110 



BIRD GALLERY. 



with the working of the lines. Xenops rutilus (1629) is a curious little 

 iorm, worth noting on account of its much compressed, upturned bill. 



The Warbler-like Synallaxinae embrace a number of small forms 

 frequenting the bushes and low undergrowth, and interesting on account 

 of their remarkable nesting habits. Some of the species of the genus 

 Synallascis (163t-B) make enormous nests of sticks and twigs, lined 

 with hairs and feathers etc., large enough to fill an ordinary wheel- 

 barrow, and generally divided into two chambers united by a passage. 

 More than one of these great structures are often found in the same 

 tree. The species of Siptornis (1637-8) have very similar habits. 

 Another member, the Thorn-tailed Warbler {Oxyurus spinicauda) (1642), 

 has the shafts of the tail-feathers stiffened and bare towards the tips. 



The last subfamily, FurnariirKE, includes a number of soft-tailed 

 terrestrial species. The most curious nests of all are the oven-shaped 

 clay structures built by the Oven-birds [Furnarius) (1651), and usually 

 placed in the most exposed situations, such as the top of a post or on a 

 bare rock. Although the eggs may not be laid till September or 

 October, the birds often begin to build in the middle of June, and may 

 be found at work in any month of the year. The winter-built nests are 

 said to be the best and to withstand the rain and heat for a year or 

 more. As the clayey mud of which they are composed becomes almost 

 as hard as brick, it is no easy matter to break in and extract the eggs. 

 Geositta cunicularia (1649), reminding us of a Wheatear in appearance 

 and habits, is also worthy of note. It excavates a burrow from 2 to 6 

 feet long, terminating in a round cavity lined with soft grass, in which 

 four or five white eggs are deposited. 



Group II. Olibomtobm (p. 107). 



Family I. CotingiDjJs. American Chatterers. 



(Case 69.] This important family contains more than 100 species of fruit-eating 

 birds, distributed over Tropical America from South Mexico to the 

 northern borders of Argentina. The habits of these woodland birds 

 are very imperfectly known, but in some species at least their diet is 

 supplemented by molluscs, insects, and even lizards. Six subfamilies 

 are recognised. The GymnoderincB are rather large birds with a 

 Crow-like bill, and include such remarkable forms as the Umbrella- 

 birds [Cephalopterus) (1659-60; and the Bell-birds (Chasmorhynchus) , 

 in which the extraordinary ornamental appendages are especially 

 remarkable. The ' males of the black Umbrella-birds, so called on 

 account of their peculiar umbrella-like crest, have a long cylindrical 

 or flattened plumed wattle hanging down from the throat. This 

 ornament is much less developed in the females, which are^otherwise 



