SITTOSOMUS. 177 
Sittasomus sylvivides, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1849, p. 331°; 1850, p.590°; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 290"; 
1859, p. 865°; 1864, p. 175"; Salv. Ibis, 1861, p. 353"; Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. ix. 
p. 106**; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p. 555 7°; Frantz. J. £. Orn. 1869, p. 304 us 
Sanchez, An. Mus. Nac. Mex. i. p. 97 ™. 
Sittosomus pectinicaudus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. ii. p. 33 ”. 
Supra olivaceo-rufescens, capite summo cinerascentiore, uropygio, cauda et tectricibus subcaudalibus lete cinna- 
momeis: subtus olivaceo-cinereus ; alis nigricantibus, secundariis ad apicem et extrorsum (intimis omnino) 
cinnamomeis, remigibus internis quoque eodem modo ornatis, subalaribus et fascia alarum pallide cinna- 
momeis, primariis tribus externis omnino nigricantibus: rostro et pedibus corneis, mandibula pallida. 
Long. tota 6:0, ale 3:2, caudw 3-2, rostri a rictu 0-8, tarsi 0°7. (Descr. exempl. ex Jalapa, Mexico. 
Mus. nostr.) 
2 mari omnino similis. 
Hab. Mexico 1° (Deppe 1°, White 18), Hot region of Vera Cruz 16, Potrero 4 (Sumichrast), 
Jalapa (de Oca'*, F. D. G., M. Trujillo, F. Ferrari-Perez,), Coatepec (Ff. Ferrari- 
Perez, M. Trujillo), Cofre de Perote, Cuesta de Misantla (MZ. Trujillo), Cordova 
(Sallé 1), Vera Cruz (Sanchez '8), Sochiapa (Trujillo), Teapa (Mrs. H. H. Smith), 
Santa Efigenia (Swmichrast +), Northern Yucatan (G. £. Gaumer); British Hon- 
purRAs, Orange Walk (Gawmer®); GuaTEMALA, Pie de la Cuesta in San Marcos 
(W. B. Richardson), Choctum 14, Savana Grande between the Volcanoes of Agua 
and Fuego (0. 8S. & F. D. G.); Nicaragua, Sucuyd (Nutting *); Costa Rica, Tem- 
pate Nicoya (Arcé), Dota Mountains (Carmiol®); Panama, Chiriqui®, Chitra, 
Calovevora? (Arcé)—SovutH AmeErRIcA generally, from Colombia to Guiana and 
South Brazil}. 
Sittosomus olivaceus is a common characteristic species of Tropical South America, 
and is also found in nearly the whole of the lowland forests of Central America and 
Southern Mexico as far north as the middle of the State of Vera Cruz. [It is absent 
from Western Mexico, but occurs on both sides of the mountain-range of Guatemala. 
Its range in altitude extends to about 4000 feet in the neighbourhood of Jalapa, in 
Vera Cruz, and perhaps higher on the slopes of the neighbouring mountain, the Cofre 
de Perote. In Guatemala it chiefly affects the forests of Vera Paz lying at an elevation 
of about 1500 to 2000 feet down to the sea-level, and has the habits of all the stiff- 
tailed members of the family, climbing trees like a Certhia or Woodpecker, its food 
being insects. 
Several names have been proposed for this species to distinguish local forms, but 
none of these seem capable of definition in view of the very wide uninterrupted range 
enjoyed by the bird as a whole. To the Mexican bird Lafresnaye gave the name of 
S. sylvioides, which Cabanis and Heine supplanted by S. pectinicaudus. The former 
was long used in lists of Mexican and Central-American birds, but it gradually became 
evident that no real distinction could be drawn between them and birds from the 
southern continent, so all have latterly been united under 8S. olivaceus, the title 
bestowed by Prince Wied upon the Brazilian bird. 
bo 
os 
BIOL, CENTR.-AMER., Aves, Vol. II., September 1891. 
