Todd-Carriker : Birds of Santa Marta Region, Colombia. 337 



inated by Mr. Bangs in 1899, after a comparative study of material 

 from various parts of the South American continent. More recently 

 Dr. Chapman has given us an excellent review of the subject, point- 

 ing out anew the distinctive characters of the present form, which are 

 confirmed by the above series. M. manacus abditivus is most closely 

 related to M. manacus interior of Venezuela and eastern Colombia, but 

 the under parts, particularly the flanks and crissum, are paler gray — 

 a difiference which is even more marked as regards the color of the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts — while the throat-plumes are somewhat 

 longer. It is known to range from the Santa Marta region westward 

 along the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and thence into the interior to 

 some extent, almost certainly meeting and intergrading with M. mana- 

 cus flaveolus. 



A resident of the foothills in the Tropical Zone, but apparently not 

 common outside of the " dry forest " section. It was once noted on 

 the east side of the Sierra Nevada, at Loma Larga, and it was very 

 tare at Don Diego. It ranges from near sea-level up to 3,000 feet, but 

 is most abundant below 2,000 feet. It keeps to the thickets and tan- 

 gled undergrowth, and is quite shy and difficult to see. It has a most 

 peculiar rattling call-note, given by the male alone, and sounding as if 

 it were made by rapidly snapping the mandibles. Simons likens this 

 note to the sound made by cracking nuts. The single nest sent in by 

 Mr. Smith was collected at Don Diego on May 18, and contained two 

 eggs. " This is a small, shallow, cup-shaped nest, attached by the rim 

 to the forks of a small horizontal twig, the branches of which on two 

 sides are built into the rim. The nest is so thin that the eggs are 

 clearly visible through it from below, and is composed of long wiry 

 grass stems or other plant fiber, neatly woven to form the circular 

 nest. Its attachment to the twigs at the outer edge is effected not 

 merely by weaving the plant fibers about the twig, but by the use of 

 spider web, matted to the plant fibers by use of some glutinous matter, 

 probably secreted by the bird. The transverse diameter of the rim is 

 about 3 inches outside and 2 inches inside, with an inside depth of 

 about I inch. 



" The egg has the whitish ground-color nearly covered with longi- 

 tudinal streaks of pale yellowish-brown, with, in places, a slight wash 

 of lavender, the markings, except over the small end, occupying nearly 

 the whole surface, with fainter interspaces between the heavier 

 blotches. Size, 20 X i4-5" 



