T34 LITTLE HOUSE-BUILDER— SCISSOR-BEAK. 



OVEN-BIRDS. 

 Of" the genus Furnarius there are several species. The best 

 known is the oven-bird of La Plata — the casara, or house-maker - , 

 of the Spaniards. It builds its nest in an exposed situation, on 

 the top of a vast bare rock or cactus. It is composed of mud and 

 bits of straw, and has strong, thick walls — its shape being pre- 

 cisely that of an oven, or depressed bee-hive. The .opening is 

 large and arched, and directly in front. Within the nest there 

 is a partition which reaches nearly to the roof, thus forming a 

 passage or ante-chamber to the true nest. 



THE LITTLE HOUSE-BUILDER. 



There is another species of Furnarius, which the Spaniards 

 call the casarita, or little house-builder. This species builds 

 its nest at the bottom of a narrow cylindrical hole, which ex- 

 tends horizontally to nearly six feet under ground. It gener- 

 ally chooses the side of a low bank, but sometimes penetrates 

 the mud walls round the houses, through which it works its 

 way, frequently — very much to its disappointment — coining 

 out unexpectedly on the opposite side. 



THE SCISSOR-BEAK. 



The scissor-beak (Rhynchops nigra) frequents the lakes and 

 streams. It is about the size of a tern, with short legs, webbed 

 feet, and extremely long, pointed wings. The beak is flattened 

 laterally, and the lower mandible is an inch and a half longer 

 than the upper. When flying along in small flocks, close to 

 the surface of a lake, the birds keep their bills wide open, the 

 lower mandible half buried in the water. In their flight they 

 frequently twist about with extreme swiftness, managing, with 



