308 



BIRDS OF BRITISH GUIANA. 



inner cayity near the top. The cavity iu which the eggs lay was 

 lined with several big feathers of the large Guiana jtreat tinamou 

 and the Guiana Partridge. The whole structure was very 

 compact and neatly put together, the leaf veins giving it a 

 very strange appearance. 



" The two fresh eggs were pure white with little gloss. Their 

 dimensions were 22 X 15*5 mm. 



" The nest was found on July 5, at the height of the great rainy 

 season. 1 think it probable that tliey nest twice a year, as several 

 newly vacated nests, apparently of this species, were found during 

 March." 



Genus MICEOCEECULUS Baird. 



Microoerculus Baird, Eeview Amer. Birds, p. 

 M. bambla (Boddaert). 



113, 1864. Type 



Fig. 142. — To show the length of wings in comparison with the tail. 



In this genus the bill is proportionately long, somewhat de- 

 pressed at the base, and the exposed culmen about equal in length 

 to the hind toe and claw. The wing is rounded, the fourth, fifth, 

 and sixth primaries longest, the third about equal to the seventh, 

 the second about equal in length to the outer secondaries, and 

 the exposed first primary about equal iu length to the tarsus. 

 The tail is rounded at the tip and rather more than one-third the 

 length of the wing. The tarsus is nearly one-third longer than 

 the exposed culmen. Coloration : male and female similar. 



Key to the Species. 



A. Greater upper wing-coverts subterminally 



barred with white in contrast with the 



rest of the plumage M. bambla, p.. 369. 



B. No white bar on the greater upper wing- 



coverts, which are uniform with the rest 



of the plumage M. ustulatus, p. 370. 



