dropping some distance through the air before taking flight again. In the summer 

 these birds congregate in large parties, and seem never tired of circling about the top- 

 most branches of some wide-spreading ombo-tree, which is their favourite resort." 



Mr. Gibson has likewise only found it breeding in the Oven-bird's nest, which, he 

 says, " it lines with a pile of feathers formed into a nest. Grass, wool, and hair are 

 sometimes added ; but the feathers are the principal material, and the amount is usually 

 sufficient to fill up the interior of the Oven-bird's nest. The eggs, so far as I know, 



never exceed five in number, are pure white, and average f§x|o-" 



He believes it to be as abundant near Buenos Ayres as P. purpurea* , but says that, 

 owing to its frequenting the woods and from the nature of its nidification, it is more 

 diffused and appears scarcer. " It is also about a month later in coming, appearing in 

 the first week in October, though it leaves at the same' time as P. purpurea* , the end of 

 March. As it arrives after the last-named species, it is proportionately later in breeding, 

 while, from being parasitical on Fumarius rufus, the date of its nesting varies greatly. 

 Eggs are most generally taken in December ; but I once found a nestful of young birds 

 (full-fledged, it is true) as late as the beginning of March." 



Mr. White fancied that this Martin was not particular as to the locality in which it 

 breeds ; and in Uruguay Mr. Barrows thinks that they may nest in natural hollows of 

 trees, as he noticed several hovering about Woodj)eckers' holes in a tall dead tree, though 

 he also found it appropriating the deserted nest of F. rufus. 



In Brazil, batterer also noticed that the species was parasitic on the Oven-bird ; 

 but in Upper Amazonia Mr. E. Bartlett found it nesting in September in holes in sandy 

 banks, the nest being made of fine dried grass or fibres ; the holes were sometimes two 

 feet in depth. 



In the Campos of Brazil it is recorded by Burmeister as breeding in holes of trees ; 

 and in Peru, according to Mr. Stolzmann, it nests under the roofs of houses, and 

 Mr. Wyatt also observed it similarly nesting at Ocaha in the Magdalena Valley. 



The figure in the Plate is drawn from a specimen procured by Mr. Wyatt during 

 his visit to Colombia, and the descriptions are founded on the series of skins in the 

 British Museum. 



* [P. domestica or P. furcata ?] 



2h2 



