20 6 
Barrows on Birds of the Lower Uruguay. 
[October 
ing each other out of shape on the same bush or tree. Most of 
the smaller species are so similar in color and motion that they 
cannot possibly be distinguished from each other at a distance 
of twenty feet. And it can easily be imagined how difficult it is 
to collect eggs and be sure of their identification. The eggs of 
most species are as much alike as the parents themselves, — often 
more so, for the eggs are always either white or pale blue, and 
unmarked ; while there is really considerable difference in color 
and pattern among the birds. The few notes which I have 
brought together here may seem very scanty as the outcome of 
work among such wealth of material, but such as they are I offer 
them with some confidence in their accuracy, for the reason that 
they are few, and that they were not hastily taken. 
8 1. Phlceocryptes melanops ( Vieill . ) . — We first met with 
this species near Bahia Blanca in February, 1881. It was here re- 
stricted to the rushes bordering the stream, and in suitable local- 
ities was quite abundant, but its habit of skulking close along the 
bank under the cover of the thickest grass and rushes made it a 
difficult bird to secure. We afterward found it to be abundant 
along every stream on the pampas which we visited. Bulky, 
spherical nests, eight or ten inches in diameter and composed of 
rushes, grass, and mud, were several times found swung amongst 
the reeds overhanging the water, and doubtless they belonged to 
these birds, but as it was then late autumn tney were all empty 
and more or less dilapidated. 
82. Leptasthennra aegithaloid.es ( Kittl . ). Espinero 
chiquito (Tiny Thorn-bird). — The smallest species of the fam- 
ily, and readily distinguished also by its elongated central tail- 
feathers and its crest. It has most of the habits of the Titmice, 
frequently hanging head downward or clinging against the bark 
of a tree while hammering its bill into the crevices. I do not re- 
member ever to have seen one on the ground. It was quite com- 
mon about Concepcion, both in summer and winter. A nest found 
November 6 was built among the thorny twigs of a low mimosa 
at a height of about five feet from the ground. It was composed of 
thorny and other twigs with a few tufts of wool, but without any 
proper lining. In shape it was a short cylinder, about ten inches 
high by six in diameter ; the entrance a small hole at the top, the 
nest a spherical cavity at the bottom, the two connected by a spi- 
ral passageway less than an inch in diameter, which made only 
