66b PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIOIJAL MUSEUM. 



Wiigs decidedly longer than the tail, very concave beneath, the 3d, 

 4th, and 5th quills nearly equal and longest, the 2d very little shorter, 

 the 1st about equal to the 7th. Tail about equal to the wing measured to 

 the ends of the secondaries, nearly even or very slightly rounded, con- 

 sisting of twelve rectrices, which are acute but not stiffened at the 

 points; the outer web of the intermedice broader at the base than the 

 inner web. 



Type, A. bairdi, sp. nov. 



This remarkable genus is so very distinct from any other hitherto 

 described that it is quite difficult to decide where to place it. It evi- 

 dently belongs, however, to the Synallaxiue group, on account of the 

 structure of the feet, but the bill is so widely different from that of any 

 other member of the family {'^Dendrocolaptidw^^) as to suggest certain 

 Fringilline forms, as Carduelis and Chrysomitris. In fact, the bill is so 

 similar in form to that of the genera named that the collector had re- 

 ferred it to the latter genus. 



As characters additional to those given in the above diagnosis, it 

 may be stated that the bill is slightly notched near the tip ; that the 

 rictal bristles are so minute as to be hardly i)erceptible, and that the 

 posterior face of the tarsus, on both sides, is entirely undivided, in 

 which latter respect the present bird differs from Synallaxis and Placel- 

 lodromns, but agrees with Automolus. 



4. Acanthidops bairdi, sp. nov. 



Sp. ch. — ^ (adult f) : Above dull olive-brown, the back washed with 

 rusty ; wings dusky, the middle and greater coverts tipped with pale 

 rusty, forming two distinct bands, the inner secondaries broadly edged 

 with darker rusty ; remaining secondaries narrowly skirted with dark 

 umber-brown, the primaries with light, dull ochraceous or yellowish 

 olive. Tail dusky, the outer webs slightly greenish olivaceous. Pileum 

 indistinctly streaked with dusky; sides of the bead and neck dull oliv- 

 aceous, lighter than the crown and nape ; chin and throat still paler, 

 the feathers pale ashy beneath the surface ; rest of lower parts dull, light 

 olivaceous, tinged with deeper olive across the breast and along the 

 sides. Maxilla blackish, paler along the edge; mandible whitish; legs 

 and feet light brownish (in dried skin) ; "iris pale blue." Wing, 2.50 j 

 tail, 2.20; culmen, .58; commissure, .05; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .00. 



Type, No. 85549, coll. U. S. Kat. Mus., Volcau de Irazu, Costa Eica, 

 Oct. 10, 1880; Juan Cooper. 



5. Nyctibius jamaicensis (Gm.) Gosse. 



Two very fine specimens, both females, from Sarclii, Alajuela (altitude 

 3,000 feet), August and September, 1881, agree with examples from Co- 

 lombia and Eastern Peru, in rich dark colors. The two skins dififer much 

 in proportions, however, though evidently both adults ; and after com- 

 paring with a considerable series of specimens from Jamaica, Mirador 



