446 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



oval or suhacuiiiinato. with rather In-oad superior operculum or mem- 

 brane. Kictal l»risth'.s o]).solete. Winj^- moderate or rather long-, with 

 three to four outermost primaries aliruptly longest (ninth usually 

 equal to or longer than sixth'); wing-tip usually shorter than tarsus.^ 

 Tail equal to or longer than distance from ])end of wing to tips of 

 secondaries (except in //. peregrlna), even, slightlj^ emarginate, or 

 double-rounded, the rectrices rather narrow. Tarsus much longer than 

 conuuissure, nearly-one third as long as wing (except in 11. percgrliid)^ 

 its scutella indistinct; middle toe, with claw, decidedly shorter than 

 tarsus; basal phalanx of middle toe united for more than half, some- 

 times most of. its length to outer toe, for about the basal half, or 

 slightly more, to inner toe. 



Coloration. — Very variable, but never with the throat orange nor 

 back black; if with a white superciliary stripe (extending a])ove auric- 

 ulars) the forehead yellow and a yellow patch on middle and greater 

 wing-coverts, 



N/dijieatlo)}. — Terrestrial, or (in //. Inda) the nest placed in holes 

 or l)ehin(l bark of stumps or tree trunks. 



Ii<in<l( . — North America in general, including highlands of Mexico; 

 Central America and northern South America and Cuba in winter. 

 (Ten species.) 



There is consideralile variation in details of external structure in 

 this genus. //. pereyrhia stands alone in having the wing-tip much 

 longer than the tarsus, the tail shorter than distance from bend of 

 wing to tip of secondaries and decidedly emarginate, and is besides the 

 only species without yellow on under parts and at the same time with- 

 out chestnut or tawny-ochraceous on crown. //. rnhrlcwplUa is unique 

 in the short ninth primary, which is shorter than the sixth instead of 

 equal to it or longer. //. hachmanl has the bill decidedly more slender 

 than other species, and with a perceptible downward trend at the tip. 

 It also has the frontal feathering more deeply cleft by the sharply ridged 

 culmen, the latero-frontal anti;e forming an acute angle in the poste- 

 rior portion of the more narrow nostrils. If. chry^optera^ II. phinx. 

 and //. liK'ue have the anterior toes more united basallv, the l)asal 

 phalanx of the middle toe being joined foi' most of its length to the 

 outer toe and for more than half its length to the middle toe. 



KEY TO TIIK .SI'ECIES ANT) SCHSPKCIKS OK ItELMIN'TriOI'IIILA.'^ 



n. AVinjrs l)icolore(l (ti{>sof middle and irroatiTcoviTts luorcor less extensively yellow 

 or white). 

 h. Throat and aniicnlar rei^ion hlaek (adult males) or gray or olive-green (adult 

 females). 



' Shorter than sixth only in H. ruhricapilla. • 



"^ Equal to tarsus in H. pinai^ and H cliri/soptera, longer in H. percgrina. 

 ^ IT. cincinnaticnsis (Langdon) is not introduced into the "key" for the reason 

 that it is obviously a hybrid between H. piniis and Opororiiis forniosa. (See Ridg- 



