638 The Sparrow-like Birds 



the Tyrant-birds, with which they have been sometimes classed, but in the 

 structure of the syrinx they indicate their agreement with the Ant-birds, but 

 from which they, together with the next family, may be distinguished at once 

 by the four-notched sternum. They are small birds, none of them exceeding 

 five and a half inches in length, with relatively short, rounded wings and typically 

 very short tails, while the rump is clothed with long, lax feathers. In the typical 

 genus (Conopophaga) the prevailing color is brown above and ashy brown or 

 grayish banded with chestnut beneath, the throat either being black, gray, or 

 white, and in several of the species there is a stripe or pencil of white feathers 

 behind the eyes. In the other genus (Corythopis} the bill and tail are longer 

 and the hind claw slenderer but less curved. The plumage is olive-brown 

 above and white beneath, with a breast patch and stripes of black. Very little 

 is known of the habits of any member of the family. 



THE TAPACOLAS 



(Family Pteroptochidce) 



The final family of the superfamily Clamatores is a small one, embracing 

 eight genera and about thirty species of mostly small, Wren-like birds, ranging 

 in distribution from Costa Rica to Patagonia, being perhaps most abundant in 

 Chile and Patagonia, but occurring also in the Andes of Peru, Ecuador, and 

 Colombia, where they reach elevations of nine or ten thousand feet. They are 

 terrestrial birds mainly of skulking habits, frequenting the dense thickets and 

 jungles and rarely taking to wing. In coloration they are largely dusky brownish 

 or blackish, with one exception, in which the plumage is ocellated. They have 

 short, rounded wings and mainly rather short tails which af-e carried in an 

 elevated position, while the feet are exceptionally stout and the claws, especially 

 the hind one, often very long. In the scutellation of the tarsus they agree with 

 the Ant-birds, but in the four-notched sternum they fall next the preceding 

 family. The bills of these birds are very peculiar in that the space between the 

 external nostrils (mesorhinum) is greatly modified, in some cases being rounded 

 and elongated and in others expanded into an oval shield; the nostrils are often 

 covered by a membrane. In shape the bills may be either thin and awl-shaped 

 or strong and thick. 



In the largest genus (Scytalopus}, which contains more than half of the 

 species, the bill is awl-shaped and the tail very short, as are the plumes about 

 the lores. The plumage is various, being largely plumbeous or blackish brown, 

 occasionally dark or ashy gray. 



In the typical genus (Pteroptochus] the bill is straight and has the operculum- 

 covered nostrils opening by a narrow slit at its base. Of the two species, the 

 White-necked Tapacola (P. albicoUis] occurs in western Argentina and central 

 and northern Chile, sometimes frequenting watercourses, when it may be ob- 

 served running about on the stones much like a Dipper. In coloration it is 



