TURDID.K — THE TIIIIUSIIES. 4X 



atcd tail, of course readily distiiiguisli it. It agrees in some respects with 

 II. rnfiis and //. longiroxtrU, but is smaller, the bill longer and more curved ; 

 the upper parts are ashy olivuceous-browu instead of rul'ous, etc. 



H.xitiTS. So far as is at present known in regard to this species it appears 

 to be confined exclusively to the peninsula of Lower California. It has, at 

 least, been met with nowhere else. Mr. Xantus found it cj^uite numerous 

 in the vicinity oi Cape St. Lucas, in a region wliich, as he descriljes it, was 

 singularly unpropitious. This was a sandy shore, extending about a (puirter 

 of a mile inland, whence a cactus desert stretched altout six miles u]) to a 

 high range of mountains. Throughout this tract the ground is c(jvered with 

 a saline elHorescence. There is no fresh water within twenty-eight miles. 



]\Ir. Xantus speaks of the hal)its of this bird as being simiLir to those of 

 the Orcusrojitci iiionhoinx. It was a very abundant species at this cape, where 

 he found it breeding among the cactus plants in hirge numbers. He men- 

 tions that as early as the ilate of his arrival at the place, April 4, he found 

 them already with full-fledged young, and states that they continued to 

 breed until the middle of -July. 



He was of the impression that the eggs of this si^ecies more nearly re- 

 seml)le tho.se of the connnou Mocking- IJird than any others of this genus. 

 The aggravatingly brief notes that accomi)anicd his collections show tiiat the 

 general jjosition of the nest of this s^jecies was on low trees, shrubs, and 

 most usually, cactus })lants, and in no instance at a greater elevation from 

 the ground than four feet. Tlieir nests were flat structures, having only a 

 very slight depression in or near their centre. They were al)out T) inches 

 in diameter, and were very little more than a nu're platform. 



The eggs vary somcwliat in their gnuuid color, but exliibit oidy .slight 

 variations in size or shape. Their greatest length is l.i.'i inches, and their 

 average 1.12 inches. Their mean lu'cadtli is .77 inch, and their maximum 

 .7!) inch. The ground color is a greenisli-white, prttfusely marked witli 

 spots «>f mingled purple and brown. In others the ground cohn- is a liluish- 

 green. In s(uiu' specinu'iis the spots are of a yellowish-brown, and in some 

 the mai'kings are much lighter. 



Harporhynchus curvirostris, Caban, 



OBAT CUBVE-BILL THBASHEB. 



Ofii/iiiin riirn'nis/n'.i, S\v.mns(in, I'liilo.s. 'S\i\jt. 1S27, itii'.t (Ivistcni Mcxii'i)). — M'C.vi.l,, I'r. 

 A. N. Sc. May, 1848, 0:1. .)fiiiii(ii fiim'iiis/ri.i, (liiAV, OoniTii, 184-1 -4!'. Twrntitmii 

 nirririislrl.i, HoN.vr. ('uMs|M'itils, IS.'id, '>'7. Scl.ATKll, 1'. Z. S. lH,'i7, -I'J. //iir/iii- 

 ,/iifiiclii(.s riin-irtistris, Caii. Mum. Ilciii. 1. IH.'ii), 81. — IJamiii, Hirils N. Am. ISTiS, 

 ar.l, |.l. li. ; 111. li.'v. 4;-.. - Hkkkmann, 1'. li. H. Iti'i). .\. I'mkc's U<\>. IS.V.i, 11. - 

 Scl.ATKIt, I'. Z. S. IH'.'.l, Xi'.l ; III. Ciilal. IHiil, 7. no. 4(1. — DiiKssi'ii, Il.is, ISii"., 48;l. 

 Pi})iuilorhiiiiis hirilliiiis, Ti.mm. I'l. (.'nl. 4U. .' Tn.mnloiiui cttula. W.Mil.Kli, l.si.s, 18^1, 

 r.28. 



6 



