BIRDS OF XUKTH AND MIDDLE AMKKICA. 621 



loss tliiui ono-third) the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla and 

 slightly greater than its width at sann^ point; exposed culmen longer 

 than middle toe without claw, but nuich siiorter than tarsus, nearly 

 straight or ver}' faintly curved for most of its length, gradually Init 

 not strongly decurved terminally; gonys decidedl}' shorter than dis- 

 tance from nostril to tip of maxilla, straight; maxillary tomium dis- 

 tinctl}' but not strongly concave, distinctly notched subterminally, the 

 basal (rictal) portion distinctly, sometimes al)ruptiy, deHexcd, Nos- 

 tril small, circular or oblong, opening in anterior end of nasal fossa, 

 separated from feathering of latero-frontal antia> by naked membrane, 

 which also extends along the upper edge of the nostril, Rictal bristles 

 obvious, one to three ])eing fairly well developed. Wing moderate, 

 much rounded, ver}' concave beneath; seventh to fourth primari(>s 

 longest and nearh' ecjual, or sixth and tifth slightly longer than 

 seventh and fourth, sometimes (in T. plfurostictm) the seventh and 

 sixth longest; eighth of variable relative length (equaling the first, 

 second, third, fourth, or tifth, respectively, in ditl'erent species); ninth 

 shorter than secondaries, decidedl}^ less than twice as long as tenth. 

 Tail two-thirds'^' to nine-tenths'' as long as wing, nuich rounded (grad- 

 uation sometimes ocjual to nearly one-third its length), the rectrices 

 l)roadly rounded at tip. Tarsus longer than middle toe with claw, 

 much longer than exposed culmen, about two-fifths to one-third as 

 long as wing, the acrotarsium distinctlv scutellate, the i)lanta tarsi 

 booted; outer toe slighly longer than inner, reaching (without claw) 

 to decidedly beyond snbterminal joint of middle toe, its claw falling- 

 short of base of middle claw; hallux (without claw) as long as outer 

 toe (without claw) but decidedl}" stouter, its claw decidedh' shorter 

 than the digit; basal phalanx of middle toe united to outer toe for 

 most (sometimes all) of its length to inner toe for more than half its 

 length. 



Coloration. — Above ranging from grayish l)rown to chestnut- rufous, 

 the pileum and hindneck sometimes black; i-emiges and rectrices more 

 or less distinctly barred with black or dusky, the back sometimes 

 faintly barred; under parts more variable, the general color whitish, 

 grayish brown, or rufous, sometimes ))arred, more or less, with black, 

 the throat, chest, and breast striped with Idack and white in one 

 species. 



yid/jication. — The nidification of few species is known. 7\ phuros- 

 tlcttis builds a retort-shaped nest of dry grasses, lined with hairs and 

 plant down, ** fixed horizontally around the stem of a bush, often at 

 the fork of two branches,"'^' and lays eggs "'of a beautiful greenish 

 blue color/' '^ T. st'naloa also builds a nest "partly suspended from 



"In T. (horaricKS. ''Suinirharst, Bull. V. S. Nat. .Mu.<., no. 4, lS7(i, 14. 



'' In 7\ modestus. 



