rare American Oscines. 241 



no species at all resembling it. The only remaining group 

 with which it would be possible to associate Idiopsar is the 

 Coerebidse. But I can see no satisfactory resting-place for 

 it here. On the whole therefore I should be disposed to 

 place Idiopsar among the Eringillidse^ unless it is preferable 

 to make it the type of a separate family. 



Mr. Keulemans^s drawing (Plate VII.) will, I trusty serve 

 to render this obscure form better known^ and perhaps help 

 to induce some one to send us home further specimens. 

 The type was procured in La Paz, Bolivia, by Mr. D. K. 

 Carter. 



Of Acanthidops bairdi, Ridgway, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus, 

 1881, p. 336, two specimens are now before me" — the original 

 type, from the Volcano of Irazu, Costa Rica, obtained by J. 

 Cooper in 1880, marked " $ ," and a second specimen from 

 the same locality obtained by the same collector in 1883, 

 marked " ^ ." The plumage scarcely differs in the two sexes, 

 but the male is rather larger in dimensions. As regards the 

 position of this bird in the series, I trust Mr. Ridgway will 

 excuse me if I venture to differ from him. He has described 

 it very accurately, and I have nothing to add to his cha- 

 racters ; but in my opinion the collector, who is stated to 

 have referred it to the Fringillidse, was correct in so doing. 



In the first place the primaries are, I think I may con- 

 fidently say, nine in number, the outermost being but slightly 

 shorter than the next three following. This at once removes 

 it from the Tracheophones, in which a tenth primary is 

 always present, and shows that it is a nine-primaried 

 Oscine. It is quite true that the division of the anterior face 

 of the tarsus into distinct plates would primarily militate 

 against this position ; but the same structure is to be found 

 in other true Oscines (such as Mimus and Thryothorus), and 

 cannot negative the verdict of the nine primaries. I should 

 therefore propose to place Acanthidops near Chrysomitris in 

 the family Fringillidse. 



