134 XOHTH AMKUICAX IJIKDS. 



tarsus, 1.02; middlf toe and i*law. .00; claw alone, .25; hind toe an<l claw, .70: claw 

 alon«'. ..">.'). 



Hau. Only obscrvt'd at Caju' St. Lucas, Lower California. 



This sj)ecies is most ne.irly allied to C. hrunmicttpi/iifs ; the most apparent 

 difl'erence at tii^st sijjjht heing in tlie <^reater concentration of Mack on the 

 throat and jugiilum in hrunneimpillus, and the much smaller size of the 

 remaining spoti; on the under parts, with the decided light-cinnamon of 

 tlie peisterior portion of the Ijody. The outer and centitJ tail-feathers alone 

 are marked as in C nffink, the intermediate ones being entirely black, with 

 the exception of a white subterminal band. 



This is one of the most characteristic birds constituting the isolated fauna 



of Cape St. Lucas. Like nearly all the species peculiar to this remarkable 



locality, it is exceedingly abundant, breeding in immense numbers. It lias 



v^et ])een detected elsewhere, though it may possibly be found on the 



Lo 'olorado. 



Habits. This recently described species was first discovered by ^Ir. 

 Xantus, and has, so far as is known, a somewhat restricted locality, having 

 been met with only at the southern extremity of Lower California, wliere it 

 is an exceedingly abundant bird. Mr. Xantus has published no observations 

 in regard to its habits, which, l»owever, are probably very nearly identical 

 with tliose of the more common species. From tlie brief memoranda given 

 by him in the general register of his collections, made at Cape St. Lucas, we 

 gather that their nests were built almost exclusively in opuntias, cacti, and 

 the prickly pear, and were generally only four or five feet from the ground, 

 but occasionally at the height of ten feet. 



The nests are large purse-shaped collections of twigs and coarse grasses, 

 very similar to, and hardly distinguishable in any re8i)ect from, those of the 

 more northern species. The eggs vary from 1.0') to 1 inch in length, and 

 from .05 to .70 of an inch in breadth, and have a reddish-white ground very 

 uniformly dotted with fine markings of reddish-brown, purple, and slate. 



Subgenus SALPINCTES, C a ban is. 



SiiJpincfen, Cabaxis, Wiegu.^iui's Archiv, 18i7, i, 323. (Type, Troglodytes oltsohtus. 

 Say.) 



Gen. Char. Bill as long as the bead ; all the outlines nearly straijifht to the tip, then 

 decurved; nostrils oval. Feet weak : tarsi decideilly louirer than the mi<ldli' toe; outer 

 lateral toe mucli lonpT. icailiinL'" t*) the base of the middle claw, and etpial to the hinder. 

 Win^s aliout «me filth lon_L'er than the tail : the exposed portion of tin* first ])riinary about 

 half that of the stM-<»nd, an«l two fifths that of the fourtli and fifth. Tail-ft-athers very 

 broad, plane, nearly even or sli<rhtly rounded ; the lateral moderately ^Taduated. 



Of this genus but one s])ecies is so far known in the United States, the 

 Keck Wren of the earlier ornithologists. It is peculiar among its cognate 



