A02 Snodgrass, Geospiza^ Cocor>iis, and Certhidia. I Oct 



gardens in Port-of-Spain. It is very active and restless. The 

 song of this bird is unlike that of any of ours, being a quick 

 ascending succession of notes, pitched very high. There is a 

 suggestion of panting and of effort in the song, and its high key, 

 which makes it somewhat squeaky, is rather disagreeable. 



NOTES ON THE ANATOMY OF GEOSFIZA, 

 COCORNIS, AND CERTHIDIA. 



BY ROBERT E. SNODGRASS. 

 Plaks XVII-XX. 



Geospiza and Cerihidia are the two distinctively peculiar avian 

 genera of the Galapagos Islands. The former consists of a large 

 number of species and varieties, and has always been regarded as 

 belonging to the family Fringillida;. Certhidia, consisting of 

 eight varieties comprised in two species, was formerly placed in 

 the Ccerebidae, but both Lucas and Ridgway now regard it as 

 belonging to the Mniotiltida:;. Coconiis is known only from the 

 small island of Cocos, lying off the Gulf of Panama and northeast 

 of the Galapagos Islands about four degrees north of the equator. 

 It consists of one known species, and has always been assigned to 

 the Fringillidce. But it has probably been so classified more on 

 account of its general resemblance to Geospiza than from a con- 

 sideration of its own characters. 



In all structviral points Cocornis really resembles Cerihidia more 

 than it resembles Geospiza. To be sure, the adult males of 

 Cocornis and of most of the Geospiza species are almost plain 

 black, while the adults of Certhidia are gray with admixtures of 

 olive and brownish. Yet, in the shape of the bill and in the struc- 

 ture of the skull Certhidia and Cocornis are almost identical. On 

 the other hand, the structural differences between Cocornis and 

 Geospiza are slight — the slender-billed Geospizce differ from 

 Cocornis in the characters of the skull and skeleton of the bill. 



