MYIODTNASTES. — MEGAEHTNCHUS. 51 



the Panama Railway, but at Concordia in the Cauca valley of Colombia if. chryso- 

 cephalus appears, and continues its range to Peru. 



M. hemichrysus was separated by Dr. Cabanis with some hesitation in 1861, and a 

 few years after Mr. Lawrence described the same bird as M. superciliaris, both names 

 being founded on Costa Rica specimens. 



MEGARHYNCHUS. 



Megarhynchus, Thunberg, Disq. de genere Megarhyncho (1824), cf, Heine, J. f. Orn. 1859, p. 337 



(type Lanius pitangua, Linn.) ; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 189. 

 Scaphorhynchm, Wied, Beitr. iii. p. 982. 



Though several geographical races have from time to time been proposed for 

 Megarhynchus pitangua, it is now found that no such divisions are capable of definition, 

 so that the genus now contains a single species of very wide distribution, extending 

 from Southern Mexico to Southern Brazil. When the classification of the Tyrannidse 

 is recast it will be well to consider the propriety of adding Pitangus parvus and the 

 Hypermitres section of Myiodynastes to Megarhynchus. 



The general colour of M. pitangua resembles that of many other species of Tyrannidse, 

 such as Pitangus derhianus, Myiozetetes similis, &c., but the great development of the 

 bill at once distinguishes the present genus. The bill is very large, the culmen curved, 

 the terminal hook large, the sides of the maxilla are convex, and the tomia curved; the 

 width at the base is about half the length of the tomia ; the nostrils are like those of 

 Pitangus, covered by the projecting supranasal feathers ; ihe tarsi are short, and the 

 feet moderately strong; the 3rd quill is the longest, 2nd=:4th, 6th > 1st; tail moderate, 

 slightly emarginate, <f wing, tarsus <§■ wing. 



1. Megarhynchus pitangua. 



Lanius pitangua, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 136'; Wagl. Isis, 1831, p. 529'. 

 Muscicapa pitangua, Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 2 (cf. J. f. Orn. 1863, p. 58'). 

 Megarhynchus pitangua. Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. p. 394*; Nutting & Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. 



Mus. vi. pp. 374=, 393'; Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 311'; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. 



p. 189 ^ 

 Scaphorhynchus mexicanus, Lafr. Eev. Zool. 1851, p. 473'; Scl. P. Z. S. 1857, p. 204", 1859, 



p. 366"; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 120 "^ Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 113'=; Lawr. Ann. Lye. 



N. Y. vii. p. 295"; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p. 556''. 

 Megarhynchus mexicanus. Cab. J. f. Orn. 1861, p. 246''; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 360", 



1870, p. 837 '^ ; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii. p. 183 '', ix. pp. 114=°, 201 " ; BuU. U. S. Nat. 



Mus. no. 4, p. 26"; v. Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 308'^'; Salv. Ibis, 1872, p. 318 ^ 



Supra olivaoeo-brunneus ; eapite nigro ; fronte et superciliis elongatis, albis ; crista magna celata plerumque 

 castanea, nonnunquam flavo intermixta ; alls et cauda nigricantibus, extrorsum stricte rufo limbatis : 

 subtus flavissimus; subalaribus concoloribus ; gula alba : rostro et pedibus nigris. Long, tota 9-0, alae 4-9, 

 caud» 3-6, tarsi 0-75, rostri a rictu 1-45. (Descr. maris ex Yolcan de Agua, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 



5 marl similis, sed crista celata flava distinguenda. 



