VII CONOPOPHAGIDAE 489 
round spots on both wing and tail; while the yellowish lower parts 
of Myrmotherula pygmaea, Herpsilochmus rufimarginatus and three 
species of Verenura exhibit the brightest tints found in the Family. 
Black or dark-hued caps are not infrequent ; crests occur in Latara, 
Pithys, and many members of Thamnophilus ; the rump-feathers 
are often dense and elongated, as in Yhammnistes, Pygoptila, 
Chamaeza, Cercomacra, and Thamnomanes ; those of the flanks are 
much developed in Zhamnocharis; those of the lores are short 
and erect in Pyriglena. Bare red or bluish orbits are found occa- 
sionally ; Gymnocichla has most of the head naked and blue; and 
the irides may be red, white, or brown. Satara is quite fourteen 
inches long, Myrmotherula pygmaea about three. 
The usually sby and retiring Formicariidae either skulk among 
dense undergrowth in hot tropical forests, or frequent more culti- 
vated districts; they creep about silently, singly or in pairs, seek- 
ing spiders, insects and their larvae, on the twigs and foliage of 
trees, or on parasitical plants or grasses; while they habitually keep 
near the ground, though sometimes joining flocks of other birds 
in their higher flights. Many carefully search the lower surface of 
the leaves for food with the head downwards, and occasionally eat 
seeds. The Grallariinae appear to be entirely, and the Formi- 
carlinae to a great extent terrestrial, hops being the characteristic 
mode of progress ; the tail is commonly carried erect or in motion, 
as in the case of Formicarius, and is often much abraded by 
the thorny thickets. TZhamnophilus albinuchalis and some other 
species choose dry situations, but generally the vicinity of water 
is preferred. The ordinary note in the Family is deep and 
powerful, and is said to have the effect of ventriloquism ; it con- 
sists of monotonously repeated sounds, like ke-ke-ke or ko-ko-ko, 
varied by more rasping tones or trills. The nest, a slight shallow 
structure, generally hung from the lower twigs of a tree or bush, is 
composed of straws, fibres, roots, and hair, or occasionally of leaves, 
moss, and wool ; it contains two or three white, bluish, or rufous- 
brown eggs, usually spotted, streaked, or zigzagged with red-brown, 
but more rarely with grey. . 
Fam. XI. Conopophagidae.—These curious birds, and their 
equally remarkable allies the Pteropltochidae, differ from all. other 
Passeres in having two incisions posteriorly on eaeh side of the 
sternum. The Conopophagidae, extending from Colombia to Bolivia 
and Brazil, include the genus Conopophaga and probably Coryth- 
