154 DENDEOCOLAPTID^. 



open oval nostrils and their definition is not very satisfactory. Mr. Sclater separates 

 Automolus from PMlydor upon their size, but a glance at the measurements of the 

 various species of the tvpo genera shows that they cannot be thus defined. 



So far as the Mexican and Central-American species of these genera are concerned, 

 we find that those assigned to Automolus have the wing as long as or longer than the 

 tail, whereas in PMlydor panerythrus the reverse is the case and the tail is longer than 

 the wing. P. fuscipennis, however, has a tail considerably shorter than the wings, and 

 thus spoils the definition. In fact the whole of the species of Automolus and PMlydor 

 require rearranging, when it will probably be found advisable to include all under 

 one genus {PMlydor), and to group the species partly by measurements, partly by 

 characteristic coloration. In the meantime we follow the most recent arrangement of 

 Mr. Sclater as regards these genera. 



The range of Automolus extends northwards as far as the slopes of the mountains 

 of the Mexican State of Vera Cruz, and on the west side to the Sierra Madre del Sur. 

 In Guatemala, and no doubt in all the intervening country to the Isthmus of Panama, 

 Automolus is found in all suitable forest districts. Nine species occur within our 

 region, all of which, except A. pallidigularis, are endemic. 



a. Corpus subtus plus minusve striatum. 



1. Automolus rufobrunneus. {PMlydor rufohrunneus. Tab. XL VI. fig. 2.) 

 PMlydor rufobrunneus, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii. p. 127'; ix. p. 106^; Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, 



p. 304 ^ ; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 59 \ 

 Automolus rufobrunneus, Berl. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xi. p. 565°; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xv. 



p. 89 ^ 



Supra rufo-brunneus, pileo pauUo obscuriore, plumis singulis medialiter paUidioribus, urop5'gio et caada ferru- 

 gineis ; capitis lateribus et gula cinnamomeo-rafescentibus, bujus plumis anguste, iUorum late nigro 

 marginatis : corpore subtus reliquo ferrugineo, pectoris plumis obscure fusco limbatis, h}'pochondrJis 

 brunnescentioribus ; tectricibus subalaribus efc remigibus ad basin intus cinnamomeis, bis clarioribus : 

 rostro nigro, pedibus obscure coryUnis. Long, tota 9-0, aloe 3-5, caudse rectr. med. 3*5, lat. 2-1, rostri a 

 rictu 1"1, tarsi 1"15. (Descr. exempl. ex Irazu, Costa Eica. Mus. nostr.) 



Hob. Costa Eica, San Jose {v. Frantzius ^ ^ 3j, Barranca {Carmiol ^}, Navarro {Boucard ^), 

 Volcan de Irazu {Sogers ®). 



This species, described as a PMlydor, has of late years been placed in Automolus as 

 an ally of A. rubiginosus ^. Its relationship to that bird, however, is not very close, 

 for apart from its somewhat striated under surface, the bill is relatively shorter and 

 stouter and the culmen more curved ; the tail, too, is more rpunded. The wings are 

 like those of Automolus rubiginosus, the third, fourth, and fifth primaries being only 

 slightly longer than those next adjoining on the inside, instead of the fifth considerably 

 exceeding the sixth, as in PMlydor panerythrus. 



But few specimens of A. rufobrunneus have reached Europe. One was obtained by 

 Boucard at Navarro, and several were sent us by Rogers when collecting in Costa Eica 



