Auk 



tOl! Clark, Vbfesoti Todus, Oxyruncus and Spindaiis, \m\\\ 



ANATOMICAL NOTES ON TODUS, OXYRUNCUS AND 

 SPINDAUS. 



i;v HUBERT I VM v\ CLARK. 



During a recent visit to Cuba, Dr. Thomas Barbour was so 

 kind as to secure alcoholic specimens of Todus and Spindalis for 

 my study and 1 am glad to express here my thanks for his thought- 

 Fulness. Mr, Ridgway has very kindly entrusted to me the remains 

 o( a specimen of Oxyruncus which he collected in Costa Rica anil 

 I have to thank liim anil 1 >r. Richmond for giving mo the oppor- 

 tunity of examining this interesting bird. 



Toot s. 



The anatomical characteristics of this conns have been so fully 

 worked out by Murie (1872, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 664) and 

 Forbes (1882, Proc. Zool. Soc, London, p. 442) that there would 

 seem to be very little to add to their accounts. Ihu the former 

 confined his studies to the skeleton while the latter deals with the 

 pterylosis so briefly that a few more details may well be mentioned. 

 Forbes has called attention to the very short intestine in Todus; 

 in the specimen before me from Cuba, it is about 70 mm. long or 

 just about equal to the length of the bird without its tail feathers. 

 The arrangement of the loops of the intestine is strikingly like that 

 of Alauda as figured by Gadow (1879, Jena. Zeits.. vol. 13, pi. XI, 

 tics. 8 and IP except that the loop I 7 is not nearly as lone. In 

 this respect it resembles the arrangement in Cypselus (1. c, PI. X, 

 tic. 10), to which it is very similar. 



\ sch's account (1840, Syst der Pteryl, p. 127, pi. IV. tics. 

 anil U^ of the pterylosis of Todus is unfortunately not very 

 accurate. Forbes suggests that this was probably due to his 

 observations being based on the study of skins. While this is no 

 doubt true, it is also due in part to his inclusion of Todirostrum 

 1 .) with Todus viridis 1.. in the genus Todus. h is 

 hardly strange that the study of the skins of two birds belonging to 



