iSS3.] 



Barrows 07i Birds of the Lozvcr Uruguay. 8q 



with the cold they only flew when hard pressed, and were then 

 almost inevitably swept by the wind directly into the waiting 

 mouths of the birds. Selecting a bush on which a peck or two 

 of the insects were clinging, I would dislodge them by a sudden 

 shake, and in an instant become the centre of a flock of voracious 

 birds, which seemed to have lost all fear and were intent only on 

 the helpless insects, which were snapped up often within a foot 

 or two of my face. 



The dragon-flies were of medium size, having a spread of pei"- 

 haps 2\ to 3 inches. They did not cling to each other like bees 

 or locusts but simply crowded as near as possible, clinging so 

 thickly to twigs and leaves as to hide entirely the color of the 

 foliage and transform green mimosas into shapeless masses of 

 gray and brown. 



12. Progne tapera (Z/«?z.).^This species appeared in the 

 spring at about the same time as the preceding — about the middle 

 of September — and for some time I did not distinguish it from 

 the female of that species. 



In genei-al habits the two species are quite similar, but the notes 

 are somewhat different and the present species is more often found 

 away from the houses than is the common Martin, nor does it, 

 so far as I know, ever breed under the eaves of dwellings. Prob- 

 ably the greater number breed in natural hollows of trees, or in 

 the abandoned nests of other birds. I once noticed several hov- 

 ering about Woodpeckers' holes in a tall dead tree, and early in 

 November, 1880, saw a female carry a feather into a deserted nest 

 of the Oven Bird (^Furnarius rufus), where I caught her in my 

 hand as she was arranging the materials of a nearly finished nest. 



13. Frogne elegans Baird. — Specimens were taken at Ba- 

 hia Blanca, where the birds were abundant, and they were fre- 

 quently seen in the Sierra de la Ventana. While at Carhu6 and 

 Puan — March 21 to April 9, 1881 — none were seen, but the 

 weather was so cold that doubtless they had then gone north. 

 At Concepcion this species was never observed. 



14. Hirundo (Tachycineta) leucorrhoa {VzeilL). — Go- 

 i.ONDRiNA (Swallow). — By far the most abundant Swallow at 

 all points visited. Arriving from the north early in July, it remains 

 through the summer and does not leave until the following April. 

 Abundant alike in the crowded streets of Buenos Aires and on 

 the monotonous pampas, it is known everywhere by the name 



