Todd — Studies in the Tyrannidce. 37 



from Guiana. Sclater in 1888 had admitted the former as a subspecies, 

 but with reservations. Mr. Ridgway and Mr. Hellmayr agree in making 

 atricaudus a subspecies of barbatus, and this course has been followed by 

 other recent authors. If it were only a question of the color of the tail 

 such a treatment might be indorsed, but there are other differences. In 

 atricaudus the upper parts are tinged with citrine, the yellow vertical spot 

 is smaller and very slightly paler, and the yellow of the rump is more 

 extended than in barbatus. Below the yellow color is a little deeper, and 

 the breast and sides are shaded with honey yellow or old gold, instead of 

 citrine, as in barbatus. Moreover, the proportions are different, atricaudus 

 having the tail equal to or even longer than the wing, and obviously 

 rounded, while in barbatus it is decidedly shorter, and nearly even. Taking 

 all these facts into consideration, and bearing in mind that in Venezuela 

 a race of atricaudus approximates and probably overlaps barbatus in range, 

 we are disposed to accord the present bird specific rank, believing that it is 

 fully as much entitled to such treatment as certain other forms whose 

 status is not in question. 



M. atricaudus atricaudus ranges in the Tropical Zone from western 

 Costa Rica to northwestern Peru (Tumbez), west of the Andes, but invad- 

 ing the Cauca and Magdalena Valleys in Colombia. It is a forest-dweller, 

 according to Mr. Carriker "always seen rather high up in the trees, flitting 

 from branch to branch much like a warbler or some of the vireos, and usually 

 has its tail considerably spread, which distinguishes it at once [from M. 

 sulphureipygius aureatus] by its greater length and blackness. This 

 species is also usually seen farther away from creeks and streams than the 

 other, sometimes high up in the crest of a ridge, far from any water, a situ- 

 ation in which I have never seen aureatus." Dr. Stone describes a nest 

 collected by the late L. L. Jewel as a "pendant bell-shaped structure with 

 entrance beneath the passage going up and over into the nest cavity; made 

 of dead leaves and fine vegetable fiber, lined with vegetable silk and fine 

 fibers. Situated on a branch overhanging a stream in the forest. Eggs 

 two, rich deep rufous, wreathed about the larger end with deeper shade of 

 the same, .65 x .50 in." 



Specimens examined. — Costa Rica: Pozo Azul de Pirris, 4; Boruca, 12; 

 Buenos Aires, 4; Pozo del Rio Grande, 3; El General, 2; La Palma, 1. 

 Panama: Panama, 4; Divala, 1; Loma del leon (Lion Hill), 3; Gatun, 

 7; Natd-Cocle, 1; Chiriqui, 3; Boqueron, 2; La Chorrera, 1; El Real, Rio 

 Tuyra, 1; Tabernilla, 3; Porto Bello, 1; Corozal, 1; Matachin, 1; Miraflores, 

 1; unspecified, 2. Colombia: Caldas, 3; Yumbo, 9; Barbacoas, 2; Malena, 

 1; Rio Frio, 1; Dabeiba, 1. Ecuador: Bucay, Guayas, 4; Esmeraldas, 5; 

 Rio de Oro, 2; Naranjo, 2; Puna Island, 1; Duran, Guayas, 1; Zamora, 

 Loja, 1. Peru: Tumbez, 1. Total, 92. 



Myiobius ridgwayi von Berlepsch. 



Myiobius xanthopygius (not Platyrhynchus xanthopygus Spix) von Pelzeln, 

 Orn. Bras., ii, 1869, 113, part (Luiz d' Almeida and Ypanema, Brazil; 

 meas.; crit.). 



