HELMINTHOTHERUS.—HELMINTHOPHAG A. 118 
Supra olivascenti-viridis, alis et cauda concoloribus ; capite toto et corpore subtus pallide ochraceo-fuscis, illo 
fasciis quatuor nigris ornato, duabus verticis utrinque ductis a naribus ad nucham et duabus postocula- 
ribus ; abdomine medio albicante ; rostro corneo, mandibula et pedibus carneis. Long. tota 5-0, ale 2:8, 
caude 2:2, rostri a rictu 0°7, tarsi 0°75. (Descr. maris ex Duefias, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Hastern Norra America, from New England States southwards? 13. M EXxIco, 
Jalapa (de Oca *), Mountains of Orizaba (Sumichrast *), Merida, Yucatan (Schott?) ; 
GUATEMALA *, Duefias, Tactic, Coban, Khamkal, Choctum (0. S. & F. D. G.); 
Costa Rica (Hoffmann), San José (v. Frantzius 12, Carmiol °); Panama, Boquete 
de Chitra, Santa Fé" (Arcé).—Cusa ©; Jamaica “4. 
Helminthotherus vermivorus is a winter visitant to South-eastern Mexico, Guatemala, 
Costa Rica, and a portion of the adjoining State of Panama, arriving in September and 
leaving again in April or May. It is also found during the same season in Cuba and 
Jamaica, but does not reach any part of the continent of South America, the most 
southern point of its range yet recorded being Santa Fé in the State of Panama. In 
Guatemala it is by no means uncommon during the months it remains in the country, 
and is pretty generally distributed everywhere, preferring the woods of the highlands of 
Duefias and Coban—not exclusively, however, as we obtained many specimens from 
Choctum and its neighbourhood in the hot forests about 1200 feet above the sea. 
Like other members of the family, it is restless, but is rather slow in its movements 
and not shy. 
In its summer quarters in the United States it is spread over a wide area in the 
eastern section of the country, but nowhere abundantly. It probably breeds through- 
out its summer range, building a nest on the ground composed of dry leaves and lined 
with fine mosses 9. 
Bibliographical references to this species are fully given in Dr. Coues’s recent work 13, 
HELMINTHOPHAGA. 
Helminthophaga, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. i. p. 20 (1850-51) (type Motacilla chrysoptera, Linn.) 
Baird, Brew. & Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 191. 
2 
A short, delicate, sharply-pointed bill, without any notch, forms one of the chief 
characters of this genus. The tarsus is long, compared with the middle toe; and the 
rictal bristles are not perceptible. Five out of the ten species that are now known 
occur within our limits as winter visitants. The remaining five, all more or less rare 
species, do not, so far as is yet known, pass beyond the limits of the United States, 
The species of Helminthophaga can be divided into two groups, to be recognized by 
the presence or absence of a conspicuous white patch on the tail. 
BIOL. CENT.-AMER., Zool., Aves, Vol. 1, August 1880. 15 
