Mr. P. L. Sclater on new species of Birds. 149 



yet described. The bird most resembling it of those I have met 

 with, is G. macularia, of which there are specimens in the Leyden 

 Museum ; but that is rather a peculiar species, remarkable for its 

 denuded orbits and short, strong hind-nail, while this bird has the 

 hind-nail slender and rather long, and is in every respect a typical 

 member of the genus. 



Genus novum Agathopus. 



Rostrum modicce longitudinis, brevius quam caput, subulatum, 

 culmine recto, ad apicem paulum incurvo, gonyde ascendente, 

 mandibula superiore ad apicem dentata, naribus, prout in om- 

 nibus hujus families generibus, coopertis : alee brevissimce, ro- 

 tundatce, remige septima sextam et quintam paulo excedente et 

 longissima, tertia secundarias cequante : pedes validi, tarsis 

 longis, antice scutellis novem regularibus, postice scutellis mi- 

 nutis, tectis ; unguibus curvatis, acutis ; cauda modicce longi- 

 tudinis, multum rotundata, rectricibus duodecim, extimis di- 

 midio brevioribus, ceteris gradatim longioribus ; tectricibus 

 supra-caudalibus densissimis. 



Agathopus micropterus. 



Obscure nigricanti-schistaceus, dor so postico cum ventre imo, late- 

 ribus et crisso saturate brunneis, radiis transversis nigris, in 

 tergo vix apparentibus, subobsolete variegatis : rostro nigro, 

 pedibus clare brunneis, 



Juvenis. — Radiis transversis nigris omnino obtectus, gula magis 

 cinerascente, et colore toto magis brunneo. 



Long, tota 3*3, alse 2*3, caudse 1*9, rostri a rictu *7, tarsi 1*0. 



This curious bird, of which the collection contains two examples, 

 seems intermediate in form, as in size, between Merulaxis atra and the 

 Scytalopodes. From the former it differs in the shape of the bill, 

 which is shorter, has the gonys curved upwards, and wants the ele- 

 vated feather-tufts on the front ; from Scytalopus it is distinguished 

 by its thicker, stronger and larger bill, longer tail, and longer tarsi. 

 These genera, along with Pteroptochus and its allies, appear to me to 

 constitute a well-distinguished group, for which I propose to use the 

 term Pteroptochidce, deduced from the oldest and best-known genus 

 (instead of Lafresnaye's name Rhinomydece) according to the orthodox 

 rule for forming the names of families. The distinctions of these 

 birds as a group are well pointed out in the Ornithology of D'Orbigny's 

 Voyage (p. 192), and their most essential character, as is there stated, 

 consists in the covered nostril, only a narrow longitudinal aperture 

 being left, which occurs in every species. They must certainly he 

 arranged next to the Formicariidce, within the limits of which they 

 have been placed by Cabanis and other writers ; and I am not myself 

 certain that it may not be possible to consider them only as a sub- 

 family belonging to that series. 



TODIROSTRUM PICATUM. 



Supra nigrum, loris et secundariarum trium ultimarum pogoniis 

 Ann. $ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. ii. 11 



