250 CQEREBID&. 
of C. lucida is restricted to Central America, between Guatemala, whence the original 
specimens were obtained 1, and Panama*. Immediately south of this, in the Colombian 
State of Antioquia, the true C. cwrulea occurs. 
In Central America it cannot be called a common bird, and is not nearly so abundant 
as its congener C. cyanea. We only found it in the forest-country of Vera Paz, at an 
elevation of about 1200 feet above the sea, and all other places where it has been 
noticed hitherto are situated at elevations not much above the sea-level. 
Its habits are quite similar to those of C. cyanea, and doubtless to those of C. cerulea, 
its widely spread representative in South America. 
CERTHIOLA. 
Certhiola, Sundevall, Ofvers. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1835, p. 99 (type Certhia flaveola, Linn.) ; Finsch, 
Verh. k.k. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 739 et seqq.; Baird, N. Am. B.i. p. 425. 
Few American genera have received more varied treatment as regards the number 
of its species than Certhiola, some ornithologists recognizing a large number, others 
comparatively few. We are rather disposed to admit a closer separation for the birds 
of the West-India islands, where the inhabitant of each island has a definite and 
restricted habitat, than for the continental forms, where no such restriction of range 
occurs. Of the island forms no less than twelve species have been described, some of 
which have very marked characters. On the mainland we are only able to recognize 
three species, viz. C. mexicana of the country we are now treating of, C. luteola 
of Venezuela and Trinidad, and C. chloropyga of Guiana and Brazil. To these may 
be added C. caboti of the island of Cozumel, which has its nearest ally in the 
Bahama islands. This bird and C. mexicana are the only ones found within our 
region. 
The usual colour of Certhiole is dusky or black on the back, with or without a white 
alar speculum; the rump is sometimes yellow, and the belly generally so; the throat 
varies from white to grey and to black. One remarkable species, from the island of 
St. Vincent, is almost entirely black, and has been described by Mr. Lawrence as 
Certhiola atrata*. ‘The bill of Certhiola is sharp and strongly arched; the cutting- 
edge of the maxilla towards the end has several tooth-like serrations, somewhat as in 
Liglossa. ‘The tarsi and feet are strong, and the tail short and square. 
1. Certhiola mexicana. 
Certhiola mexicana, Scl. P. Z. 8S. 1856, p. 2861; 1859, pp. 864°, 376°; Salv. Ibis, 1861, p. 352°; 
Scl. & Salv. P. Z.S. 1864, p. 349°; 1879, pp. 497°,5977; Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N.Y. ix. p. 98°; 
Finsch, Verh. z.-b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 772°; Baird, N. Am. B. i. p. 428”. 
* Cf. Lawr. Ann. N.Y. Ac. Sc. i. p. 149. But may not this be Dicewm aterrimum, Less. Traité d’Orn. 
p. 303, which Pucheron (Rev. Zool. 1846, p. 184) says is a Certhiola? See also Finsch, Verh. k. k. zool.-bot. 
Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 762. 
