562 BAHAMA IlUNEY CHEEPER. 



while the secondaries and primaries are very narrowly ed^e 1 with whitish. Terminal patch of white oti 

 outer tail feather .4t.) wide, a smaller pitch on next, then they <^radually decrea.'e in she on each successive 

 feather until the central feathers are merely tipjied with it. This color extends alonjr both webs for about an 

 equal distance, but the line of demarkation is not straight across the feathers, as the dark encroaches more 

 in the center than along the sides. Shafts of feathers of tail black above, white bel'.)w. Superciliary 

 line, extending from bill to nape, and lower parts, ashy white, clearest in front, tinged with brownish on 

 flanks. Edge of wing and large patch on breast, running down into a point on abd iinen, pure yellow. Iris, 

 brown. Bill, blue black, lighter at base of lower mandible, while th? protruding soft edges of the mandibles 

 are pale lake. Feet, dark brown. 



Adult female, similar to the male, but decide. lly paler above. There is less yellow on the rump and the 

 wings are browner.while the yellow below is not as extended. 



Young of both sexes are similar, but browner above, especially on top of the head, the males resembling 

 the adult females, and the females are much browner. Nestlings of both sexes. Above, plumbeous brown, 

 slightly yellowish on rump, and a little darker on head. Wings, much as in the adult, but the white mark- 

 ings are not as extended. Tail, dark brown, edged with grayish. The outer feathers are narrowly mar- 

 gined with white on terminal portion of outer web, which is also tipped with white for about .10, .and 

 there is a terminal spot of white on inner web .3."i long ; the second feather has a smaller spot of white, the 

 third feather is merely tip|>ed with white, and the remainder is tipped with brownish ash. The super- 

 ciliary line is only indicated by a whitish patch, mixed with dusky, directly over the eye. Sides of head, 

 dusky. Beneath, ashy white, tinged everywhere, excepting on under wing coverts, with yellowish, this 

 being stronger on the middle of the body. There are a few dusky spots on throat. Edge of wing, yellow. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Out of sixtj'-eight specimens examined fortj'-seven have the second, third and fourth quills the longest ; 

 nine have the third and fourth ; five, the fourth : four, the second and third ; two, the third ; one, the second, 

 third, fourth and fifth. Fifty have the first and sixth quills equal in length : nine, the first and fifth ; two 

 h.ave the first longer than the fifth and sixth ; one has the first equal to the seventh. The graduation of the 

 onter tail feather is from .10 to .o2. There is but little variation in color aside from that due to age and 

 sex. The amount of white on the outer tail feather varies from .25 to ..oo in length and the exposed 

 patch on the wing from .15 to .30 in length .and from .20 to .31 in width. This species may be distinguished 

 from all other birds of our section by the curved bill and consiiicuous patch of yellow on breast and rump. 

 From other members of the genus by the decidedly white throat ami slaty anil black back. The nearest ap- 

 proach to 0. bahamensis is C. sharpii from the Cayman Islands, but this latter named species has the 

 throat more ashy and the colors above rlarker. The situation of the white areas on head, wings, and tail 

 and the darkening below in the nestling indicates a return toward some of the more southern and darker 

 species of this genus, which were beyond doubt the ])rogenitors of the Bahama H mey Creeper. 



In sternal characters, this species closely resembles the American Warblers, espicially those of tl e 

 genus Dendroeca, that is, the relative portion of the keel, width of sternum, length of fureula are similar, but 

 in the acutely angled, well curved terminal portion of the scapula we have an approach to the finches, but the 

 scapular is not longer than the coricoids, as in the Fringillidae. In the peculiar tongue, long narrow pro- 

 ventriculus, small, thin-walled, bean-shaped stomach, we find an approach toward the Humming Birds. 

 Yet the duodenum is short, not long, as in the Humming Birds, but the intestines of both are long and the 

 heart of the Creeper is large, while both lobes of the liver are equal, characters which are shared in common 

 with the Hummers. From these observations it would seem as if the Honey Creepers were differentiated 

 Warblers which have retained the osteological characters of their progenitors, but have assumed peculiar 

 modifications of the digestive organs acquired by a change of diet. 



The Bahama Creeper was first discovered by Catesby. but was introduced into binonimal nomenclature 

 by Dr. Ludwig Richenbaeh in Handbuch der Speciellen Oronithologie, lS5o, p. 2.j3. Resident throughout 

 the Bahamas, accidental on the Florida Keys. 



