292 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 93 



ONYCHORHYNCHUS MEXICANUS MEXICANUS (Sclater) 



Muscivora mcxicana P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1856 (Jan. 27, 1857), 

 p. 295 (Cordoba, Veracruz). 



These interesting flycatchers are inhabitants of the lower levels in 

 densely shaded woodland where the wet forest floor is open. My first 

 one I found on March 7, 1939, resting on an open perch in the dark 

 shadow of a dense thicket in heavy monte on low wet ground, where 

 it appeared only as a silhouette, though I recognized it immediately 

 from the shape of the crest. On April 7 at the Arroyo Corredor I 

 heard a clear, rather plaintive whistle of several notes and imitated 

 it, and one of these birds came instantly to a perch before me 20 feet 

 from the ground. I saw others in this same region, and on April 12 

 secured a pair. A male in flight suddenly hovered with rapidly beat- 

 ing wings while the crest was spread and thrown forward. It then 

 whirled around and alighted. The birds decoyed readily to an imita- 

 tion of their calls and evidently were pairing. Carriker shot one on 

 January 22, 1940. None of the natives knew this bird in life. 



PLATYRINCHUS CANCROMINUS Sclater and Salvin 



Platyrhynchus cancrominus Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, I860, 

 p. 299 (Choctum, Vera Paz, Guatemala). 



Near Tres Zapotes this is a common resident species, so that we 

 secured a good series from January to May. Carriker observed a 

 few over the slopes of Cerro de Tuxtla, where it ranged to 1,500 feet 

 elevation, taking specimens on May 6 and 9, 1940. In March and 

 April I found them in pairs, low down near the ground, in bushes 

 beneath the heaviest forest growths, where light was dim and shadows 

 heavy. As the birds were quiet, only occasionally hopping through 

 the twigs, there is little doubt that they were often overlooked. I 

 heard explosive, petulant notes from them, and one, on March 29, flut- 

 tered its wings while calling. Carriker recorded that the nest was a 

 tiny cup set in an upright fork 3 to 5 feet from the ground. 



TOLMOMYIAS SULPHURESCENS CINEREICEPS (Sclater) 



Cyclorhynchus cinereiceps P. L. Sclater, Ibis, 1S59, p. 443 (Oaxaca, Mexico). 



Near Tres Zapotes I shot one on March 11, 1939, and Carriker 

 obtained others here on February 23 and April 26, 1940, as well as 

 one on the lower slopes of Cerro de Tuxtla May 7. The characteristic 

 nest, made of blackish, fibrous rootlets suspended at the end of a 

 slender branch was not uncommon, but the birds were hard to find. 

 They ranged usually among the lower limbs in gallery forest, or less 

 often in low, denser second growth. 



The four specimens listed above, with two others in the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service collection from Santa Lucrecia, Veracruz, average 



