TURDID.E — THE THRUSHES. 



35 



Harporhynchus rufus. 



Genus HARPORHYNCHUS, Cabanis. 



Toxostoma, Waglei;, Isis, 1831, 528. (Type 2\ vetula, WagI/., not Toxostoma, Raf. 



1816.) 

 Harpes, Gambel, Pr. A. N. S. Phila. II. 1845, 264. (Type Harpes redivivus, Gamb., not 



of'GOLDFUSS, 1839.) 

 Harporhynchus, Cabanis, Archiv f. Naturg. 1848, i. 98. (Yy^e. Harpes rcdivivits, G.\mb.) 

 Methriopterus, Reich. Av. Syst. Nat. 1850, pi. iv. (Type said by Gray to be H. rufus.) 



Gex. Char. Bill from forehead as long as. or much longer than the head; becoming 

 more and more decurved in both jaws as lengthened. No indication of a notch. Rictus 

 with the bristles extending beyond 

 the nostrils. Tarsus long and stout, 

 appreciably exceeding the middle 

 toe and claw, strongly scutellate 

 anteriorly. Wings considerably 

 shorter than tail, much rounded ; 

 the first quill more than half the* 

 second ; fourth or fifth longest. 

 Tail large, much graduated ; the 

 feathers firm. 



The species of this genus 



are all of large size, in fact, 



embracing the largest of the 



American slender-billed os- 



cine birds. All the species differ in structure, varying especially in tlie 



length of the bill, as above stated. 



It is useless to attempt a division of this genus, for there is such a gradual 



chain of characters between the two extremes of form (rufus and crissalis), 



tliat they even seem almost one species, 

 when the numerous intermediate forms, 

 shading so insensibly into each other, are 

 considered. However, as this view would 

 be rather extreme, in view of the really 

 great difference of form between the species 

 mentioned, we may consider the following 

 as good species, several of them with one 

 or more varieties : rvfus, with longicauda 

 and Jongirostris as varieties, the former 

 scarcely appreciably different, the latter 

 ranking as a permanent race ; occllatus, ci- 

 nereus, cnrvirostris, the latter with one well- 

 marked variety, palmcri ; redivivus, with 

 most probably lecontd as a well-marked 

 A^ariety, and crissalis. 

 The seasonal differences in the plumage often make it difticult to deter- 

 mine these several fornis ; but if the following facts are borne in mind, the 



Harporh yn cli us rufus. 



