'SS3.] Barrows 07i Birds of the Lower Uruguay. 207 



about one complete turn. It contained two tiny white eggs, 

 which were perfectly fresh. Probably more would have been de- 

 posited, as most of the other species lay at least three or four. 



83. Synallaxis albescens ( Temm.).—Axi abundant species 

 in thorny hedges or among the masses of dwarfed and spiny 

 bushes which cling to each other so tenaciously amid the general 

 desolation of the sandy barrens. Its note is almost precisely like 

 the common call note of the Pewee {$ayioi'7tis fuscus) . 



The nest varies in 'shape and detail of construction according 

 to the surroundings. It is commonly placed among the thickest 

 meshes of a thorny thicket, and its body is of the shape of an q^^ 

 placed with its longer axis vertical and the larger end downward. 

 This is a shell made by weaving and locking together twigs and 

 thorns of various kinds, and is usually completed by the massing 

 of a quantity of decaying twigs of larger size on top — presum- 

 ably to keep the whole dry. This body of the nest is from eight 

 to twelve inches in height, and the eggs are laid either on the bare 

 twigs at the bottom of the cavity, or more rarely on a loose floor- 

 ing of wool. Entrance is gained by the bird through a long tube 

 which is built on to the nest at a point about halfway up the side. 

 This tube is formed by the interlocking of thorny twigs, and is 

 supported by the branches and twigs about it. It may be straight 

 or curved ; its diameter externally varies from two to four inches, 

 and its length from one to two feet. The passageway itself is but 

 just large enough to admit the birds one at a time — and it has 

 always been a mystery to me how a bird the size of a Chipping 

 Sparrow could find its way through one of these slender tubes, 

 bristling with thorns, and along which I found it difficult to pass 

 a smooth slender twig for more than five or six inches. Yet they 

 not onh^ pass in and out easily, but so easily that I was never yet 

 able to surprise one in the nest or to see the slightest disturbance 

 of it by the bird's hurried exit. 



The eggs are three or four, light blue, and may be found from 

 October until late in December. 



84. Synallaxis phryganophila Vieill. — Larger than the 

 preceding and less abundant, but found in similar places. The 

 long middle tail feathers, and the black and yellow chin and throat 

 iTiarkings distinguish it easily among all its relatives. A nest 

 containing four white eggs, faintly tinted with blue, was found 

 January 26, 1880, in a thorny tree, and some eight feet from the 



