508 GALBULIDJi:. 



from the portion of Panama crossed by the inter-oceanic railway, where its place seems 

 to be entirely taken by Jacamerops aurea ; but it reappears on the Isthmus of Darien, 

 where the naturalists of Lieut. Michler's expedition obtained a specimen*, and in 

 Western Ecuador, whence we received specimens in a collection of skins made by 

 Mr. Illingworth in the Balzar Mountains, and where Stolzmann and Siemiradzki found 

 it at Chimbo, as recorded by Count Berlepsch and Taczanowski ^o. 



The flight of Qalbula melanogenia is quick and rather spasmodic, and not long 

 sustained, for on being disturbed it quickly alights again and remains almost motionless 

 on its perch, like a Trogon or Motmot. Of its nesting-habits nothing is on record, but 

 they doubtless resemble those of its near ally, G. ruficauda, described by Kirk, who 

 says that it builds in marl banks in the island of Tobago, like the Motmot, without any 

 nest beyond digging a hole an inch and a half in diameter. The distance of the eggs 

 from the entrance is about 18 inches ; they are three in number, pure white, and 

 nearly circular in shape, 



JACAMEROPS. 



Jacamerops, Lesson, Traits d'Orn. p. 234 (1831) ; Scl. Mon. Jacamars and Puff-birds, p. xxiy ; 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xix. p. 176. 



A monotypic genus, its only species being of wide distribution in the northern part 

 of Tropical America and entering our limits in the State of Panama, where it is 

 tolerably common on the Line of Railway. It has also been recorded from Costa 

 Rica. 



Instead of a nearly straight bill, as in Qalbula, Jacamerops has a gradually incurved 

 bill, which is widened at the base ; the outer rectrix on either side is of medium size, 

 not quite half the length of the central pair. The tarsi are feathered instead of bare 

 for the distal portion. 



In his Catalogue Mr. Sclater divides the Galbulidge into two subfamilies, making 

 Jacamerops the sole representative of his Jacameropinas. We do not adopt this division 

 as it appears to us that Jacamerops aurea is but a modified Galbula with similar style 

 of plumage, its generic distinction resting on the modification of the bill. Other 

 Galbulidse, such as Galbalcyrhynchus leucotis, seem much more widely separated. 



1. Jacamerops aurea. 



Alcedo aurea, P. L. S. Muller, Natursyst. Suppl. p. 94 (1776) '. 



Great Jacamar, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 605 ''. 



Alcedo grandis, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 458 (1788) \ 



Jacamerops grandis. Less. Traite d^Orn. p. 234 ^ ; Cassin, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1860, p. 134 ' ■ Lawr. Ann. 



* At our request Mr. Eidgway has kindly examined this specimen, which Cassin with doubt called Gallmla 

 ruficauda, and he pronounces it to belong to G. melanogenia. 



