CYPSELOIDES. 381 



Note. — Panyptila cayennensis {antea, p. 370, Jan. 1893) was included in this work 

 on the evidence of a specimen obtained with its nest on the banks of the Chagres River 

 by Dr. Merritt. Since then we have seen Mr. Richmond's very interesting account of 

 the bird and its breeding-habits published in the 'Auk' for 1893 (p. 84). Mr. Rich- 

 mond was staying at the estate of the Imperial Plantation Company, on the Rio 

 Escondido, about fifty miles from Blewfields, Nicaragua, and the substance of his 

 note we now transcribe : — 



" On Aug. 23, 1892, after an early morning trip in the woods, I had nearly reached 

 the edge of the plantation when my attention was drawn to a mixed company of birds 

 feeding on berries in an immense tree. The tree belonged to a species common in 

 these forests, a giant among its surroundings, the trunk at least five feet in diameter, 

 and the first limb over seventy feet from the ground .... Wounding a Yellowtail 

 {Ostinops montezumce), I was endeavouring to keep sight of it, when a small bird 

 dashed past and disappeared on the trunk of the tree about seventy feet from the 

 ground. Looking in that direction I noticed a nest, eight or nine inches in length, 

 hanging from the trunk, and so nearly resembling it in colour that ordinarily it would 

 have been passed unnoticed. The trunk was perfectly straight for a distance of seventy 

 feet, at which point there was a division, the portion with the nest leaning very slightly, 

 and the nest was attached to the smooth grayish bark on the underside of the trunk, 

 hanging vertically and at the same time almost against the bark, rendering it a very 

 inconspicuous object. The nest when first observed was still quivering from the move- 

 ments made by the bird, proving it to be made of some soft, yielding material. The 

 nest almost exactly matched the bark in colour ; the entrance, at the bottom, was very 

 large, nearly the diameter of the nest, which appeared to be about three inches at the 

 lower end with a slight bulging near the top. On shooting into the nest there was a 

 struggle inside which shook it considerably, and presently the bird dropped to the 

 ground. It was a Panyptila cayennensis, and on dissection proved to be a male, with 

 the sexual organs only slightly developed. 



" Visiting the spot the next day with a pair of field-glasses, I tried to identify the 

 material composing the nest, but beyond its having the appearance of being stuccoed 

 with some substance resembling the bark in colour, I could determine nothing. The 

 bark was quite smooth, and the nest appeared to be glued on, although this was not 

 positively ascertained to be the case. 



" This Swift is quite abundant here, as is also the small gray-rumped Chcetura. 

 They usually fly very high, though apparently not faster than the Chimney Swift of 

 Eastern North America. On cloudy afternoons, particularly after rain-storms, they 

 often fly so low that specimens may be easily obtained." 



We have recently acquired several of Mr. Richmond's specimens and find them 

 rather smaller than some of the South-American series in the British Museum. As 

 they vary inter se in this respect, and as the smaUest is not larger than a specimen from 

 British Guiana, we do not consider this difference of size of any importance. 



