RUFOUS CACHALOTE 231 
summers. More often, however, a new nest is built 
directly above the old one, which serves as a founda- 
tion, and occasionally as many as three nests are 
seen thus on the same branch-tip, two of them at 
least being occupied. When other branches of the 
same tree are similarly loaded, and other trees close 
at hand also bear the same kind of fruit, the result 
is very picturesque. The eggs, which are white, are 
laid from 1st October to 1st January, but many of 
the birds work at nest-building all the winter, some- 
times spending months on a single nest.” 
RUFOUS CACHALOTE 
Homorus lophotes 
Above bright brown, with olive tinge on the back; crest feathers 
dark brown; quills blackish; tail bright chestnut; beneath duller 
brown, throat rufous; bill bright blue, eye white ; length 9.8 inches. 
Tus interesting species inhabits the north and 
north-western parts of the Argentine territory; in 
the province of Buenos Ayres its presence is confined 
to the narrow strip of subtropical wood fringing the 
low shores of the Plata river. 
When surprised, its white eye, blue dagger-like 
beak, and raised crest give it a strikingly bold and 
angry appearance, the effect of which is heightened 
by the harsh, rasping, jay-like scream it utters when 
disturbed. This resentful look is deceptive, however, 
for the bird is the shyest creature imaginable. Its 
