52 BIRDS OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO 



amongst coarse grass or brushwood, making an unpretending 

 structure of the former material, the finer fibres being placed 

 towards the interior. It lays four eggs, measuring '8 by '6 of an 

 inch, of a pale green colour, thickly striated with light reddish 

 brown spots, running into each otlier, and most numerous at the 

 larger end. ... It has a pretty little warble, which it sings in 

 the evening and during the night when the moon is shining ; and 

 often whilst lying awake under my ' Yergas ' and Guanaco robe, 

 this Sparrow kept up its song within a few yards of my head." 



On the downs to the south of Useless Bay I obtained a nest 

 with two eggs ; also a single egg. The nest I have was placed 

 in a hollow in open ground, and entirely constructed of grasses. 

 The eggs are of blunt oval shape ; pale green, thickly mottled 

 with reddish brown ; markings horizontal with axis and having 

 the appearance of splashes. All three examples measure 0*85 

 by 0*6 inch. 



The stomach of this specimen contained insects. 



PHRYGILUS GAYI (EydoiTX et Gervais) 



Pringilla gayi, Eydoux et Gervais, Mag. de Zool. 1834, CI. ii, 



Aves, pi. xxiii, 1834; Gould and Darwin, Voy. " Beagle,'^ Birds, p. 93, 



1841. 

 Pringilla formOSa, Gould and Banvin, Voy. " Beagle,'' Birds, p. 93, 



1841. 

 Phrygilus gayi, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xii, p. 781, 1888 ; 



Sclater and Hudson, Argentine Orw.,i, p. 52, 1888 ; Oustalet, Miss. 8cd. 



Cap Horn, Ois., p. 84, 1891. 



Habitat. — Chili, Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego. 



cJ, Rio McClelland Settlement, 26tli Nov., 1904 ; ^, 12tli Jan. ; ? , Punta 

 Arenas, 17th Feb., 1905. 



Iris — brick-red ; bill — light grey, dark points ; legs — light drab. 



My first acquaintance with Gay's Finch was in the forest 

 country to the south of Useless Bay. A male pecking vigorously 



