EOSTRHAMUS. 99 



KOSTRHAMUS. 



Rostrhamus, Lesson, Traite d'Orn. p. 55 (1831). 

 Rosihramus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 327. 



This genus is easily recognized by its remarkably hooked and slender bill, and by having 

 the upper mandible so curved downvrard that it far exceeds the lower one in length. 

 The feet are small, the claws slender and nearly straight, and grooved beneath, the 

 front of the tarsus covered with large transverse scutellte. 



It is doubtful whether more than two species of Rostrhamus really exist, viz. : 

 -R. sociabilis, with white upper tail-coverts, and JR. hamatus, with these tail-coverts 

 grey, like the back. B. toeniatus was described from a single specimen having three 

 white bars on the tail. 



1. Eostrhamns sociabilis. 



Gavilan del estero sociable, Azara, Apunt. i. p. 84 \ 



Herpetotheres sociabilis, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. N. xviii. p. 318 '\ 



Rostrhamus sociabilis, Moore, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 52'; Sol. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 219'; Lawr. 



Ann, Lye. N. Y. ix. p. 134 ' ; v. Frantz. J. £. Orn. 1869, p. 369 ' ; Sumichrast, La Nat. v. 



p. 237'; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. pp. 395', 408 ^ Bendire, Life Hist. N. Amer. 



Birds, i. p. 180, t. 5. fE. 6, 7 " ; Pisher, Bull. U. S. Dep. Agr. no. 3, p. 25 ". 

 Cymindis leucopygus, Spix, Av. Bras. i. p. 7, t. 2 '^ 

 Rosihramus leucopygus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. i. p. 328 ". 



Schistaceo-niger, capite toto et remigibus saturatioribus, tectricibus supracaudalibus longioribus albis ; 

 subcaudalibus albis ; uauda nigricante, ad basin alba et sordide albo terminata ; rostro nigro, cera, loris et 

 pedibus flavis. Long, tota circa 16-0, alse 14-0, eaudte 8-0, tarsi 2-0. (Descr. maris ex De Soto County, 

 Florida. Mus. nostr.) 



5 . Brunneus, pileo vix nigricantiore ; cauda ut in mari colorata, sed brunnescentiore : subtus saturate 

 brunneus, gutture pallide ochraceo vel albo, brunneo sagittatim striato ; pectoris plumis ochraceo indentatis 

 vel maculatis ; crisso et subcaudalibus albis ; remigibus intus griseis, versus basin albicantibus et fuseo 

 angustetransfasciatis. (Descr. fem. ex Panacofkee Lake, Florida. Mus. Brit.) 



Forma melan. Similis praeoedentibus, sed niger. 



Juv. Fuscus, plumis omnibus rufo marginatis : subtus rufescenti-albo variegatus, subalaribus albidis ; cauda 

 griseo-fusca, ad basia albida, fascia lata subterminali fusca. 



Ilab. North America, Florida i*^ ^^ — Mexico, San Andres Tuxtla, Cosamaloapam 

 {Sumichrast'^) ; Guatemala, Peten (Leyland^) ; Nicaragua, Omotepe s, Los 

 Sabalos (Nutting ^) ; Costa Rica {v. Frantzius ^). — South America generally, 

 from Colombia and Guiana to Paraguay ^^. 



The Everglade Kite, as it is called by North-American naturalists, nests regularly in 

 Southern Florida, and is common in certain districts of that State, subsisting on small 

 molluscs and frequenting marshy localities. Sumichrast procured specimens in Mexico 

 in the State of Vera Cruz, and the species has also been obtained in Guatemala, 

 Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, but it is not recorded as breeding there. Apparently only a 

 migrant throughout Central America, where the bird is always found in the vicinity of 



