldom met with more than two together, but at

Papallacta they were sometimes in flocks of twenty, and made

a loud chattering noise the whole time. The Ecuadorians call

them “Auroras,” and I was told they could be taught to speak,

which is not improbable. They feed chiefly on beetles and other

insects as well as on berries, and Mr. Hamilton once caught one

in the act of robbing the eggs from the nest of some small bird.

They have much the same habits as our English Jay, and hold

all their prey under the claws and peck it to pieces. The length

of the bird is n inches, and the whole of the plumage is a

bright blue except the forehead which is black, and a broad

patch of the same colour extends across the eyes. The head and

throat are a still more brilliant hue than the rest of the bod}^,

and the throat is encircled by a band of black. The beak is

black and rather hooked, and the undersurface of the wings, and

tail are also black. In the collections of skins from Bogota can

generally be found some of these birds.


The Yellow-bellied Grosbeak ('Pheucticus chrysogaster ) was

also very common at times in the gardens of Quito, where it

committed great damage to all kinds of seeds and buds. I have

seen them picking off the flowers from bushes and trees out of

wanton destruction, and for this reason during our stay at the Con¬

sulate we shot all that putin an appearance there when we were

at home. It was somewhat curious that I never noticed them in

the garden except during the mid - day hours. This was

one of the most ordinary cage birds of Quito, in the very few

houses where they kept birds, and I should certainly have

brought some back with me alive had I been coming straight home

from there. Those I saw in captivity were fed on soft young

maize and seed, and became so tame as to go loose about the

house. I am sorry I cannot remember the name these birds

were known by in Quito. It was so familiar to me that I appear

to have made no note of it. It has certainly escaped my memory

now, although as I write these lines I seem to have it on the tip

of my tongue.


In the mouth of October I found two of their nests near



