copuEtrs. a 



Fam. TYRANNID-ffil*. 



COPUEUS. 



Copurus, Strickland, P. Z. S. 1841, p. 28 {ty^e Muscicapa colonus, Vieill.) ; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 

 xiv. p. 50. 



Two species constitute this well-marked genus, the ranges of which are rather 

 curiously traced : thus the Brazilian C. colonus extends over a large portion -of Brazil 

 and includes the eastern slopes of the Andes ; C. leuconotus occurs in Western Ecuador, 

 Colombia, and Central America as far north as Nicaragua, and passes along the northern 

 part of South America to Guiana. Both species come within the reach of the bird- 

 collectors of Bogota, but are doubtless found on different sides of the mountain-chain. 



Copurus is a rather isolated genus with no very obvious allies. Mr. Sclater places it 

 between Muscipipra and Machetornis in the " subfamily " Fluvicolinee, but its short 

 tarsi and arboreal habits are at variance with his definition of that section of Tyrannidee. 



The general coloration of the plumage of Copurvs is black with grey or white marks 

 on the head and back. The bill is short and broad at the base, the width at the rictus 

 being more than two thirds the length of the tomia ; the bristles are well developed 

 and reach beyond the nasal fossa ; the nostrils are open, nearly circular, and situated at 

 the end of the nasal fossa ; the hook of the maxilla is rather abrupt and projects 



* The Family Tyrannidse forms one of the most important sections of the American bird-fauna and 

 contains upwards of 400 described species, the greater portion of which belong exclusively to the neotropical 

 region. The remainder are migrants spending their breeding-season in North America, some even reaching 

 Sitka and Greenland in their northern flight. These migratory species almost without exception pass the 

 winter months in Mexico, Central America, and the northern part of South America. The family is well 

 represented in our region by about 104 species, the number of genera and species increasing rapidly in the 

 more southern section of the region. 



Tyrannidse are found at almost all elevations, some occurring in the high pine-forests situated at 10,000 

 feet and upwards to the limits of vegetation, but it is in the damp forests of the lower lands, where insect-life 

 abounds in endless variety, that the members of the family are to be found in greatest profusion and diversity. 



As regards the classification of the Tyrannidse we are conscious that much remains to be done. In the 

 following pages we have conformed in a great measure to that recently published by Mr. Sclater in the 14th 

 Volume of the Catalogue of Birds, which again is based upon the system adopted by Prof. Cabanis in the 

 ' Museum Heineanum.' Where we have departed from the plan there laid down will be found under the 

 notes attached to each genus. Our chief difficulty Hes in the Subfamilies, as defined by Mr. Sclater, into which 

 the system is divided. "We find that their definitions are of little practical value, if not altogether misleading. 



The subject, however, is an exceedingly complex one, and does not lend itself to subdivision into large 

 groups owing to the multiplicity of forms which pass from one into the other by insensible steps. We have 

 here not attempted to divide the family into subfamilies, but merely grouped the genera into what appear to 

 be their natural affinities. It is only necessary to compare such genera as Platyrhyndhus with SerphopJmga 

 (both placed in the Platyrhynchinae), Mionecetes with Myiodynastes (Elaineinse), and Mitscivora with Empidonax 

 (Tyranninse) to show how artificial Mr. Solater's " Eey " to the subfamilies of Tyrannidse (Catal. p. 3) is. 



We see no advantage to be derived from trying to maintain divisions which seem to be incapable of accurate 

 definition. 



1* 



