806 



Zoological Society : — 



seum were obtained on the island of Puna in the gulf of Guy«iquil 

 by Mr. Barclay. 



Melanoptila, gen. nov. 



Melanoptila, genus novum e familia Turdidarum. Rostrum 

 rectum, modicce longitudinis, fere ut in genere Turdo, sed te- 

 nuius et vibrissis rictalibus nullis : alee breves^ ad finem, sub- 

 caudalium attingentes, remige prima brevi, secunda secundarias 

 co-cequante, tertia longiore, sed a quarta, quinta, et sexta, 

 €equalibus et longissimis, superata : cauda longa, apice rotun- 

 data : pedes antice scutellatcB prout in genere Turdo. 



9. M. GLABRIROSTRIS. 



M. nigra unicolor, cteruleornitens : alis caudaque teneo magis 

 splendentibus : rostra et pedibus nigris. 



Long, tota 7*8, alee 3'o, caudse 3*3, tarsi r05. 



Hab, In rep. Honduras, prope urbem Omoa. 



I first observed specimens of this curious bird in the Derby Mu- 

 seum at Liverpool. They were procured in Honduras by Delattre, 

 and an excellent example from the same source is in the British 

 Museum. A single specimen in my own collection was obtained, 

 with other birds, by Mr. Joseph Leyland in the vicinity of Omoa at 

 the extremity of the Bay of Honduras. I know of no other Ame- 

 rican form which much resembles it in plumage or in structure, and 

 am rather puzzled as to its proper arrangement in the Natural 

 System. It must however, I think, come within the limits of the 



