520 BUCCONID#. 
back, but the brownish cap passes gradually into the less bright brown of the upper 
surface.” 
We find nothing on record respecting the habits of this bird. WV. ruficapilia is stated 
by Natterer to live solitary in the forest, sitting on branches near the ground. 
MONASA *. 
Monasa, Vieillot, Anal. p. 27 (1816). 
Lypornizx, Wagler, Syst. Av. fol. 10, p. 15 (1827). 
Monastes, Nitzsch, Pter. p. 185 (1840). 
Monacha, Sclater, Monogr. Jacamars and Puff-birds, p. xl (1882) ; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 202. 
This genus is very distinct, not only on account of the dark colour of its members, 
all of which are either black or dark grey, slightly relieved in some cases by white on 
the forehead or chin. Other structural characters distinguish it from the rest of the 
genera of Bucconide. 
The bill is much as in Malacoptila, but, relatively to the size of the body, smaller, 
the culmen evenly curved, and the maxilla without notch. The feathers curving over 
the nostrils and those of the chin are not nearly so long nor so bristle-like as in 
Malacoptila and Nonnula. ‘The tail is long and the rectrices wide. 
Of the seven known species, two occur within our limits; of these, IZ. grandior is 
restricted to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, but has a close ally in M. peruana of the 
southern continent. The other, 1. pallescens, is found on the Isthmus of Darien and 
other parts of Colombia. The remaining five species are distributed over Tropical 
South America, from Colombia and Guiana to South-eastern Brazil. 
The species of Monasa are strictly forest birds. 
1. Monasa grandior, 
Monasa grandior, Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 827°; Salv. Ibis, 1869, p. 3157; 1872, p. 322°; 
Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, p. 120 *. 
Monacha grandior, Scl. Mon. Jacamars and Puff-birds, p. 155, t. 52°; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. 
p. 205 °. 
Monasa peruana, Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. ix. p. 118"; v. Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 312°. 
Saturate schistacea, capite, gutture, remigibus et cauda nigris ; fronte, mento et gula antica albis; tectricibus 
alarum dorso concoloribus, tectricibus subcaudalibus nigricantibus; rostro ruberrimo, pedibus nigri- 
cantibus. Long. tota 12:0, ale 5°6, caude 5-0, rostri a rictu 1°8, tarsi 0°8. (Descr. exempl. ex 
Chontales, Nicaragua. Mus. nostr.) 
@ mari similis. 
Hab. Nicaracva, Mosquito Coast (Bell 1), Chontales (Belt?), La Libertad in Chontales 
* Mr. Sclater altered Vieillot’s name Monasa into Monacha, the former being probably intended either for 
Monacha or Monastes, Nitzsch’s suggestion. But we already have Monarcha in Aves, written Monacha by 
Swainson, so that on the whole it seems best to let Monasa stand. If a change must be made, Wagler’s title 
Lypornix has priority, and after it Nitzsch’s Monastes. 
