DENDROCOLAPTIDAE 



485 



Siptornis alhiccps being white. The bill may be red, or excep- 

 tionally the feet white, as in Furnarius leucojous. Crests are 

 found in F. cristatus, Synallaxis semicinerea, Coryphistera, and 

 Homorus. The sexes, as far as known, are similar. The large 

 Drymornis hridgesi is over a foot long, but many forms are not 

 ■half that size, and most are comparatively small. 



The habits are extremely diverse. Geositta cunicularia flits 

 along low and swiftly, like a Wheatear, with the tail in motion, 

 or crouches and runs before the pedestrian, uttering a note re- 

 sembling " piti-piti," varied by a ringing trill. It frequents bare 



Fig. 105. — Nest of Oven-bird (Furnarius). 



spots, and bores oblique tunnels in biscacha burrows, sandy banks, 

 or mud walls, ending in cavities lined with soft grasses, where it 

 lays five white eggs. The food consists of seeds, insects, and 

 their larvae, the bill being commonly used to dig. Zochmias 

 nematura fills a similar hole with a large-domed nest of twigs and 

 roots, lined with leaves, which contains two white eggs. The Oven- 

 birds (Furnarius) run or hop unconcernedly among the wayfarers 

 with the head thrown back, or pause with one foot uplifted ; 

 they utter incessant and loud, but not unmelodious, cries with 

 the beak outstretched, which are even heard at night.^ Worms, 

 ■ Duets are said to be sung ; cf. Hudson Argentine Ornithology, i. 1888, p. 168. 



