PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



383 



probably collected at a different season, which may account for the dif- 

 ference. 



Measurements. 



Phaeornis myadestina Stejn. 



Flycatchiug Thrush. Ou. 



The two specimens of this bird are very interesting, not only because 

 they bear out tbe characters of the species, thus confirming its validity, 

 but especially because both are young. Eo. 116786 agrees closely with 

 one of the original specimens, which, at the time, I noted as immature 

 (/. c, p. 71), having the characteristic semilunar spot of buffy white bor- 

 dered by a blackish fringe at the tip of the wing coverts. ' The other 

 specimen is still younger. In this the feathers of the rump and the upper 

 tail-coverts belong to the first plumage, having the buffy subapical 

 spot and the black terminal fringe; moreover, all the feathers of the 

 lower surface are margined terminally with grayish or blackish, giving 

 those parts a scaly appearance ; tertiaries and inner secondaries are 

 margined apically with whitish. Placing this bird alongside a Mya- 

 destes townsendi in corresponding plumage, no one would doubt that the 

 characteristic wing pattern, the peculiar structure of the bill, the 

 booted tarsus, and the almost identical appearance of the young plu- 

 mage are more than superficial similarities. In fact, were it not for 

 the different proportions of wing, tail, and legs, the two birds could 

 hardly be separated generically. It should also be borne in mind that 

 the proportions vary greatly within the genus Myadestes itself, and that 

 by selecting our species we can find some in which these proportions 

 differ less from Phwornis, than do the most extreme species of Mya- 

 destes inter se, as will be seen from the following tables: 



I. Ratio between tail and wing. 



Fhosornis myadestina 1 : 1.25 



Myadestes venezuelensis 1 : 1.15 



Myadestes townsendi 1 : 1.15 



Myadestes obscurus 1 : 1.02 



II. Ratio between tarsus and loing. 



Phaeornis myadestina 1:3.12 



Myadestes venezuelensis 1 : 1 .'J."> 



Myadestes townsendi 1 : ;">.('>•> 



Myadestes obscurus 1 : 4.?6 



