208 I'DEMICAEIIDJi, 



year ^. These we now figure. It, with B. striaticeps, belongs to a section of D^si- 

 thamnus with mottled heads, the present bird being spotted, its ally striped over the 

 whole surface of the crown. The presence of D. puncticeps in Costa Eica is proved by 

 a specimen in the national museum of that country from Pacuare^. 



3. Dysithamnus striaticeps. 



Dysithamnus striaticeps, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii. p. 130^; ix. p. 107°; Boucard^ P. Z. S. 1878, 

 p. 60 ' ; Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, p. 115 * ; Scl. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xv. 

 p. 323 \ 



Supra cinereus, pileo efc nucha nigro striatis, dorso postico, alls et cauda brunnescentibus, tectricibus alarum 

 nigris albo terminatis : subtus gutture cinerea albo intermixta ; pectore et ventre medio albis, illo nigro 

 striato ; hypochondriis et tectricibus subcaudalibus fulvo tinctis : rostro et pedibus plumbeis, illius mandi- 

 bula paUidiore. Long, tota 4'5, alse 2*25, caudse 1'3, rostri a rictu 0'7, tarsi 0*75. (Descr. maris ex 

 La Balza, Costa Eica. Mus. nostr.) 



Hab. Costa Eica, Angostura {Carmiol'^^, Zeledon'^), La Balsa (Carmiol), San Carlos 

 [Boucard ^). 



A rare species, restricted in its range to Costa Eica, whence but few specimens have 

 been sent. The first of these formed part of the large collections made for the United- 

 States National Museum by Carmiol and others, and was described by Mr. Lawrence in 

 1865 1. Carmiol also sent us a male example, and M. Boucard obtained another ^. 



We have never seen a female of this species, but Mr. Lawrence describes it as having 

 a bright rufous head, each feather with a narrow black central stripe. In other respects 

 the sexes appear to difi'er very much as do those of D. puncficeps. 



MYEMOTHEEULA. 



Myrmotherula, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 234; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xv. p. 229. 



This is numerically one of the larger genera of Formicariidse, containing some twenty- 

 four or twenty-five species, which are divisible into several well-marked groups. The 

 genus has a wide range over Tropical America, extending northwards to the forests of 

 Northern Vera Paz, and southwards to the southern confines of Brazil, its focus being 

 the valley of the Amazons throughout its length and Guiana. In Central America 

 Myrmotherula is poorly represented by four species, not one of which is peculiar to the 

 country. Two out of the four do not range beyond Costa Eica, and the fourth, the 

 common M. menetrUsi, occurs in all the heavily-wooded country as far as Eastern 

 Guatemala. No member of the genus reaches Southern Mexico. 



Of the sections into which Mr. Sclater divides the genus, the first, of which M. surina- 

 mensis is typical, is the most distinct. Besides the difference in the style of coloration, 

 the bill is relatively longer and rather wider at the base, where the culmen is less 

 elevated, the nostrils are situated a little further from the longest supranasal feathers, 

 the hind tarsal scutella are more definite, and the tail shorter and squarer. 



