PANYPTILA, 371 



a bird possessing such power of rapid flight. By degrees it has been traced over a 

 large portion of Tropical America, and examples have been obtained from widely 

 distant places. Discovered in Guiana \ where also Whitely met with it ^, it occurs at 

 Para*, where a specimen was secured by Mr. Layard, into whose dining-room it dashed 

 during his residence in that city. It has been recorded from South Brazil, though 

 Natterer did not meet with it. We recently found a beautiful specimen in one of 

 Hauxwell's collections made at Samiria on the Upper Amazons. It occurs also in 

 Venezuela and Ecuador, and in the Colombian State of Antioquia^, the last-named 

 locality bringing it close to our borders. 



We have no specimen from our country, but Salvin was shown by Mr. Lawrence in 

 1874 a specimen with its nest which was found near the Chagres river by Dr. T. K. 

 Merritt, the discoverer of Microchera albocoronata. Writing in 1884, Mr. Lawrence 

 says that the bird was captured in its nest, the latter being a remarkable structure, 

 composed of some kind of silk-weed, and, being probably waterproof, was used by the 

 bird as a domicile in the rainy season. Its shape was like a sleeve, three or four inches 

 in diameter and nine or ten inches long. This nest was therefore somewhat similar 

 to that of P. sancti-hieroirymi, but a good deal smaller, and had probably been attached 

 to a rock in a similar way. 



2. Panyptila sancti-hieronymi. 



Panyptila sancti-hieronymi, Salv. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 190, t. 23 ' ; Ibis, 1866, p. 195 '- ; 1874, p. 188 ' ; 

 Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xvi. p. 462*. 



P. cayennensi persimilis, sed multo major, primariis internis latiore albo-marginatis. Long, tota circa 78, 

 alse 7'5, caudse rectr. med. 1"35, rectr. lat. 3'4. (Descr. exempl. typ. ex Sau Geronimo, Guatemala. 

 Mus. nostr.) 



Hah. Guatemala, San Geronimo ^, Volcan de Fuego {0. S. & F. D. G;, H. Hague), 

 vicinity of Antigua ( V. Constancia). 



The first intimation we had of the existence of this fine species was when Mr. Carter, 

 the manager of the estate of San Geronimo in Vera Paz, brought us two specimens 

 confined in one of the lamps of his gig! They had been caught by an Indian under a 

 rock near the village of Matanzas, and were nearly dead, but one of them had sufficient 

 energy to show the great grasping powers of its strong feet. Soon after this the nest 

 was brought us from the hills above San Geronimo. It was taken from a rock 

 near some Indian ruins called Pueblo Viejo, situated at the extremity of a spur of the 

 mountain chain. Some years later we visited this spot and found a half-finished nest, 

 but no birds were flying about 3. 



Though birds of this species were afterwards observed in other parts of Guatemala 

 we were never able to secure a specimen. On several occasions birds were seen 

 sweeping over the second-growth woods of the Volcan de Fuego, and attempts wert; 

 made to shoot some, but in vain, their flight being far too rapid for our skill. From 

 this cause P. sancti-hieronymi is a very rare bird in collections. There aie specimens, 



47* 



