Vol. X 

 1S93 



Cherrie on Two Costa Rican Birds. 2 7Q 



expressing its happiness, the melody is none the less delightful. 

 At the little village of Buenos Aires, on the Rio Grande of 

 Terraba, I heard the song more frequently than at any other 

 point. Close by the ranch house at which we were staying, there 

 is a small stream bordered by low woods and underbrush, that 

 formed a favorite resort for the birds. Just below the ranch is 

 a convenient spot where we took our morning bath. I was 

 always there just as day was breaking. On the opposite bank 

 was a small open space in the brush occupied by the limbs of 

 a dead tree. On one of these branches, and always the same 

 one, was the spot chosen by a Red-rump to pour forth his 

 morning song. Some mornings I found him busy with his 

 music when I -arrived, and again he would be a few minutes be- 

 hind me. Sometimes he would come from one direction, some- 

 times from another, but he always alighted at the same spot and 

 then lost no time in commencing his song. While singing, the 

 body was swayed to and fro, much after the manner of a Canary 

 while singing. The song would last for perhaps half an hour, 

 and then away the singer would go. I have not enough musi- 

 cal ability to describe the song, but will say that often I remained 

 standing quietly for a long time, only that I might listen to the 

 music. 



Thamnophilus bridgesi Scl. 



Thamnophilus bridgesi Scl. P. Z. S. 1S56, p. 141 ; Cat. Bds. Brit. 

 Mus. XV, p. 194; Salv. P. Z. S. 1S67, p. 144; 1870, p. 194; Lawr. Ann. 

 Lye. N\ Y. IX, p. 107; Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 18S7, 

 p. 114; Salv. cS: God. Biologia, II, p. 199. 



Thamnophilus punctatus Cab. J. f. Orn. 1861, p. 241; Salv. Ibis, 1870, 

 p. no; P. Z. S. 1870, p. 194; Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, 

 p. 114; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. XV, p. 191; Salv. & God. Biologia, 

 II, p. 198. 



I have before me a series of sixty-eight specimens, thirty-eight 

 males and thirty females. The males might be referred to T. 

 punctata and the females to T. bridgesi, according to the origi- 

 nal descriptions. But in four years' collecting at various points 

 through the country I have never met with a male ''bridgesi'' nor 

 a female '•punctata.' I have always found the two associated 

 together, and, in my last trip to the southwest coast, mated and 



