488 MR. O. SALVIX ON THE AVIFAUNA 



rnstro pallide corneo, pedibus nigris: long, tota 4-7, alae 2-7, caudfe 1'7, rostri a rictu 

 0-G5, tarsi 0'9. Fern, mari similis. 



JIah. Indefatigable Island {Habel). 



Obs. Colore ab omnibus distincta, sed forsan avis baud adulta. Attamen mas et 

 femina, specimina sola quse nobis adsunt, vestitu omniuo congruunt. 



" Found with the various species of Geospiza, and with them frequenting the sea- 

 shore at low water. In the stomachs of the specimens collected I found insects, besides 

 vegetable substances." — //. 



Genus Camarhynchus. 



This genus, though stated by Mr. Gould to belong to the same group of Finches as 

 Geospiza, differs considerably from that genus. It has, however, the same character- 

 istically short tail and robust tarsi and feet ; the coloration, too, is somewhat similar, 

 except that instead of being in the adult male entirely black, the head and neck alone 

 are black, the upper surface of the body being variegated and the under white or 

 mottled. The chief point of difference between Camarhynchus and Geospiza lies in the 

 form of the bill. The lower edge of the maxilla in Camarhynclnis is not nearly so 

 strongly angulated, but in some species is nearly straight and in others continuously 

 curved. The bill, too, of the former is more compressed, being less tumid in the 

 portion immediately anterior to the nostrils. 



As regards its bill Camarhynchus has perhaps its nearest ally in Neorhynchus, a genus 

 represented by one species, N. nasesus, which is found on the west coast of Peru. But 

 Neorhynchus has a still more robust bill, and the edges of the mandible strongly arched ; 

 the tail, too, is of a length usual in Spermophila, and the feet of normal strength ; in 

 coloration Neorhynchus is decidedly Spermophiline. 



Camarhynchus psittaculus. 



Camarhynchus psittacidus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 6; Danvin, Zool. Voy. Beagle, iii. p. 103, t. xl. 



2 (Indefatigable Island) fusca, uropygio paulo dilutiore, alls et cauda obscurioribus, 

 plumarum marginibus dorso concoloribus : subtus pallide ochrascenti-fusca : rostro 

 flavido, pedibus nigricantibus : long, tota 4'5, alse 2*6, caudse 1'6, tarsi 0-85, rostri a 

 rictu 0'5. 



Hah. James Island [Darwin) ; Indefatigable Island [Habel). 



Obs. Of two specimens in the British Museum one appears to be a young male, being 

 darker than the other on the upper plumage. I^ong. tota 4'6, alae 2'75, caudii; 1'6, 

 tarsi 0'9, rostri a rictu 5-5. 



The other specimen is paler above, and is probably a female. 



Dr. Habel only obtained a single specimen of this species, of which he remarks : — 

 "The habits of this species resemble those of the Geosinzce." — H. 



