Sharp-bills and Tyrant-birds 615 



what resembles the Bush Wren, but is more spotted and mottled and is sup- 

 posed to be semi-nocturnal in habits ; but as a matter of fact very little is known 

 of it, or apparently ever will be, for it is now believed to be extinct, its discovery 

 and extermination having taken place within a year. The first specimen that 

 came into scientific hands was caught by a cat belonging in the family of the 

 lighthouse keeper on this island, and, as a matter of fact, all the specimens 

 known to be in collections appear to have been captured by this feline, which 

 was not only the discoverer but likewise the exterminator of this interesting 

 bird, since no additional examples have been observed. 



THE SHARP-BILLS 



(Family Oxyrunddat) 



Very closely related to the Tyrant-birds (Tyrannidce) are the members of 

 this family, which are included in a single genus and three closely related forms. 

 They agree with the Tyrant-birds in the form of the syringeal muscles, the 

 exaspidean tarsal envelope, and in having the middle toe coherent with the 

 outer toe for less than the whole length of its basal segment, while they differ 

 from them in the sharp-pointed, wedge-shaped bill, and narrow instead of 

 roundish nostrils. The bill is surrounded on lores, front, and under the chin 

 by numerous, small, short bristly feathers, and another character is supposed 

 to be afforded by the serrated outer web of the outer primary, but this is so faint 

 "as to be practically non-existent." 



The Sharp-bills are small birds a little over six inches in length, the general 

 coloration above being olive-green with paler wing-edgings, the center of the 

 crown spotted with black and with a median longitudinal patch of narrow, elon- 

 gated dull scarlet or orange-red feathers, while the lower parts are pale yellowish 

 or whitish, with bars and triangular spots of black; the sexes are alike except 

 that in the female the crest is sometimes not quite so bright. The three forms 

 have usually been regarded as distinct species, but according to Mr. Ridgway, 

 who has recently studied them, they are "apparently mere geographic variations 

 of a single species, which ranges from Costa Rica to southeastern Brazil." Of 

 the habits and life history of the Sharp-bills, we are in almost complete ignorance. 

 Mr. Ridgway secured a single example of the Costa Rican Sharp-bill (Oxyruncus 

 cristatus f rater), which he found feeding in a tree frequented byTanagers (Calo- 

 spiza) and for which it was mistaken until it was shot. 



THE TYRANT-BIRDS 



(Family Tyrannida!) 



The Tyrant-birds form a very large group, embracing over eighty genera 

 and nearly six hundred species and subspecies, and are exclusively confined 

 to the New World, spreading in greater or less numbers over all South, Central, 



