BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 207 



less) than 190 mm. and without any red, and with under tail-coverts 

 at least partly red. 



Bill moderate in size (about half as long as head or a little more) , 

 much deeper than long; culmen about as long as outer front toe with- 

 out claw (longer in P. fuscus and P. chalcopterus, slightly shorter in 

 P. menstruus), regularly and strongly decurved from base, flattened 

 (sometimes broadly but shallowly grooved) proximally; maxilla 

 rather strongly compressed toward culmen (especially in front of 

 nostril) , with unguis rather long (much longer than wide) , its palatal 

 surface distinctly corrugated and nearly flat; maxillary tomium 

 with a deep and broad post-ungual notch, preceded by a more or less 

 prominent, sometimes obtusely angular, lobe; depth of mandible at 

 base decidedly less to much less than length of gonys, very much less 

 than basal width; mandible more or less flattened laterally and be- 

 neath, sometimes with a distinct ridge separating the lateral and under 

 surfaces, the latter sometimes with a more or less distinct median 

 ridge,® the width of its chisel-like, more or less flattened and truncate 

 tip equal to less than half the length of the gonys, its tomium deeply 

 and broadly incised (concave) distally and more or less convex prox- 

 imally, its base beneath broadly and more or less deeply concave. 

 Cere very strongly sinuated, the upper (prenasal) portion strongly 

 convex, the lower half drawn backward nearly (sometimes quite) to 

 the loral feathering. Nostrils fully exposed, rather large, circular, 

 nearly in center of cere. Wing moderate, rather pointed, the longest 

 primaries exceeding distal secondaries by about one-third to two- 

 fifths the length of wing; ninth, eighth and ninth, or seventh, 

 eighth, and ninth primaries longest, the tenth (outermost) equal to 

 or shorter than seventh. Tail less than half as long as wing (nearly 

 half as long in P. maximiliani, only about two-fifths as long in P. 

 chalcopterus), shghtly double-rounded, slightly emarginate, or trun- 

 V;ate, the rectrices with extreme tip narrowly rounded or (usually) 

 subacuminate. Tarsus shorter than outer hind toe without claw, 

 very slightly to decidedly longer than inner front toe without claw. 



Plumage and coloration. — Cere, orbital region, extreme anterior 

 portion of malar region (mostly if not wholly concealed by feathering 

 of cheeks) and chin naked, the rest of the head (including at least 

 anterior portion of lores) densely feathered, the feathers, for the most 

 part, distinctly outlined or imbricated; those of the neck not dis- 

 tmctly enlarged. Under tail-coverts always mostly red; iimer webs 

 of rectrices with more or less of red on proximal portion; no red on 

 wings nor on axiUars. 



Range. — Southern Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, 

 southeastern Brazil, and Guiana. (Twelve species.)^ 



a In these ridges and flattened surfaces there is an approximation in the form of the 

 mandible in Pioniis to that of Triclaria (see p. 116), in which, however, these characters 

 are developed to an extreme degree. 



&The above description of generic character is based on P. menstruus, P. maximili- 

 ani, P. senilis, P. chalcopterus, and P. fuscus. 



