82 BIRDS OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO 



ScytalopUS magellanicUS, Gould and Danvin, Voy. ''Beagle" Birds, 

 p. 74, 1841 ; Sclater, Gat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, p. 338, 1890 ; Oustalet, 

 Miss. Sci. Gap Horn, Ois.,^. 71, 1891 ; Menegaux et Hellmayr, Bull. Mas. 

 d'Hist. Nat., p. 378, 1905. 



Habitat. — Chili, and Tierra del Fuego ; the Falkland Islands. 



cJ , Nose Peak Forest, 18tli Jan. ; c? , 19fcli Jan., 1905. 

 Iris — brown ; bill — dark brown ; legs — yellowish drab. 



In ignoring the validity of Scytalopus alMfrons^ Dr. Sclater 

 says : — " It is quite possible that the birds with the crown edged 

 with silver-grey may belong to a different species. It is certainly 

 curious that none of the northern birds show any trace of this 

 colour, which only occurs in certain specimens from Chili. But 

 other Chilian and Patagonian skins are quite undistinguishable 

 from the northern bird and show no trace of Avhite on the head." 



After examining the series obtained by the French Mission to 

 Cape Horn, Dr. Oustalet came to the conclusion that the white 

 crest is nothing more than a character of inadult plumage. 

 Mm. Menegaux and Hellmayr, however, have recently again 

 examined this series, and they are satisfied that the white-crested 

 form is adult : they are also of opinion that it is specifically 

 distinct from the all-black form of which the series contains an 

 inadult specimen possessing no trace of white on the crown ; 

 and they propose to retain S. alhifrons as a synonym of 

 S. magellaiiicus, and to reserve for the all-black bird the name 

 S. niger after Swainson in 1838. 



The large series in the British Museum is remarkable 

 for the greater size of the northern birds, the average length 

 of which is from 4*5 to 4' 6 inches. 



My two specimens are adults, and entirely black, with the 

 exception of four silver-tipped feathers in the crown of one, 

 and one in the crown of the other. They measure : — 



Length 4.0, culmen 0"05, wing 1"95, tarsus 0*7, tail I'lo in. 

 „ 4.0, „ 0-05, „ 1-95, „ 0-7, „ 1-2 „ 



The only authority foi* this bird's occurrence in tlie Falkland 



