TOWNSEND : BIRDS FBOM COCOS AND MALPELO ISLANDS. 123 



Cocornis, 1 gen. now 



Intermediate between Cactomis 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 tinnier and the gentle curve of the latter. 

 It is nearest Cactomis, which it resembles in feet, coloration, and .size, differ- 

 ing in these respects from Certhidea, which it resembles more in the slender 

 character of its bill. 



Ttpe Cocornis Agassizi, sp. nov. 



Specific characters similar to Cactomis 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 Id., Feb. 28, 1891, C. H. T.). Uni- 

 form sooty black, except on under tail coverts, which are tipped with buff. 

 Bill 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 rictus, .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 ? (Xo. 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 crown 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 

 rictus, .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 specimen-, 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 ; opm = bird. 



