Birds of Paraguay . 
611 
more or less into a zone : axis 1*2 inch, diam. 0 85. The 
second egg is paler blue and much more thickly spotted and 
blotched with chestnut, becoming more dense towards the 
large end, which is almost entirely covered : axis 1*25 inch, 
diameter 0*85. 
[The best singing bird in Paraguay. Nest firmly con¬ 
structed of grass and mud, usually built in the fork of a tree 
at an elevation of from 12 to 18 feet from the ground in dense 
part of forest; 3-4 eggs in the clutch. The bird leaves the 
nest when any person is passing, making its discovery easy. 
There is no possible way of distinguishing the eggs and 
nest of this bird from those of M . leucomelas or M. albiventer 
other than by shooting the bird on the nest, as their nesting- 
habits are identical. 
This bird is resident and very common, living in the large 
forests and searching for food on the ground.— W. F.~] 
180. Merula amaurochalina, 
Turdus amaurochalinus Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 5 (1850: 
Brazil); Berlepsch, J. f. O. 1887, p. 113 (Paraguay); 
Hellmayr,Abhandl. Akad.Wiss. Miinchen, xxii.p. 618(19,06). 
Merula amaurochalina Sharpe, Hand-1. B. iv. p. 124 (1903). 
Turdus leucomelas Seebohm, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. v. p. 213 ; 
id. Monogr. Turd. i. p. 235, pi. 53. fig. 1 (1898). 
a , $ ad.; b , c, d. $ ad. et imm. Sapucay, April 1903. 
e. <$ imm. Sapucay, May 8, 1903. 
Bill yellowish horn-coloured ; feet horn-coloured ; iris 
brown. 
/. $ ad. Sapucay, March 30, 1904. 
g, h. S '; i. ? ad. Sapucay, April 1904. 
Two eggs obtained on December 23, 1902, are pale blue 
with chestnut-brown spots and blotches, which become 
confluent at the larger end, and underlying spots of lilac- 
grey. Axis 1*15 inch; diameter 0*9. 
Two eggs taken on October 3,1903, are pale blue, sparsely 
spotted and blotched with pale chestnut, more thickly at the 
larger end, but the spots are not confluent. Axis 1*05-1*1 
inch ; diameter 0*8. 
