AMPELID.K — THE CIIATTEUERS. 405 



There are two ^eneni of this section hiiviiii,' in hiiet' the following chai- 

 actei"s : — 



Crest narrow, pointtMl, its f«>athrrs stiff, tlifir webs compact ; outiT primaries 

 broad. Tail rounded .......... Plmnopepln. 



Crest broad, decumbent, soft, the leathers loose ; outer primaries attenuated. 

 Tail even or cuneatu .......... J^tihgonys. 



The genus Ptihujoniffi has two speci(»s, one Mexican, the other Costa- 

 liican, neitlier coming witliin the limits of the United States. The type is 

 P. cinereus, SwAiNSON (Baiud, llev. Am. Birds, 412), a species of the table- 

 lands of Mexico, which may yet be found within the southern borders of the 

 United States in New Mexico or Arizona. 



Genus FH2iNOPEFLA, Scl.mer. 

 Phccnopcplt, ScLATEU, P. Z. S. 1858, 543. (Type, PtiUotjonys nitens, Swains.) 



Gex. Char. Crest narrow, pointed behind. Outer i)rimaries broad, not atteimated nor 

 pointed at end ; the first half the second. Tail iounded, fa n -shaped ; feathers very broad, 

 wider towards end. Bill leelde, rather narrow, well bristled ; nostrils somewhat overhung 

 by frontal feathers. Sexes dissimilar ; male black ; quills with median white patch on 

 inner webs ; tail not varied. 



The single known species is glossy black in the male ; the female brown- 

 ish-ash. 



Fh8Bnopepla nitens, Sclater. 



SHINIVO-CKESTED FLTCATCHEB. 



Ptiliogonys nitens, Sw. An, in Menag. 1838,^ 285. — IJon. Consp. 18*)0, 335. -Heermann, 

 Jour. A. N. So. Phila. tl, 1853, :i63. — Cassin, 111. Binls T.xas, etc. 1854, 169, pi. 

 xxix. Cicltfopsis nitens, BAinn, Binls N. Am. 1858, 320, 923. rhitnopephi nitens, 

 ScLATEH, P. Z. S. 1858, 543 ; 1864, 173 (City of Mexico). — Baiud, Rev. Am. B. 18(54, 

 416. — CtJoPEH, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 131. ''Lijdurus yttkatus, Less." 



Sp. Char. (No. 8.*27o<J.) Tail broad, almost fan-shaped: graduated .^lightly : not at 

 all emarginate, and longer than wing. First cpiill broad, slightly falcate, searcel}' attenu- 

 ated ; more than halt" the second, which about equals the tenth ; sixth longest ; third 

 equal to seventh. Feathers on nape rather lull, with a lengthened, pointed, narrow, 

 occipital crest. 



Male (Xo. 8.27;')) entirely glossy groenish-black : the inner webs of all the primary quills 

 with a large, lengthened patch of white, which does not reach the inner margin; their outer 

 webs very narrowly edged with ashy, as are also lateral tail-feathers externally. 



FemaJe (No. 8,274) brownish-ash. paler below : the white of inner webs of quills 

 obsolete; the greater coverts and quills edged externally with whiti.sh, the anal and crissal 

 feathers edged and tipped with the same; the outer tail-feather with narrow edge of white 

 externally towards end. 



Innnature birds show every gradation of color between the two extremes described 

 above. 



