Clark, Notes on Todus, Oxyruncue and SpindctKs, / 10>) 



females. Mr. Etidgway (1907, Bull. I'. S. Nat. Mu i., No. 60, p. 33 !) 

 considers the character as really not worl h con [deration, the lerra- 

 inui being bo faint as to be practically non-existent." Again <>u 

 p. 333 (footnote) he says the character is " \<-ry indistinct in all 



i" -li < amined" and yet on p. 334 (footnote) be aj i that it is 



"very obvious in ;i ipecimen exed by the collector as ;•■ Female." 

 It leema to me that Mr. Ridgway has been misled by the mistake 

 of tlii collector w ho apparently sexed a male a female. Such mis- 

 takes are nol rare, most collectors having probably made them ;it. 



ome time, and it i i ea ier for me to believe that such a mistake has 

 occurred in this case, than to question the importance of this 

 striking character, li is well known that in several genera of 

 Pipridae, the male possesses peculiar modifications of the wing 

 feathers b - ;i lecondary <■ mal character and ii is probable that in 

 Oxyruncus the lerration of the tenth primary on its outer web is 

 of ;i similar nature. More material would seem to be necessary 

 before I he que ii ion can be definitely let tied. 



Spindalis. 



Dr. Barbour collected at Guantanamo, Cuba, a fine pair, male 

 and female, of Spindalis pretrei (Lesson) which I have examined 

 with much interest. The general pterylosis is notable only in 

 thai the dorsal tract doc., qoI have the rhomboidal form usual 

 among Pa leres but is narrowly elliptical as Nitzsch figures it in 

 Oriolus. The other tracts ihow no pecial peculiarities. The wing 

 is somewhat rounded, I he ii ■. t h, sevent h and eighl h primarie i being 

 rather Bhort and subequal, with the ninth and fifth Btill ihorter. 

 There are of course nine primaries and nine econdaries. The 

 twelve rectria are approximately equal, though the outer ones are 

 reallj the longest. The bony palate is notable chiefly for the very 

 lou^ and slender palatine processes. The re i , qo trace of a lecond- 

 ary palatine process such as occurs in Zamelodia. The alimentary 

 canal i characterized by a rather short and unusually large in- 

 u tine. Thestomach is imall, less than 10 mm. long, and ther< 

 no crop, though the basal pari of the oesophagus is somewhat 

 enlarged. The inte tine is only about 90 mm. long, but is about 



