PLATYRHYNCHUS cancromus. fern. 

 Short-tailed Flatbill. 



Generic Character. 

 Platyrkinchos, Temminck. Sw. Zool. III. (div. I.) Vol. i. pi. 13. 



Rostrum teniie, breve, valde depressum, frontis latitudinem superans, 

 mandibulce superioris abrupte adunae, et ad apicem emarginata', 

 ?nargitiibus dilatatis, et inferioris margines superplicantibus. 

 Nares medii, basi membrand pennis minutis instructd obtectd, 

 apertiird parvd, rotundd, ferminali, tantmn non midd. Rictus 

 a»ipli, ad mandibulce superioris basin librissis rigidis annati. 

 Pedes sedentes, graciles, digitis lateralibus imparibus, digito exte- 

 riore ad medii digiti articulum primutn annexo, halhice valido. 



Bill thin, short, very much depressed, broader than the front of the 

 head ; the upper mandible abruptly hooked and notched at the 

 tip ; the margins dilated, and folding over those of the under 

 mandible ; nostrils central, the base covered with a membrane 

 having minute feathers, the aperture small, round, terminal, 

 and nearly naked; mouth large, armed above with stiff 

 bristles; feet sitting, slender; lateral toes unequal, exterior 

 united to the middle as far as the first joint ; hinder claw 

 strongest. 



Specific Chauacter, 



P. (fern.) suprd olivaceo-fuscus, infra pallide fulvus ; jugulo alba ; 

 genis pennisqne spuriis nigris ; strigd ante et pone oculum, macit- 

 toque auriculari albtntibus. 



(Female) above olive-brown ; beneath pale fulvous ; throat white; 



ears and spurious quills black ; stripe before and behind the 



eye, and spot on the ears whitish. 

 Platyrhinchos cancromus. (male ?) Temminck and Laugier. PI. Col. 



PL 12. f. 2. 



The remarkable breadth of the bill, and the extreme short- 

 ness of the tail, in this bird, render it a very singular little 

 creature. Though a native of Brazil, I never met with it 

 during my travels in that country ; and the only specimen I 

 have yet seen belongs to Mr. Leadbeater. The figure of 



PI. 115. 



