BIRDS — ^LIOTRICHIDAE CAMPYLOEHYNCHUS BRUNNEICAPILLTJS. 



355 



Comparative measurements. 



CAMPYLORHYNCHUS BRUNNEICAPILLUS, Gray. 



Picolaptes brunneicapillus, Lafresnaye, Guerin Mag. de Zool. 1835, 61 ; pi. xlvii. California.— Lawrence, Annals 

 N. Y. Lye. V, May, 1851, 114. Texas.— Heermann, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d ser. II, Jan. 

 185.3, 263.— Cassin, Illust. I, 1854, 156 ; pi. xxv. 



Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, Gray, Genera, I, March, 3847, 159.— Bonap. Conspectus, 1850, 323. 



Sp. Ch. — Bill as long as the head. Above brown ; darkest on the head, which is unspotted. Feathers on the back streaked 

 centrally with white. Beneath whitish, Hnged with rusty on the belly ; the feathers of the throat and upper parts, and under tail 

 coverts, with large rounded black spots ; those of the remaining under parts with smaller, more linear ones. Chin and line over 

 the eye white. Tail feathers black beneath, barred subterminally (the outer one throughout) with white. 



Length, 8 inches ; wing, 3.40 ; tail, 3.55 inches. 



Hab. — Valleys of Rio Grande and Gila. Southward. 



(7149.) This, the largest wren found in the United States, hears a slight resemhlance to 

 the common creeper, Certliia americana, hut differs greatly in all essential features. The bill, 

 from the base of the skull, is about the length of the latter, and is considerably compressed and 

 slightly decurved. The tail is long and broad, about equal to the wings. The black spotting 

 on the throat is very conspicuous, relieved only slightly by the white edges of the feathers. 

 There is a black maxillary stripe. Each feather on the back, including the wing coverts, may 

 be said to have two whitish spots strung along the white midrib, the light portion bordered by 

 a duskier shade than the extreme margin of the feather. 



The outer edges of the quills are indented by triangular spots of whitish ; the basal portion 

 of the inner webs somewhat similarly marked. The two middle tail feathers are brown, some- 

 what like the crown, but with indistinct bands of darker ; the others are as described. 



Specimens vary considerably in the length of the bill, and in the amount of black spotting on 

 the throat. In a female, 7150, the white streaks on the back are somewhat wider. The second 

 tail feather is sometimes banded almost as much as the first, and the inner tail feathers are 

 distinctly and narrowly banded with whitish and black, instead of dark brown, and lighter. 



List of specimens. 



