422 Zoological Society : — 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Jan. 25, 1859.— E. W. H. Holdsworth, Esq., F.L.S., in the Chair. 



Descriptions of New Species of the American Family 

 Tyrannid^. By Philip Lutley Sclater. 



Attila citriniventris. 



Rufescens, capite obscuriore et cinereo tincto, dorso into dilutiore, 

 uropygio citrino-flavo : alis niyricantibus, extus rufescente lim- 

 batis ; gulii cinerascente, pectore rufo, ventre cum crisso 

 citrino-JIavo, hypochondriis et tectricibus subalaribus rufts : 

 Cauda dare rufa unicolore, basin versus dilutiore : rostro ni- 

 gricante, pedibus plumbeis. 



Long, tota &-7oy alse 3'2, caudse 2*6, rostri a rictu I'O. 



Hab. In valle Amazonum superiore ad ripas fl. Ucayali {Haux- 

 well). 



This species o{ Attila comes nearest to Attila spadiceus of Cayenne 

 and Northern Brazil, and is of about the same size, but may be di- 

 stinguished by its darker and more cinereous head and yellow belly, 

 as well as minor differences. An example in my own collection was 

 received from MM. Verreaux of Paris. One belonging to Mr. Gould 

 was procured by Hauxwell on the Ucayali. 



As to the position of this genus of birds and the synonymy of the 

 species, I agree with the views of M. de Lafresnaye, as given in his 

 article in the 'Revue Zoologique' (1848, p. 39). 



Next to Attila, I think, must be placed the curious type Casiornis 

 of Bonaparte, of which the earliest specific name appears to be rubra 

 of Vieillot. Its synonymy is very much confused ; but I am inclined 

 to refer Suirii'i roxa, Azar. sp. 188; Muscicapa rubra, Yieill. Diet, 

 xxi. 457, et Enc. p. 831 ; Muscicapa hcematodes, Licht. ; Dasy- 

 cephala hcBinatodes, Cab. in Wiegm. Arch. 1847, i. p. 222 ; Dasy- 

 cephala rubra, Burm. Syst. Ueb. iii. 87; Tyrannula rufula, Hartl. 

 Rev. Zool. 1852, p. 6, and, probably, Tyr annus thamnophiloides of 

 D'Orbigny (Voy. p. 309), to this bird. MM. de Castelnau and De- 

 ville obtained examples of it at Goyaz during their American travels ; 

 and it has recently been described and figured by M. Des Murs in 

 the Ornithology of their Expedition under the name Casiornis 

 typus. Its general structure is very much that of Attila ; but the 

 bill is quite short and much more feeble, and the feet are not nearly 

 so strong. 



Myiodynastes nobilis. 



Supra ochracescenti-rufus, nigro variegatus ; plumis medialiter 

 nigris, ochracescenti-rufo undique marginatis : crista brevi ver- 

 ticali interne aurea : loris et macula post-octdari cum striga 

 rictali nigris : fronte et linea sujjerciliari flavicantibus : alis 

 nigricantibus ; tectricibus ochracescenti-rufo, secundariis albo, 

 primariis rvfo extus limbatis : cauda ferruginea, rectricum om- 

 nium parte mediali, scapam marginante, nigra; subfus albus, 



