GRALLARIA. 239 
belonging to Mr. Sclater’s second Section B, GRALLARI@ REGES, and the other four to 
his fourth Section D, GRALLARLE FLAMMULATH. Sections A and C are unrepresented 
in our fauna. 
All the species of Grallaria seem to be solitary in their habits. They live upon the 
ground in the dense forest, seeking their food amongst the decaying vegetation. ‘The 
following note of Salmon’s gives a good idea of their mode of life. Writing (P.Z.S. 
1879, p. 527) of Grallaria ruficapilla he says :—“ In the morning, and shortly before 
sunset, may be heard a melancholy cry as this Ant-Thrush creeps amongst the brush- 
wood. Many times have I followed to obtain a specimen, and after a tough scramble 
of an hour given it up for a bad job. At one time you seem to stand right upon it, 
and a moment after you hear it four yards off; again you reach the spot, and you hear 
it twenty yards behind you; you return, then it is on your right; soon after you hear 
it on the left. At first you imagine the bird has the power of a ventriloquist ; but by 
dint of patience and watching you may see it creeping swiftly and silently among 
the grass and brushwood in places where it has to pass a rather more open spot, and 
the mystery is explained. ‘The nest is also difficult to obtain: it is placed at some 
height from the ground, and made of a mass of roots, dead leaves, and moss, lined 
with roots and fibres. ‘The eggs are two in number, rather round, and blue.” 
Salmon also took the eggs of Grallaria ruficeps, which he describes as “rich dark 
greenish-blue.” 
It would thus appear that the species of Grallaria, though practically terrestrial in 
their habits, seek the greater safety of bushes for their nests. ‘Their blue eggs differ 
widely from those of other Formicariide known to us. 
The bill in Grallaria (G. guatemalensis) is stout, the culmen arched, the tomia of 
both maxilla and mandible slightly decurved ; the former has a distinct but not very 
prominent notch near the end; the latter hardly shows any notch but only a slight 
depression ; the surface of the maxilla is nearly smooth, without longitudinal ridges. 
The nostril is quite open, nearly round, and exposed, and a portion of the turbinals is 
distinctly seen within the cavity. The frontal feathers just reach the proximal end of 
the nostrils. There are no simple rictal bristles strictly speaking, but the feathers 
bordering the rictus end in black hair-like points. The legs are long, the tibia 
feathered nearly to the tibio-tarsal joint; the tarsi have indistinct scutella in front, 
which become better defined towards the distal end, the back is covered with a single 
shield. ‘The toes are short and the claws short and only moderately curved. ‘The 
wings are short and rounded, the third primary slightly the longest and the first = the 
tenth. The tail is short and slightly rounded and considerably shorter than the tarsi. 
bbs 
