I DO Elliot on the Genus Dendrornis. [April 



Each of the three nests that I have found was similarly situated 

 in the middle of thick hushes, growing thickly among others of 

 their kind on the slopes of mountains, forming the hundreds of 

 thousands of acres of brush land, known locally as 'chaparral' or 

 'chemise,' which is the sole habitat of Virco vicinior califomicus. 

 1 find this variety only between the altitudes of 2000 and 4000 

 feet, principally from 3000 to 3500. They appear early in April, 

 and are gone by September. Probably two broods are raised. 



A STUDY OF THE GENUS DENDRORNIS AND ITS 



SPECIES. 



BY D. G. ELLIOT. 



Among the ditficult groups in ornithology, the Dendrocolap- 

 tidae occupy a prominent position, and the species of the genus 

 Dendrornis are not the least puzzling of its members. These 

 bear, as a rule, so close a resemblance to each other, that at 

 times, from descriptions alone, it is impossible to determine 

 exactly which species may be under consideration, and ornitholo- 

 gists have frequently been obliged to transmit their material to 

 those who have access to the types, in order that their examples 

 might be correctly named. Fully aware of the difficulties that 

 other naturalists have had to contend with in their work on this 

 genus, I should never have attempted its revision, had I not 

 been able to obtain a large number of the type specimens de- 

 scribed from time to time, and so to have a tangible, indis- 

 putable starting point, from which to base my conclusions. 

 Of the thirty-one forms, that have been named as belonging to 

 this genus, I have procured no less than fourteen types, and 

 among the other examples in my possession are some that have 

 been compared and identified with the types of other species by 

 ornithologists who have paid especial attention to these perplex- 

 ing birds. 



My material consists of one hundred and seventy-seven sjjec- 

 imens, obtained from the following sources : the Boston 



