192 BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 6. 
in the nest. It is ovate in form, pale bluish white in color, thickly 
marked all over with specks and spots varying in color from clove brown 
to olive brown, the lighter colors underlying the darker markings. The 
egg measures 19.5 by 15 mm. 
On my first expedition to the Orinoco I found a nest of this 
species which from its history is worth recording. This nest was 
found at Caicara, June 27, 1898. It was a nest within a nest, the 
original builders having been Orioles (Icterus xautlioniiis), and was 
first discovered the last of April, at that time new, and containing 
young Orioles. The entrance then was at the top as is ordinary-. 
After the Orioles left the nest it evidently whipped about in sunshine 
and rain and the neck or entrance dried and drew together and the 
nest came to look old and weather worn. But this apparently suited 
the new house hunters who made a neat small round hole in the body 
of the nest and carried in some fine soft grass and woody hair-like 
fibres as a nest lining. The remodelled nest contained three fresh 
eggs, which was evidently a full set, for the female was shot as she 
left the nest and dissection proved that no more eggs would have been 
laid. The nest was about 2.5 m. from the ground, "The eggs 
resemble those of a sparrow, being white, profusely covered with brown, 
and a few underlying pale gray spots, the spots almost entirely 
covering the thick end. They measure 20.5x14.5; 21.1x14.5 and 
21. 1 X 14.3 mm. and are rather pointed ovate.^" 
In 1907 additional nests and eggs were found, and notes relative to 
the nesting habits of this species were made as follows : 
A set of three partially incubated eggs, collected at Caicara, June 
6th, were taken from a nest with a story. One day^ toward the end 
of May while passing under the boughs of a tree containing a colony 
of the yellow-rumped hang-nest (Cacicus cela), a nest was picked up 
that had been broken away from its fellows and had fallen to the 
ground. It was carried for a short distance and then carelessly 
tossed among the branches of a tree, where it lodged. Passing that 
way some days later I was surprised to see a yellow finch fly from 
the old nest. An examination showed that a lining of soft, dry 
grasses had been taken in and that the old nest now sheltered new 
bird tenants. 
The eggs found in this nest are similar in color to those described 
'Berlepsch & Hartert. p. 27. 
