Plate XXV= 



MYIADESTES OB8CURU8, 



(DUSET SOLITAIEE). 



Myiadestes ohscurus . Lafr. Eev. Zool. 1839, p. 9P. 



Sclater, P.Z.S. 1857, p. 213 ; 1859, pp. 364, 376 ; Cat. A. B. p. 47. 

 , „ „ . Sclat. et Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 14. 



„ „ . Baird, Eev. A. B. p. 430. 



Schistaceus ; ciliis oculorum albis, loris et striga rictali nigris : alis fasco-nigris, extus rufo limbati3 : inter- 

 scapulio pallidiore rufo ; dorso imo olivaceo perfuso ; subtus dilute scbistaceus, guttiu-e et ventre medio cum crisBO 

 albicantibus : remigum macula magna interna ocbraceo-alb a : cauda nigricante, rectricibus duabua mediis cum unius 

 utrinque proximse pogonio externo griseis ; rectricibus lateralibus albo terminatis ; unius utrinque extimae dimidio 

 apicali pallide griseo : rostro nigro, pedibus fuscis : long, tota 7'5, alae 4"0, caudee 4'1. — Foem. mari similis. 



Sab. in Mexico Merid. et Q-uatemala. 



This Solitaire was first made known to science by the veteran French Ornithologist, the 

 late Baron de Lafresnaye, who has added so largely to our knowledge of the American Avifauna. 

 M. de Lafresnaye described the species from Mexican specimens, and recent collections have 

 contained examples of it from many localities in the Southern States of that country. Botteri 

 and Sumichrast have each met with it in the vicinity of Orizavfv'De Oca/ near Jalapa, and _jy o, 

 Boucard in the mountainous districts of Oaxaca, where the eggs were likewise procured. - 

 Professor Baird registers specimens as having been obtained by Xantus, at Tonald, in the 

 southern part of the State of Chiapas, and by Col. Grayson, on the Tres Marias Islands, which 

 is the most northern locality for it we are acquainted with. Going southward this species is 

 very abimdant in some parts of Guatemala, where it is generally known by the name of the 

 Guarda-barranca — or guard of the ravines. It is diffused throughout the high table-land, 

 of from 5000 to 7000 feet above the sea-level, which runs parallel with the Pacific Coast of 

 Guatemala, and constitutes the principal watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific. Hence 

 it follows the principal spiu' of the main chain, which extends towards the high-lands of Vera 

 Paz, as far as the village of Tactic, but a little further northwards is replaced by the allied 

 &])ecies/ Myiadestes unicolor. 



In the ravines of the two Volcanoes of Agua and Fuego, Mx. Salvin found this bird to be 

 very abmidant and constantly resident. Its clear, metallic, ringing song, which is uttered at 

 intervals throughout the day, at once attracts attention and makes its presence known. But it 

 sits concealed in the low thick bushes which clothe the gullies, and it is not very easy to get 



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