Ant-Pipits 637 



before their structure was known, they were placed by the older systematists 

 among the Laniida. The sexes are quite different in coloration, the males 

 being varied with white and black and the females with brown. They are not 

 usually strictly terrestrial in habit, but frequent dense bushes and trees at no 

 great distance from the ground, on which account they are also called Bush- 

 birds. Of the typical and largest genus (Thamnophilus} we may mention the 

 Red-capped Bush-bird (T. ruficapillus) of Paraguay and Argentina, a bird 

 about six inches long, olive-brown tinged with rufous above and grayish white 

 below, the lower throat and abdomen being barred transversely with black. 

 This species, Mr. Hudson says, is a shy, solitary bird, found in woods and thickets 

 along streams; its only language is an occasional low, rasping note. The nest 

 is a slight shallow structure placed in a low tree, and the eggs are white thinly 

 spotted with reddish brown. Another species (T. carulescens] was found in 

 lower Uruguay by Barrows, who observed them in the densest clumps and 

 most tangled masses of swampy vines and shrubs. A nest found by him was 

 almost precisely like that of the Red-eyed Vireo, "being pensile in the fork of 

 a horizontal spray, only four feet from the ground. It contained three fresh 

 eggs, white, with spots and dashes of light brown." Of still another species 

 (T. melanocrissus], noted by Dr. Richmond in Nicaragua, we learn that it is 

 "found in thickets bordering the forest, in patches of brush in clearings, in 

 clumps of bamboo along the banks of streams, and in similar places. It is 

 often seen on the ground in these situations, searching for insect food." 



The Ant-Wrens (Formicariince), so called from their superficial resemblance 

 to the true Wrens, are comprised in the second of the poorly defined groups, 

 being smaller and more delicately formed than those last noticed, and having 

 more slender, less-hooked bills. As an example of this group, mention may be 

 made of Formicarius umbrosus, a species found by Richmond along the Escon- 

 dido River in Nicaragua. It is brown above, darker on the head and brighter 

 on the rump, paler beneath, and black on the throat; the length is about seven 

 inches. "Its lonely call may be heard in the woods at all times. It passes its 

 entire time upon the ground in the more retired parts of the forest, using its 

 wings only when suddenly surprised. If one falls in with a bird while traveling 

 through the woods, it sneaks quietly away without resorting to flight, unless a 

 suspicious movement is made." 



The members of the final group are known as Ant-Thrushes, and may be 

 recognized by their elongated tarsi, large feet, and short tails. The sexes are 

 nearly alike in coloration, and in a way they may be said to take the place of 

 the Old World Pittas. 



THE ANT-PIPITS 



(Family Conopophagidce) 



This small and relatively unimportant family comprises but two genera and 

 sixteen species, all natives of tropical South America. In some respects, as in 

 the depressed bills and scutellation of the tarsus, they appear to be related to 



