154 DENDROCOLAPTIDZ. 
open oval nostrils and their definition is not very satisfactory. Mr. Sclater separates 
Automolus from Philydor wpon their size, but a glance at the measurements of the 
various species of the two genera shows that they cannot be thus defined. 
So far as the Mexican and Central-American species of these genera are concerned, 
we find that those assigned to Automolus have the wing as long as or longer than the 
tail, whereas in Philydor panerythrus the reverse is the case and the tail is longer than 
the wing. P. fuscipennis, however, has a tail considerably shorter than the wings, and 
thus spoils the definition. In fact the whole of the species of Automolus and Philydor 
require rearranging, when it will probably be found advisable to include all under 
one genus (Philydor), and to group the species partly by measurements, partly by 
characteristic coloration. In the meantime we follow the most recent arrangement of 
Mr. Sclater as regards these genera. 
The range of Automolus extends northwards as far as the slopes of the mountains 
of the Mexican State of Vera Cruz, and on the west side to the Sierra Madre del Sur. 
In Guatemala, and no doubt in all the intervening country to the Isthmus of Panama, 
Automolus is found in all suitable forest districts. Nine species occur within our 
region, all of which, except A. pallidigularis, are endemic. 
a. Corpus subtus plus minusve striatum. 
1. Automolus rufobrunneus. (Philydor rufobrunneus, Tab. XLVI. fig. 2.) 
Philydor rufobrunneus, Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. viii. p. 1277; ix. p. 106°; Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, 
p. 804°; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 59%. 
Automolus rufobrunneus, Berl. Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. xi. p. 565°; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xv. 
p. 89°. 
Supra rufo-brunneus, pileo paullo obscuriore, plumis singulis medialiter pallidioribus, uropygio et cauda ferru- 
gineis; capitis lateribus et gula cinnamomeo-rufescentibus, hujus plumis anguste, illorum late nigro 
marginatis: corpore subtus reliquo ferrugineo, pectoris plumis obscure fusco limbatis, hypochondriis 
brunnescentioribus ; tectricibus subalaribus et remigibus ad basin intus cinnamomeis, his clarioribus : 
rostro nigro, pedibus obscure corylinis. Long. tota 9:0, ale 3°5, caudee rectr. med. 3°5, lat. 2°1, rostri a 
rictu 1:1, tarsi 1-15. (Descr. exempl. ex Irazu, Costa Rica. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Costa Rica, San José (v. Frantzius 17%), Barranca (Carmiol 7), Navarro (Boucard *), 
Volcan de Irazu (Rogers °). 
This species, described as a Philydor, has of late years been placed in Automolus as 
an ally of A. rubiginosus*®. Its relationship to that bird, however, is not very close, 
for apart from its somewhat striated under surface, the bill is relatively shorter and 
stouter and the culmen more curved; the tail, too, is more rounded. The wings are 
like those of Automolus rubiginosus, the third, fourth, and fifth primaries being only 
slightly longer than those next adjoining on the inside, instead of the fifth considerably 
exceeding the sixth, as in Philydor panerythrus. . 
But few specimens of 4. rufobrunneus have reached Europe. One was obtained by 
Boucard at Navarro, and several were sent us by Rogers when collecting in Costa Rica 
