4G6 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



tlie fifth. Bill more subulate, narrow at the base, with considerably 

 curved commissure, and inflated tomia ; gonys loug, being longer than 

 half the commissure, which only very exceptionally has a subtermiual 



notch. The cov- 

 ering of the nasal 

 fossae is complete- 

 ly filled by feath- 

 ers, and the open- 

 ings of the nos- 

 trils concealed by 

 a considerable 

 number (about 7) 

 of stiff' bristles; 



besides, the bristles along the gape are much more developed than in 

 other Thrashes. Tarsus stout, of moderate length, shorter than two- 

 eighths of the wing, but still longer than the commissure ; outstretched 

 legs fall far short of the tip of the tail. 



IIE3IAEKS. — Eesperocichla is as well defined a genus as any within 

 the family, and needs not to be degraded to the lower rank of a sub- 

 It certainly only 



genus. 



embraces one species, but 

 I see no reason for the 

 increasing displeasure at 

 genera containing few 

 species, as little as I take 

 satisfaction in the not un- 

 common practice of sub- 

 dividing a genus only on 

 account of the great num- 

 ber of its species. 



The main marks distin- 

 guishing this genus from 

 HegperoHcManaevia. the Other mcmbcrs of the 



group TurdcK are given above, these characters, indeed, as also the style 

 of the coloration, being almost unique in the whole family. It is thought, 

 however, that the relationship is rather with the true Thrushes than 

 with any other genus. Their remoteness from the other forms is also 

 expressed in the restricted geographical distribution of the present bird, 

 which only inhabits the Pacific region of North America. 



[Fig. 9814 gives an entirely erroneous view of the nostrils, which is corrected in 

 the accompanying figure, in which the sinnation of the outer webs of the primaries 

 and the form of the spurious primary are shown also. — R. R.] 



Dr. E. Coues (Birds of the Colorado Valley, I, p. 15), remarks that 

 the young is ''like the adult female," and that "no speckled stage, like 

 that of the very young liobiu has been observed, though August sped- 



