138 



XOIITII AMERICAN JHRDS. 



fifth. Tail-feathers very broad and perfectly plane ; tail nearly even ; the two lateral 

 graduated j the outer about eleven tvvellllis of th»' middle. 



This genus agrees with Salpinctes in 

 the broad, plane tail-leathers, but the 

 bill is rauuli longer, the nostrils linear, 

 not oval, the feet much stouter, the 

 outer toe rather longer; the tarsus short- 

 er, being equal to the middle toe, not 

 longer ; the hind toe much longer than 

 the outer lateral, instead of ecjual to it. 

 The wings are but little longer tlian the 

 tail, and shorter than in Salpinctes. 



This ijenus is confined to the western 



Catherpes mexicanus. 



portions, where a single species, 6'. 7ni:,cicamis, occurs in two well-marked 

 varieties: — 



C. mezicanns. 



Culmen almost straight, the tip deenrs^ed, jronys straight. Above blackish- 

 brown ; wings and back sparsely sprinkled with minute white specks; no such 

 markings on head or neck. Bars on tail very broad, .12 in width on outer 

 feathers. ^Ving, 2.84 ; tail, 2.40 ; culmen, .OG ; tarsus, .75 ; middle toe, .08 ; 

 posterior, .47 ; outer, ,52 : inner, .49 (52,791. Mazatlan, Mexico). Hah. Mex- 

 ico var. mexicanus. 



Culmen and gonys both gently curved, the latter somewhat concave. Above 

 cinnamon-ashy, more reddish on rump and wings ; head and neck above with 

 numerous dots of white ; very few of these on back and wings. Tail-bars 

 very narrow and thread-like. ^Ving, 2.48; tail, 2.12 : culmen, .83; tarsus, .50; 

 middle toe, . _' ; posterior, .35 ; outer, .44 ; inner, .30 (53,425 ^, Fort Churchill, 

 Nevada;. Hah. Middle (and Pacific ?J Province of United States, xar. conspersus. 



In var. mexicaniifi the white of throat is more abniptly defined against the 

 rufous of abdomen than in var. ron- 

 sper><vs, in which the transition is very 

 gradual. The hitter has the seconda- 

 ries rufous with narrow isolated bars 

 of black ; the former has them black- 

 ish, indented on lower webs with dark 

 rufous. In merieanus the feet are 

 very stout, and dark brown ; in con- 

 S2'>ersm they are much wxniker, and 

 dee]) black. 



All specimens from south of the 

 United States (including Giraud's type 

 of Cert Ilia alhifrona) belong to the re- 

 stricted mexicanus, while all from the 

 United States are of the var. ronspei-sits. 



Catherpes mericanus. 



