36 Mr. D. G. Elliot on the Trocliilidse. 



Thaumatias to an entirely different generic form of the Tro- 

 chilidae from that indicated by Bonaparte by his type, a form 

 for which Reichenbach had established the term Agyrtria, 

 with Ornismyia brevirostris , Less., for its type; and in future, 

 therefore, the birds reviewed in this paper should be classed in 

 Reichenbach^s genus, with Thaumatias, Gould (nee Bon.), as 

 its synonym Thaumantias, Bon., becoming a synonym of 

 Polytmus, Brisson^. 



The sexes of the members of this genus are alike in plumage, 

 except in the case of T. chionurus, the female of which varies 

 in a slight degree from the male ; and it is probable that in a 

 final classification of this family this species may appropriately 

 be removed into another genus. I did at one time refer to 

 Thaumatias two birds described by my friend Mr. G. K. 

 Lawrence as Euphei'usa cupreiceps and E. nigriventris (Ann. 

 & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4. vol. viii. p. 267, 1871) ; but I believe 

 they are better placed in a genus by themselves, as has been 

 done by M. Mulsant in his ' Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux- 

 mouches,^ as in several particulars they differ from the genera 

 with which they have been associated. I am able to recognize 

 twenty-one species (one perhaps doubtful) belonging to the 

 genus Thaumatias, and have divided them into three groups, 

 characterized by the coloration of their throats and breasts. 

 The first of these contains two subdivisions, distinguished 

 from each other by the degree of brilliancy observed on the top 

 of the head. The second group contains three subdivisions, 

 characterized by the coloration of the under tail-coverts. One 

 of the chief specific characters among the members of the va- 

 rious groups apj)ears to be the coloration of the rectrices, which, 

 in the majority of cases, permits the species to be determined 

 without much difficulty. Six species have brilliant metallic 

 crowns, varying somewhat in the extent of the dispersion of the 

 hues towards, or upon, the occiput ; three have this part only 

 slightly metallic; one has both crown and face covered with 

 * [This view of the type of Thmimantias, Bp., we ranuot agree to ; 

 for it is evident from the Oonsp. Av. (p. 78) that T. thaumantias, Linn., 

 apud Bp. = T. alhiveutfts, Less., and therefore = T. tephrocephalus, Vieill., 

 apud Elliot (infra, p. 48). Thus considered, Mr. Gould is correct in his 

 application of Bonaparte's name Thaumantias. — Edd.J 



