THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN" REPUBLIC 359 



not differ appreciably from those of the main island. Following are 

 measurements taken from our series : 



Males, 6 specimens, wing 55.4-59.5 (56.7), tail 48.4-55.5 (52.9), 

 culmen from base 9.5-10.4 (9.9), tarsus 18.5-20.9 (19.7) mm. 



Females, 5 specimens, wing 54.5-57.0 (55.8), tail 51.2-53.1 (51.9), 

 culmen from base 9.1-10.5 (9.8), tarsus 18.1-19.8 (19.1) mm. 



Type, sex not known, wing 54.6, tail 49.7 culmen from base 10.2, 

 tarsus 18.4 mm. 



The affinities of this small bird have been a matter of some uncer- 

 tainty. The species was described in 1875 by George Newbold 

 Lawrence as Empidonax nanus and placed in the tyrant flycatchers, 

 Tyrannidae, evidently because of its flat bill. In 1886 Kidgway 

 separated it in another genus which he called Lawrencia in honor of 

 Lawrence, remarking that " the type of this genus is exceedingly dif- 

 ferent in structure from any of the species of Empidonax" He sug- 

 gested that in color it resembled "some of the Vireones especially 

 V. belli." On reviewing the species 34 critically again in connection 

 with his studies of the Tyrannidae Ridgway decided from examina- 

 tion of the wing structure and the form of the tarsal envelope and 

 foot that Lawrencia belonged in or near the family Vireonidae 

 though differing from recognized genera of Vireos in possessing a 

 broad, depressed bill of markedly triangular form. 



Among specimens forwarded by Dr. W. L. Abbott to the collec- 

 tions of the National Museum there is a complete specimen and 

 a body in alcohol from Gonave Island. Dissection of the complete 

 bird has afforded opportunity for a comparative study to deter- 

 mine more definitely the relationships of the species. These were 

 examined by Wetmore some years ago and an account of his find- 

 ings was presented before the A. O. U. meeting in Cambridge, Mass., 

 in 1923. As for various reasons this account of the anatomy and 

 affinities of this bird has never been published it is pertinent to 

 include it here in some detail. 



The alcoholic specimen examined had three rather prominent 

 rictal bristles on either side of the bill while the tips of the feathers 

 bordering the base of the maxilla were modified into setae. Both 

 upper and lower eyelids were bare save for a single row of small 

 marginal feathers on the upper lid and a double row on the lower 

 lid that merged into the densely feathered region of the lores. A 

 large roughly elliptical temporal space, characteristic of the osci- 

 nine Passeriformes occupied the side of the head posterior to the 

 auricular opening. (Fig. 1.) The spinal and ventral tracts were 

 differentiated on the side of the neck immediately below the ear 



M Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 1906, pp. 12-13, and U. S. Nat. Mus., Bull. 50, vol. 4, 

 1907, pp. 339, 892-893. 



