312 Dr. P. L. Sclater on the known Species o/Dacnis. 



The twelve species of the genus Dacnis with which I am now 

 acquainted may be divided as follows : — 



Ventre cseruleo: meuto ) g. J), carehicolor. 



Ventre et crisso 



^^S^^ I 3. D. nigrvpes. 



\ 4. D. melanotis. 



Ventre albo 



) 5. D. (wffi'lica. 



concoloribus . . ] y. Ventre nigro 6. D. venusta. 



„ . . j 7. -D. eqreyia. 



Ventre flavissinio . . . . -j g_ D.jlamventris. 



Ventre albicante • • • • j iq. j.. plumhea. 

 h. Ventre albicante ; i i 11. 2). leucogmys. 



crisso rufo . . . . j (12. D. speciosa. 



They are all easily characterized species, as will be seen by the 

 short characters which I have appended to each. I should men- 

 tion that Dr. Cabauis, who has lately obtained for the Berlin 

 Museum a species of my Dacnis hartlauhi (described P. Z. S. 

 1857, p. 251), has convinced me that this bird, although it 

 closely resembles Dacnis melanotis in colouring, is a true Cal- 

 liste. I have therefore not included it in my present list. 



The genus Dacnis and its congeners of the family Coerebidse 

 seem to represent the Nectariniidse of the Old World in the 

 Neotropical Region. They may, however, be easily recognized 

 by the entire absence of the first spurious primary, which is pre- 

 sent in Nectarinia, Dicceum, and their affines. In this respect 

 they agree with the Tanagridse and Mniotiltidse, with some forms 

 of each of which families Dacnis may be easily confounded. But 

 from the former Dacnis may be separated by its sharp-pointed 

 bill and the entire absence of any notch in the upper mandible, 

 and from the latter by the want of rictal bristles. The feathered 

 tongue of the Coerebidse is a characteristic which, if observable in 

 a skin, easily distinguishes it from both these groups. 



The range of Dacnis is restricted to the hot tropical forests of 

 South America, one species only extending up to the Isthmus 

 of Panama. The valleys in the neighbourhood of Bogota appear 

 to produce a greater number of species than any other locality 

 we are acquainted with ; but this may probably be owing to the 

 fact that no other part of the Andean range has been so 

 thoroughly worked. Six species occur in Bogota collections. 

 Western Ecuador produces only two, both of which vary slightly 



