m the Chuput Valley , Patagonia . 
35 
Upucerthia dttmetorja. 
Not uncommon. On the 7th November I took a nest 
from the end of a hole in the bank of a dry lagoon near the 
village. This nest was formed of grass, lined with fur of the 
Patagonian cavy, and was placed about four feet from the 
face of the bank. The eggs were three in number, white in 
colour, much incubated, and measure 1*1 by ’9 inch. 
Phlceocryptes melanops. 
Common in reed-beds, where I found it nesting, generally 
two or three pairs in the same place. The nest is an oval 
structure, from four to five inches in diameter, supported by 
reeds, of the finer sprays of which it is formed, strengthened 
with a little mud, and generally not more than eight inches 
from the ground. I have found as many as five eggs in one 
nest, though four is the usual number ; and they differ from 
all other eggs of this genus I have seen in being of a uniform 
glossy blue colour, instead of white. 
SYN ALLAXIS SORDIDA. 
Synallaxis PATAGONICA. 
Common everywhere. The nesting-habits of these two 
species have puzzled me exceedingly. I will state the facts 
as they occurred. On the 1st November I shot a female S. 
patagonica from its nest, which was nearly circular in shape, 
a small hole near the top communicating with the interior, 
which was about twelve inches in diameter. The nest was 
formed of sticks, and was a very large structure for so small 
a bird; it was lined with feathers and wool, and placed in the 
centre of a thick bush. It contained three white eggs, mea¬ 
suring '7 by *5 of an inch. In its immediate vicinity were 
other nests of precisely the same character, the owners of 
some of which I saw, and which were certainly S. patagonica. 
Two eggs from one of these nests measured *8 by *6 of an 
inch. On the 20th I flushed a S. patagonica from a nest in 
a different locality. This nest was nearly round in shape, 
and the interior reached by a narrow circular passage of 
sticks attached to the top of the nest, from which it pro¬ 
jected about twelve inches; the inside diameter was not more 
d 2 
