BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 771 



Pogonotriccus, respectively, tlie first {'' Myiarchus" validus) and 

 second havinsi; the tarsal envelope almost typically holaspidean. 

 Even with the slitjjhtly modified limits mentioned above, the Cotin- 

 gidte constitutes ''one of the most heterogeneous of all the groups 

 of birds. One has only to compare the little briirhtly colored Calyp- 

 tura cristata with tlie larp;e soml^er ITmbrella-l)irds {Ceyhalopterus) 

 to see how o])vi()usly this is the case. Unfortunately, the anatom^' 

 of a XnYf^e number of the species has not 3-et been studied, so that 

 the classification rests mainly upon external characters. The bond 

 of union at present is the structure of the tarsal coverin<r, which, 

 to use Suntlevall's term, is 'pycnaspidean.' " This structure includes 

 the Phytotomida^, which again are separable by their serrate bills." ^ 



As stated by the authors of the "Biologia," quoted above, the 

 Cotingida" comprises birds of extremely diverse form, size, and color- 

 ation. The smallest species, scarcely 3^ inches long, closely resem- 

 l)les in general form and coloration some of the smaller Manaldns, 

 while the largest, 18 inches long, are not unlike a crow in appear- 

 ance. Some species are perhaps the most richly colored of birds, 

 others again are as plain in plumage as it is possible for birds to 

 be, while a few are even uncouth in aspect, having bald heads, or 

 worm-like fleshy appendages to the head. Many genera have remark- 

 able modifications of the primary quills. 



^lost species are said to feed chiefly on fruits, though insects 

 doubtless constitute a considerable part of their fare. 



The Cotingas are peculiar to tropical America, chiefly the conti- 

 nental portion (only two species occurring in the West Indies, and 

 these confined to Jamaica). About thirty genera and considerably 

 more than one hundred species are known, of which only twelve 

 genera and about twenty-five species (including subspecies) occur 

 northward of the Isthmus of Panama. Of the two West Indian 

 species one belongs to a continental genus (Flatypsaris) , the other 

 to a monotypic endemic genus (Hylonax). "In this case," says 

 Doctor Sclater, "as in many other Neotropical groups of animals 

 and plants, there seem to be three districts which may be called the 

 principal 'loci' of their development, namely: Central America 

 (characterized by Carpodectes and the extraordinary species of GJias- 

 morhynclius and Ce phalopterus) , Guiana and Amazonia (the home of 

 Phmnicocercus, Rupicola, Querula,'' (TymnocepJialus , and Gymnoderus), 

 and southeastern Brazil, where alone we find Tijuca, Pkihalura, and 

 Calyptura.'' 



« But see footnote on p. 770. 



b Salvin and Godman, Bioloyia Cent rali- Americana, Ares, ii, 117, footnote. 



c Instead of Querula, Hxmatoderus was no doubt intended, for, while the latter, a 

 large and magnificently colored bird, is peculiar to Guiana and Amazonia, the former 

 is not, but extends northward to Costa Rica. 



