ELAINEA, — 8UBLEGATUS. 37 



Mainea frantzii was first described by Mr. Lawrence from specimens obtained by 

 Dr. von Frantzius in Costa Eica i, and soon afterwards the same species was named 

 E. pudica by Mr. Sclater, whose description was based upon examples from Colombia, 

 Venezuela, and Chiriqui^. In 1879 ^ it was recognized that both descriptions referred 

 to the same species. 



In Guatemala E. frantzii is a local bird, as our specimens were all obtained on the 

 slope of the mountains between the volcanos of Agua and Fuego at elevations varying 

 between 5000 and 1500 feet above the sea-level. Here it frequented the forests which 

 so densely clothe these mountains. 



On the island of Omotepe in the lake of Nicaragua Mr. Nutting found this species 

 rather common, usually in the dense woods ® : this would be at an elevation of a few 

 hundred feet above the sea. 



In Costa Eica this species is common, according to Mr. Nutting, who says it frequents 

 hedgerows in the neighbourhood of San Jose "^ ; though found on the slopes of the 

 Volcan de Chiriqui^ it seems absent from the rest of the State of Panama. In 

 Colombia and Venezuela it reappears, and was found breeding near Medellin, in the 

 Cauca valley, by Salmon ^, who describes its eggs as white with a few small spots near 

 the larger end. The nest is placed on a low branch of a tree. 



SUBLEGATUS. 



Sublegatus, Sclater and Salvin, iP. Z. S. 1868, p. 172 (type S. glaber, Scl. & Salv.) ; Scl. Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 157. 



Sublegatus is like Mainea in general appearance, but has a much wider bill, nearly 

 round nostrils at the end of the nasal fossa, with no membrane along the anterior and 

 lower edges ; the bill itself is wide and the edges slightly convex, the width at the 

 gape being more than half the length of the tomia ; the rictal bristles are moderately 

 developed, the tarsi and toes much as in Mainea ; the 3rd, 4th, and 5th quills are 

 nearly equal and longest; 6th < 2nd, lst=8th ; the tail is moderate and slightly emar- 

 ginate, <wing, =4 tarsus. 



This genus was founded on S. glaber of Venezuela, a species we now find inseparable 

 from Mainea arenarum of Costa Eica, the latter being the older specific title. 



Three species are included in Sublegatus, spread over a wide area, extending from 

 Costa Eica to the Argentine Eepublic. 



1, Sublegatus arenarum. {Mainea arenarum. Tab. XXXVI. fig. 3.) 

 Elainea arenarum, Salv. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 190'; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. p. 113'; v. Frantz. 



J, f. Orn. 1869, p. 307 ' ; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 153 \ 

 Sublegatus glaber, Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 171, t. 13. f.2'; Wyatt, Ibis, 1871, p. 333 'j Scl. 



Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 157 \ 



