BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 113 



Family PTILOGONATID^. 



THE SILKY FLYCATCHERS. 



Aboreal ten-primaried acutiplantar Oscines, with small, broad, and 

 deeph^ cleft bill; short, usually distinct!}^ scutellate, tarsi; rather short, 

 rounded wings; long, fan-shaped tail, and silky blended i)lumage; the 

 young with under yjarts neither streaked nor spotted. 



Bill short, broad, depressed, and deeply cleft, much as in Ampelidse, 

 but mandibular rami of normal width; width of gape much less than 

 length of exposed culmen; gon3^8 but slightly convex and at least half 

 as long as mandibular rami. Nostril exposed, roundish or ovate, bor- 

 dered above and behind (sometimes all round) b}^ membrane, the nasal 

 fosstB almost wholly unfeathered. Rictal bristles well developed. 

 Wing rather short, much rounded, the outermost (tenth) primary well 

 developed, much longer than primary coverts, but not more (usually 

 less) than half as long as ninth; ninth primary shorter than third, 

 sometimes shorter than first. Tail longer than distance from bend of 

 wing to tip of longest secondaries, usualW equal to or longer than 

 entire wing, rounded, emarginated, slightly' forked, or graduated. 

 Tarsus usuall}' shorter than middle toe with claw (longer only in 

 Pludnopt'dci)^ with acrotarsium distinctly scutellate (except in adults 

 of Phainoptila)^ the lower fourth or more of the planta tarsi also dis- 

 tinctly scutellate (except in Phainoptila)^ outer toe slighth' longer 

 than the inner, its claw falling a little short of base of middle claw; 

 hallux decidedly shorter than inner toe, its claw decidedly shorter 

 than the digit, strongl}^ curved; basal phalanx of middle toe united to 

 that of outm' toe for most of its length, to the inner for about half 

 its length. 



Coloration. — Plain-colored, the plumage never with spots, bars, 

 streaks, or other markings, even in 3'oung; never entireh^ unicolored; 

 plumage soft, blended; pileum usuall}?- crested. 



Xldificatlov. — In Phainopepla^'' siinilar to that of Ampelis. 



Range. — Southwestern United States to Costa Rica. (Three genera 

 and four species.) 



The genus Phainoptila. is doubtfully a member of this group, and 

 so far as the adult is concerned might easil}^ be referred to the Turdidte 

 without materiall}^ affecting the diagnosis of the latter family: ])ut the 

 3'Oung have the plumage absolutely plain-colored and the acrotarsium 

 distinctly scutellate. 



The silky flycatchers are a small group of ten-primaried Oscines with 

 short, broad bills, short scutellate tarsi, rather short, rounded wings, 

 long, fan-shaped tail, and silky plumage of plain but often handsome 

 colors. They are related to the ^^'axwings (famil}^ Ampelidae), and 



« Nothing is known as to nesting of the other genera. 

 10384— VOL 3—03 8 



