1913 ' J Clark, VoU ion Todus, Oxyruncus and Spindalis 403 



different orders, under the impression that they were congeneric, 

 should lead to mistakes in describing the pterylosis of the genus! 

 Forbes lias pointed ou1 thai the sternal tracts are not remarkable, 

 a they are figured by Nitzsch, but arc quite like those of many 

 Pa erine birds, broad, undivided but abruptly contracted where 

 thej pa into the very narrow ventrals. The connection between 

 the '< rnal .-111(1 the numerals over the base of the wing is however 

 unusually well feathered and this, no doubt, has led to one of the 

 errors in Nitzsch's figure !'. Nitzsch says there are 19 remiges 

 which Forbes corrects to 20, bul the specimen at hand shows 21 

 very clearly, there being II secondaries in each wing. In the 

 pterylosis of the head, there are certain peculiarities which neither 



NitZSch nor Forbes mention bul which are of some importance 



nevertheless. The back of the head is very sparsely Feathered but 

 aboul the middle of the neck the upper cervical tract begins 

 abruptly and is densely feathered. Tin- frontal trad is thickly 

 feathered and is sharply limited on each side by a conspicuous 

 supraocular apterium. The loner cervical tract continues clear 

 to th<- gonys as a narrow, thickly-feathered strip hounded on each 

 side by :i prominent apterium along each ramus of the lower jaw. 



Ill ;ill these three features, there is a noticeable resell! bla lice to the 



pterylosis of Alcedo. 



In the specimen before me, which is an adult Todus multicolor 

 Gould, from Cojimar, Havana Province, Cuba, there is an inter- 

 esting peculiarity, which calls for special comment. There are 

 only eighl rectrices and, while examination shows that one of the 

 middle pair and one of the outside pair have been accidentally lost, 

 ii i clear thai this bird never had bul ten. Nitzsch gives the num- 

 ber of rectrices in Todus as twelve and all later writers have fol- 

 lowed him. Through the kindness of Mr. Bangs, I have examined 

 a number of skins of Todus from Cuba', Jamaica, Hayti and Porto 

 Rico and in ever; ca e there are twelve rectrices. It seems (hen 

 that this specimen which Dr. Barbour collected in Cuba is an 

 individual variant, which in view of the peculiarities of the little 



family 1o which it belongs, is of more than ordinary inter, t 



