190 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
such an aggressive temper as this bird possesses it 
is not strange perhaps that it builds in the most 
exposed places, from which the female, in the absence 
of her vigilant consort, can keep a sharp eye on the 
movements of her feathered neighbours ; but I have 
often thought it singular that they do not make a 
deeper receptacle for their eggs, for the nest is merely 
a slight platform of slender sticks, and very ill 
adapted to retain its burden during high winds. The 
parasitical Cow-bird never enters this nest, which 
is not strange. 
The eggs are four in number, small for the bird, 
pointed, parchment-white, spotted with dark brown 
at the larger end. 
SCISSOR-TAIL TYRANT 
Milvulus tyrannus 
Above cjnereous, rump blackish ; cap jet-black, with a concealed 
yellow vertical crest ; wings dark brown ; tail black, outer web of the 
outer rectrix white; bill and feet black; three outer primaries excised 
at the tips; length 14 inches. Female similar, but outer tail-feathers 
not so long. 
Tue Tijereta (Scissor-tail)—a name derived from 
the habit the bird has of opening and closing 
the two outer long feathers of the tail when flying 
—is found throughout South America, and in 
the summer of the Southern Hemisphere ranges 
as far south as Patagonia. 
