198 BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 6. 
Spiza AMERICANA (Gmeliii). 
Embcrha amcricana Om.. Syst. Nat. I. 1788. p. 9x8. 
Spiza americana Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 29. 
During my stay at Ciudad Bolivar from April ist to 17th. 1905, 
the dickcissel was very abundant in open patches of timber on the 
savannas and along the water courses. Large flocks containing 
many males and females were flitting about in the tree-tops. All 
were singing, and mating seemed to be going on. On my previous 
expedition I noted the dickcissel at Altagracia and Caicara from the 
29th of December until May loth. 
Paroaria nigrogenys (Lafresnaye). 
Nemosia nigrogenys Lafr., Rev. Zool. 1846. p. 273. 
Paroaria nigrogenys Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 29. 
Abundant. The Gorro Colorado of the natives is one of the 
characteristic birds of the Orinoco region. It is found everywhere 
but is not common in heavy timber. Often seen about the door 
yards of the native houses and in the houses themselves where the 
birds do not hesitate to enter if the openings at the gables and eaves 
afiford an easy means of escape. They are fond of bits of meat and 
may be frequently seen helping themselves from the strings of fresh 
meat that are hung out in the sun to dry, whenever an animal is 
butchered at a native house. 
The colors of fresh birds are: eye light brick red; bill black, grayish 
at base of the mandible ; feet slate color. 
The nest is usually placed among the thick branches in the top of 
some low shrub or tree, or in a tangle of vines, and is ordinarily in 
the area that is flooded during the rainy season. A nest found at 
Caicara August 6th, 1898, was in a tree top, but only about eight 
inches above the surrounding water. The nearest dry land v/as prob- 
ably 500 yards from the nest site. This nest was not in any way 
attached to the surrounding twigs but set loosely in among them. "It 
is a shallow cup of dry twigs and rootlets, lined with fine smooth grass. 
The eggs are smooth almost glossless greenish white, covered with 
blotches and small patches of greenish brown, with a few underlying 
mauve spots, the markings being more frequent about the thick end. 
They measure 18.9 x 14.5 and 20.5 x 15 mm.i" The nest contained three 
'Berlepsch & Hartert. p. 30. 
