HOLOQUISCALUS, 585 



Cldoroplianes minor ( 9 ) Cab. in Schomb. Eeis. Guian. iii. p. GS3, 



1848. 

 HoloquiscaJus lucjuhris Brabourne & Chubb, B. S. Amer. i. p. 440, 



no. 4530, 1912 ; Beebe, Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana, 



p. 137, 1917 (Bartica). 



Adult male. Crown of bead, sides of face, throat, neck all 

 round, entire back, breast, abdomen, and sides of body glossy 

 bine-black ; wings and tail, long upper tail-coverts and under 

 tail-coverts glossy steel-green ; under surface of flight-quills and 

 lower aspect of tail shining black. 



Total length 235 mm., exposed culmen 25, wing 112, tail 93, 

 tarsus 36. 



Adult female. Differs from the adult male in being dull soot- 

 black with very little gloss. Wing 103 mm. 



The specimens described were collected on the Abary River in 

 July 1906. 



.Breedinp-season. Unknown in British Guiana. 



JS'est. "This species makes a flat nest" [QxielclC), 



Eggs. Undescribed from British Guiana. 



Range in British Guiana. Abary River, Lamaca {McConnell 

 collection); Georgetown {Brown, QuelcJi); Bartica (Beehe). 



Kxtralimital Range. Trinidad, Venezuela. 



Habits. According to Schomburgk (Reis. Guian. iii. p. 683) 

 this species is found near the coast, where it is met with chiefly on 

 the roads, grass-plots, and footpaths, and in the neighbourhood of 

 the settlers' town. It also visits in smaller numbers farms and 

 houses. The tail, which is peculiar, is nearly always much worn 

 owing to the fact that the bird always runs about on the ground 

 in search of food. 



Mr. J. J. Quelch (Timehri (2) v. p. 87), who observed this 

 species in Georgetown, remarks: — "The so-called Black-birds 

 [Quiscalus luguhris), which are so often seen in large flocks in the 

 roads and the o[)en grassy spaces around the town, are also 

 members of the Icterine group, though unlike the typical species, 

 they do not make pendent but flat nests — a character in which 

 they resemble the preceding form (Leistes gidanensis). They fei'd 

 largely on grains, seeds, and insects. 



"So far the species which have been under notice are members 

 of the Acromyodian group of the perching birds, that is, those 

 which from the structure of (heir vocal orn;ans are known as the 



