PHAINOPTILA MELANOXANTHA. 441 



Mr. A. Boucard, who has just returned from Costa Rica, has kindly 

 provided me with the following notes on this species. 



These birds travel in pairs, and fly from one tree to another near the 

 streams, eating insects of all descriptions. He killed several ; but says they 

 are excessively rare, and are new to the Indians. It is very difficult to 

 detect them in the forest, and they are very wild. When once you have shot 

 the male it is easy to get the female, and vice versa. Not more than one pair 

 is seen at a time ; and if you obtain this in a day's hunting you may be very 

 well satisfied. 



Those figured (now in my collection) are male and female, shot by 

 Mr. Boucard him.self at Navarro, Costa Rica. He skinned them well, and 

 they are in fine condition. 



Navarro is only a small place where a few Indians live, and is situated 

 near the chief town (Cartago), at an elevation of 4000 feet, under the 

 mountains of La Candelaria, halfway between the Atlantic and Pacific. The 

 aspect of the country is very fine, nearly tropical, although a species of oak 

 (called " Roble" in the country) is to be found in the vicinity of Navarro. 



Mr. Boucard never heard the cry, and thinks the eyes were dark brown, 

 nearly black. The sexes were proved by dissection and marked directly — 

 which fact prevents any mistake between the female and 3^oung male in 

 immature plumage. 



With reference to the partiality of this species for oaks, the following 

 appears in ^Exotic Ornithology,' by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, p. 12 : — 



"Mr. Salvin has frequently met with \_Ptilogonys'] cinereus in the high- 

 land districts of Guatemala, where it is usually found, in the zone of ever- 

 green oaks, at an elevation of from 4500 to 7000 feet above the sea-level." 



I mention this because Mr. Salvin suggests an affinity to Ptilogonys. 



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