(.Yank, Note* oh Todus, Oxymncui <ui</ SpindaHs. [july 



0\> i;t \ci s. 



The only material of this rare bird available for study is the 

 skinned carcase, minus head, limbs and intestines, of a specimen 



shot by Mr. Ridgway, April 7, 1905, at Bouilla, Costa Rica. The 

 carcase has at some time been partially dried so that the muscles 



permitted of do careful dissection, and my observations are there- 

 fore confined to the tongue (which remains attached to t ho wind- 

 pipe), t ho syrinx, the heart, the sternum, the backbone and t ho 



sacrum. In none <^ these pails, did 1 lind a characteristic feature, 



but instead a striking resemblance to Sayornis and Tyrannus is 

 evident in all. The tongue and syrinx are so much like those of 

 Sayornis that the only difference noted is that the tongue is a 



little more horny than in the Phoebe and its posterior lobes have 

 distinctly fewer and much smaller, sharp marginal papilla*. The 

 heart is uoliceahly large, nuieh larger than that of a Kingbird. 

 It measures about Iti nun. in length by P nun. in thickness, while 

 the Kingbird's is about 1 I by 7.' nun. The sternum is almost 



exactly like that of Sayornis, only it is larger and the manubrium 



is longer, more deeply forked and hence more conspicuous. The 

 Scapulae art- a little longer, more pointed and more curved than in 



Sayornis, but the differences are ven trifling. The coracoids are 



stout and the proeoracoids are \ cry conspicuous as in Tvraunus. 



The \ ertebral column is like that of T\ rannus in the number of its 



COmponenl parts but t ho first of the seven pairs of ribs are long and 

 slender as in Sayornis. The sacrum is noticeably larger and its 

 vertebra] components more fully ossified than in Tyrannus, so that 

 the sacra of the two genera can be easily distinguished, but none 



of t ho differences are important. Indeed, it must be said that so 



tar as the interna] structures which I have examined are concerned, 

 there is no reason why Oxyruncus should be separated from the 

 l\ rannidse. 



Mr. Bangs has kindly permitted me to examine the skins ii\' an 

 adult male OxjffUncuS CristatUS (Swains.) from Brazil and of three 



females of 0, c. /rater (Scl. & Sal.) from Costa Rica. The male 

 shows the peculiar modification of the outer web o( the first (tenth) 

 primary perfectly developed, while it is entirely lacking in the three 



