( • Y PSET. I D. R — Til E S W I ITS. 



431 



Genu« 



rCTRA, SrKriiExs. 



Chiitura, Strpiif-ns, Shaw's n.-n. Z«m.1. IJinls, XIII, ii, 182:., 76. 

 Acnnthiilis, IJuiK, I.sis, I82t>, !*71. {f'lipm'Jus apinktindii.) 



(Typo, C. priaijic't.) 



Gks. Ciiak. Tail \»'rv short, sran;rly mort' than two (itlhs the wings ; sligljtly roundfd ; 

 the shafU stitltMu-d ami ix- 



tenihiiir sonif <listance hfvontl 

 the feathers in a rij^id sj»ine. 

 First luiiiiary loiij^rest. Lejjs 

 covered hy a iiaketl skin, 

 without scutelhe or leathers. 

 Tarsus lon<rer than nii<hlle 

 toe. Lateral toes e(iual, 

 nearly as lon^' as the middle. 

 Hind toe seareely versatile, 

 or quite j)osterior ; including 

 claw, less than the middle anterior without it 



Clirrtiira pflnsim. 



Toes slender ; elaws moderate, 

 of the base of the l)ill not extending beyond the beginninjj of the nostrils. 



Feathers 



By the arrangement of the genera on page 1018, the C. rntila and large 

 white-collared species are excluded from the present genus as restricted. 

 Chatiint, as here defined, is a genus of very extensive distribution, species 

 occurring not only in Xorth and South America, but also in Africa and Asia. 

 Anions^ the severiil American members, three stvles are distin^juishable, 

 these probably representing only as many species ; the sevei-al more closely 

 allied forms being, in all probability, but geographical modifications of these 

 three types. They may be arranged as follows : — 



Plumage wiffi no marked contrast of shades. 



C. pelagica. Nearly nniformly dusky grayish-brown, the throat, however, 

 very nuioh lighter, and the rump just appreciably so. 



Above glossy dusky-brown, hardly ap[)reciably paler on the rump; 

 abdomen scarcely paler than the back. Wing, 5.20. Ilah. Eastern 

 Province Xorth Ainerioa . \i\v. pelagica. 



Above glossy blackish-dusky, very decidedly paler on the rump ; 

 abdomen very nuich paler than the back. Wing, 4.50. Hah. Pacific 

 Province of Xorth America, south to Guatemala (from whence speci- 

 mens are much darker, almost black above, and slightly smaller) var. va uxi. 



Above glossy black, fading into sooty dusky on the rump ; abdomen 

 like the rump. Wing, 4.80. Ilab. Northern South America (Cayenne, 

 Tobago) .......... var. poJ i n r a .* 



Pbimage loith marked contrast of shades. 



C. cinereiventris.' Upper parts, except the rump, glossy, intense blue- 

 black ; rump and lower parts bluish-cinereous, conspicuously diflerent. 



1 Ch(ctura poliuro, (Temm.) Scl. Cat. Am. B. 1862, 101 ; P. Z. S. 1866, 611. {Ci/pselus 

 poliruriis, Temm. Tab. Meth. p. 78.) 



2 Chmfura cinenircntrb, ScL. Cat. Am. B. 1S6-2, p. 283 ; V. Z. S. 1863, p. 101, pi. xiv, f. 1 ; 

 P. Z. 1866, 612. C. scldteri, Telz. Orn. Braz. I, 1868, pp. 16, 56, is also referrible to it as 

 perhaps a race. " 



