1883.1 Barrows on Birds of the Lower Uruguay. i -3 i 



bird, but less common than the Brazilian Cardinal, with which 

 it is often associated, both in freedom and captivity. It is said 

 to gather in flocks to the number of several hundreds, but I have 

 never seen more than three in company, and in such cases the 

 adage seemed to be verified,— "Three's a crowd." As there is 

 no trace of red on the bird the name Yellow Cardinal can hardly 

 be justified except on the ground that it is "the name of the 

 thing." 



31. Diiica minor Bp. — A common bird among scattered 

 bushes or thickets in comparatively open ground. It disappears 

 during the coldest weather, but makes its appearance again in 

 little flocks late in July or early in August. These soon scatter, 

 and through the summer the male is commonly heard chanting 

 a rather short and not particularly pretty song from the top of 

 some low bush or from a fence post. The nest and eggs were 

 not taken. 



32. Zonotrichia pileata {Bodd.). Chingolo ; Chingo- 

 LITO. — By far the most familiar if not the most abundant bird 

 of the family. It is resident through the year at Concepcion, 

 and also much farther south. It spends most of its time on the 

 ground, but I think is never met with in any numbers at a dis- 

 tance from shrubs or trees of some kind. The nest is built on 

 the ground, usually under a tuft of grass, a thistle, or almost 

 anything which will conceal it. In one case I found it placed 

 within and beneath the battered rim of an old tin pan beside the 

 road. Three eggs are usually laid, seldom four, and never, to 

 my knowledge, more ; but the Cowbird {Molothrus bonariensis) 

 usually adds one or two more and sometimes even four or five. 

 More than half the Sparrows' nests found contained eggs of 

 the Cowbird, and quite frequently I found them deserted, 

 evidently from that cause. The earliest nest found was October 

 4, and from that time vmtil late in December they were constantly 

 noticed, sometimes a half dozen in a morning's collecting. 



Undoubtedly two broods are reared by many of the birds if 

 not all. The eggs vary widely in color, but the ground-color is 

 always bluish-green, sometimes sparingly and irregularly spotted 

 with coarse markings ; at other times profusely and evenly 

 sprinkled with minute dots, the markings being different shades 

 of brown. 



33. Coturniculus manimbe {Licht.). — It was not until a 



