RHYNCHOCYCLUS.—TODIROSTRUM. 11 
correctly assigned them. In the former country the southern form does not appear to 
be found, though they both occur on the line of the Panama Railway 4. 
ft. cinereiceps was first characterized by Mr. Sclater from specimens obtained by 
Boucard in Oaxaca and others from Playa Vicente in the State of Vera Cruz. We 
have received specimens from various places in the lowlands of Yucatan and Eastern 
Guatemala, its range in altitude reaching to about 2000 feet. It also occurs through- 
out the districts bordering the Pacific, up to about the same height, in the forests 
which clothe the volcanos of Guatemala. In Nicaragua Mr. Nutting says it is abundant 
at Sacuya, where it is a rather silent bird, fond of the deep woods !!. 
Mr. Nutting also secured the nest of this species at La Palma in Costa Rica. 
Mr. Ridgway describes it as follows ®:—“The nest of this bird ig a most remarkable 
structure, well worthy of description. It is a pendulous inverted pouch, suspended 
from a single twig, composed almost entirely of slender black filaments resembling 
horse-hairs (probably a vegetable fibre, related to, if not identical with, the ‘Spanish 
Moss’ or Tillandsia of the Southern United States), and so loosely built as to be easily 
seen through when held up to the light. The entrance is at the extreme lower end, 
the nest proper being a.sort of pocket on one side, about two inches above the entrance. 
The total length of the entire structure is ten inches, the greatest width four inches, 
the lower ‘neck’ or wall of the entrance being about two and a half inches in 
diameter.” 
TODIROSTRUM. 
Todirostrum, Lesson, Traité d’Orn. p. 884 (1831) ; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 69. 
Sixteen species are now recognized of this varied genus, which may be distinguished 
by the elongated flattened bill of its members. Most of the species are well marked, and 
are distributed over the greater part of the Neotropical region. Two species reach the 
forests of Southern Mexico, the widely-distributed 7. cinereum and T. schistaceiceps, 
which, spreading throughout Central America, pass into Colombia. The third specie~ 
is T. nigriceps, a bird of the north-western part of South America, which enters our 
fauna as far as Panama and Costa Rica. The upper valleys of the Amazons basin are 
the headquarters of the genus, and here some beautiful and distinct species are found. 
Todirostrum contains birds of very varied coloration, many of them being brightly 
clad in olive, black, and clear sulphur-yellow on the under surface, others have greyer 
tints. 7’. cinereum has an elongated flat bill, the sides of which are nearly parallel 
until they converge gradually towards the tip, the width at the base is a little more than 
a third of the length of the tomia, the terminal hook and subterminal notches are small ; 
the nostrils are situated towards the end of the nasal fossa, and are surrounded by a 
slightly overhanging membrane; the rictal bristles are well developed. The tarsi are 
long and feeble, covered with distinct scutelle, the toes short. The wing is rounded, 
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