EHTNCHOCYCLTJS.— TODIEOSTEUM. 11 



correctly assigned them. In the former country the southern form does not appear to 

 be found, though they both occur on the line of the Panama Eailway 4. 



B. cimreiceps was first characterized by Mr. Sclater from specimens obtained by 

 Boucard in Oaxaca and others from Playa Vicente in the State of Vera Cruz. We 

 have received specimens from various places in the lowlands of Yucatan and Eastern 

 Guatemala, its range in altitude reaching to about 2000 feet. It also occurs through- 

 out the districts bordering the Pacific, up to about the same height, in the forests 

 which clothe the volcanos of Guatemala. In Nicaragua Mr. Nutting says it is abundant 

 at Sacuya, where it is a rather silent bird, fond of the deep woods ". 



Mr. Nutting also secured the nest of this species at La Palma in Costa Eica. 

 Mr. Kidgway describes it as follows ^ : — " The nest of this bird is a most remarkable 

 structure, well worthy of description. It is a pendulous inverted pouch, suspended 

 from a single twig, composed almost entirely of slender black filaments resembling^ 

 horse-hairs (probably a vegetable fibre, related to, if not identical with, the ' Spanish 

 Moss ' or Tillandsia of the Southern United States), and so loosely built as to be easily 

 seen through when held up to the light. The entrance is at the extreme lower end, 

 the nest proper being a sort of pocket on one side, about two inches above the entrance. 

 The total length of the entire structure is ten inches, the greatest width four inches, 

 the lower 'neck' or wall of the entrance being about two and a half inches in 

 diameter." 



TODIEOSTEUM. 



Todirostrum, Lesson, Traite d'Om. p. 384 (1831) ; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xiv. p. 69. 



Sixteen species are now recognized of this varied genus, which may be distinguished 

 by the elongated fiattened bill of its members. Most of the species are well marked, and 

 are distributed over the greater part of the Neotropical region. Two species reach the 

 forests of Southern Mexico, the widely-distributed T. cinereum and T. schistaceiceps,. 

 which, spreading throughout Central America, pass into Colombia. The third species 

 is T. nigriceps, a bird of the north-western part of South America, which enters our 

 fauna as far as Panama and Costa Eica. The upper valleys of the Amazons basin are 

 the headquarters of the genus, and here some beautiful and distinct species are found. 



Todirostrum contains birds of very varied coloration, many of them being brightly 

 clad in olive; black, and clear sulphur-yellow on the under surface, others have greyer 

 tints. T. cinereum has an elongated flat bill, the sides of which are nearly parallel 

 until they converge gradually towards the tip, the width at the base is a little more than 

 a third of the length of the tomia, the terminal hook and subterminal notches are small ; 

 the nostrils are situated towards the end of the nasal fossa, and are surrounded by a 

 slightly overhanging membrane ; the rictal bristles are well developed. The tarsi are 

 long and feeble, covered with distinct scutellse, the toes short. The wing is rounded,. 



2* 



