CHERRIE: ornithology of the ORINOCO REGION. 195 
Four nests and sets of eggs of this species were collected during 
the 1907 expedition. The first was taken the 8th of May and the last 
June 23rd. The eggs collected were fresh in each case. The set 
taken June 23rd contained five eggs. An interesting coincidence in 
the collecting of this season was the taking of a nest and set of eggs 
of this species (June 13th) from the same crevice in a stone wall as 
the set taken June 17, 1905 and described above. 
From our observations and the material at hand we may conclude 
that the nesting season lasts from the middle of April to. the end of 
June, and sets vary from three to five in number. 
SiCALis ARVENSis MINOR Cabanis. 
Sicalis minor Cab., in Schomb. Reise Brit. Guiana III. 1848. p. 679. 
Scrinopsis arz'cnsis minor Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 28. 
Inhabits the open savannas where it is more frequently seen on 
the ground than perched in the low trees and bushes growing there 
in scattering clumps. The nest is placed in the tall marsh grass 
bordering inland ponds or streams. 
A nest taken at San Mateo de Caicara May 16th m open swampy 
land was placed in a thick bunch of grass about 30.5 cm. from the 
ground. It contained three slightly incubated eggs, ovate in form, 
pale bluish green in color, two of the eggs being speckled and spotted 
all over with brown varying in color from vandyke to chocolate, the 
third with the markings confined chiefly to a distinct ring about the 
larger end. The eggs measure 16.5 x 12.75, 16.75 ^ ^3 and 16.5 x 12.5 
mm. The nest is rather neat, and compactly built ; it is composed 
entirely of dry grasses, the outside course and the lining soft and fine. 
It measures outside 7.5 cm. diameter by 6 cm. deep; inside 4 cm. diameter 
by 2.5 cm. deep. 
The song of this species is usually given while on the wing. I 
have frequently seen the male birds spring from the ground and rise 
to a height of thirty or forty feet, singing as they dropped on flutter- 
ing wings. 
Br.\chvspiz.\ c.\pExsis (P. L. S. Aliillerj. 
Pringilla capensis P. L. S. Muller, Natursyst. Suppl. 1776. p. 165. 
Brachyspisa capensis Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 28. 
Two specimens, adult male and female, were taken April 6th, 
1898, in a thicket bordering a low range of hills near Ouiribana de 
