WOOD-HE WERS. 
54i 
slightly curved; the wings are moderate, the tail consists of twelve feathers, 
and the feet are strong and adapted to terrestrial progression. The members 
of this genus range all over South America, eighteen species being restricted 
to the temperate regions. A well-known species in Paraguay (F. rufus), 
Uruguay, and Argentina is the red oven-bird, which enjoys a wide popularity 
on account of its familiarity with man, its loud ringing voice, and the 
BROWN-FRONTED SPINE-TAIL AND RED OVEN-BIRD liat. Size). 
wonderful mud-nest which it prefers to build near a human habitation, often 
upon a projecting beam or the roof of the house itself. Mr. W. H. Hudson says 
that in favourable seasons the oven-birds begin building in the autumn, and the 
work is resumed during the winter whenever there is a spell of mild, wet weather; 
the material used being mud, with the addition of horsehair or fibrous roots, which 
make the structure harder, and prevent it from cracking. When finished, the 
structure is shaped outwardly like a baker’s oven, only with a deeper and narrower 
entrance. It is always placed very conspicuously, and with the entrance facing a 
