264 [Aug., 1845. 



secondaries dark brown, edged with white at their tips, and with a band of nar- 

 row white spots on their outer margin some distance above their tips. Throat 

 greyish-white, with a dusky line on each side. Bill dark horn colour. Feet 

 and legs very stout, the former beneath very scabrous. Tarsus bluish-white. 



Length 21^ inches. Tail nearly 12, tarsus 2|, longest toe and nail 1|. Bill 

 along the ridge nearly 2 inches, depth at base | an inch. Wing from flexure 

 about 7 inches. 



This extraordinary' bird, evidently the connecting linkbetween the scansorial 

 and rasorial orders of birds, was first noticed by Swainson, from a specimen 

 brought from Mexico by Mr. Bullock ; and who gave it the above name, though 

 for many years it remained undescribed in the collection of the Zoological So- 

 ciety from not being able to get access to it. In the Natural History of Birds, 

 Mr. Swainson describes the genus and gives also the specific name by which he 

 had distinguished it in 1824 in the catalogue of Bullock's Museum. It was 

 afterwards perhaps described by French as Saurothera Bottse, Blainville; and 

 S. Californiana, Lesson; but if they mean the same bird, the description is so 

 inaccurate as to be scarcely recognizable, the locality alone making us suppose 

 it to be the same. 



It is found in all the northern provinces of Mexico, where it is called Paisano. 

 In California it is not uncommon, and called in some parts of it Churea, and in 

 others Correcamino, the astonishing swiftness with which it runs making it well 

 known wherever it inhabits. 



Family PROMEROPID^E. 

 Genus, *Harfes.-j- 

 Bill longer than the head, arched from base, depressed ; upper mandible broad 

 and flattened with the margins very sharp ; lower, narrower and somewhat 

 shorter. Nostrils basal, open, rounded. A tuft of hairs at base of upper man- 

 dible. Wings short and much rounded. Tail long, cuneated. Feet and legs 

 long and stout. Tongue short and flat. Colours. plain. 



Harpes *rediviva. Promerops de la Californie Septentrionale, La Perouse, 

 Atlas to voyages, plate No. 37. 



Glossy brown above ; beneath from lower part of breast ochraceous, approach 

 ing to rufous on the vent and lower tail coverts. Throat greyish white, lower 

 part of neck, breast and sides brownish, somewhat lighter than that of the back. 

 A dusky line runs along the side of the throat from base of lower mandible. 

 Ears large and open, auriculars loose and somewhat rigid, the shafts white, 

 with the sparse hairy webs dusky. A dirty white line over the eye. Tail h\ 

 inches in length, cuneiform ; beneath tinged with the fulvous colour of belly, 

 and with traces of narrow dusky bars throughout its whole extent ; two outer 

 feathers about an inch shorter than middle ones. 



Wings short and rounded; extent of both 12 | inches,each from flexure 4 inches. 

 1st primary about half the length of the 3d, which is shorter than 7th, 8th and 

 9th ; 4th, 5th and 6th equal and longest. Tarsus 1 1 inches ; hind toe and nail, 

 which is curved, 1 inch, the nail being about as long as the toe. Total length 



-{-From 'ApTtrj, a sickle, hook or bill. 



