TOWNSEND: BIRDS FROM COCOS AND MALPELO ISLANDS. 123 
Cocornis,! gen. nov. 
Intermediate between Cactornis and Certhidea of the Galapagos Islands, but 
distinguished from both in having a decidedly curved bill. The commissure is 
without the pronounced angle of the former and the gentle curve of the latter. 
It is nearest Cactornis, which it resembles in feet, coloration, and size, differ- 
ing in these respects from Certhidea, which it resembles more in the slender 
charaeter of its bill. 
Tyre Cocornis Agassizi, sp. nov. 
Specific characters similar to Cactornis scandens, but with bill more slender 
and curved, and less rounded, the culmen having more of the character of a 
ridge. 
Hab. Cocos Island. 
Adult male (Type No. 131680, Cocos Isl., Feb. 28, 1891, C. H. T.). Uni- 
form sooty black, except on under tail coverts, which are tipped with buff. 
All dark brown, lower mandible lighter; legs and feet brownish black. 
Length (skin), 4.85 inches; wing, 2.60; tail, 1.80; culmen, .56; gonys, .35 ; 
bill from rietus, .60 ; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .50. 
Immature male? (No. 131682). Sooty black, washed with olive-buff, espe- 
cially below and on under tail coverts. Length (skin), 4.70 ; wing, 2.60; tail, 
1.75; culmen, .56; gonys,.35; bill from rictus, .60; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .50. 
Adult female? (No. 131690). Above sooty black, but with the feathers 
extensively edged and tipped with tawny olive, especially on upper tail cov- 
erts, where the black is almost entirely obscured. Edging fainter anteriorly, 
leaving erown quite dark. Middle and greater wing coverts edged and tipped 
with russet, tail russet-tipped. Below olive-buff, with the black appearing as 
a central streak in each feather, except on belly and under tail coverts, which 
are almost entirely olive-buff. The coloration of the upper parts blends 
gradually on sides, into that of the lower parts. Quills and tail narrowly 
edged with russet, Bill pale with dark tip. Legs and feet black. Length 
(skin), 4.50 in. ; wing, 2.50; tail, 1.65; culmen, .50 ; gonys, .30; bill from 
rietus, .55 ; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .50. 
In a series of eleven specimens of this bird, six males are sooty black, two of 
them entirely so (including the type specimen). Two have the bill entirely 
black. The other dark males have the bill dark brown. Five specimens, two 
females and three young males, resemble the female described above, and have 
the bill pale. The young males are somewhat darker than the females, while 
the full series of males exhibits a regular gradation from the light color of the 
female to the very dark color of the adult male, This is the only land species 
that seems to be really common. It is finch-like in its habits, always actively 
flitting from branch to branch. 
1 Cocos = the cocoa palm from which the island derives its name ; dpvis = bird. 
