BIRDS OF NOBTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 9 



width at base less even than half the distance from the nostril to tip of 

 maxilla, its lateral outlines nearly straight, but less rapidly converg- 

 ing for terminal third; depth of bill at base about equal to its width 

 at nostrils. {E. minuta.) (3) Bill extremely thick and swollen, with 

 lateral outlines nearly straight, its width at base nearly equal to 

 exposed culmen, and basal depth exceeding distance from nostril to 

 tip of maxilla; culmen and gonys both very strongly convex. {E. cha- 

 lyhom, type of Ypoplima Bonaparte.) Wing long (more than three 

 and a half to four and a half times as long as tarsus), pointed (ninth 

 to sixth primaries longest and usually nearly equal, the ninth some- 

 times longest and never as short as the fifth); primaries exceeding 

 secondaries by not less than length of tarsus. Tail short (never more 

 than two-thirds nor less than half as long as wing), even, slightly 

 rounded or slightly emarginated, the rectrices rather broad, with 

 rounded tips. Tarsus equal to or longer than middle toe with claw; 

 lateral claws reaching about to base of middle claw; hind claw shorter 

 than its digit; all the claws well curved and sharp. Plumage soft, 

 silky, and blended. 



Coloration: — Adult males glossy, more or less metallic, above, the 

 prevailing color usually black glossed with violet, steel blue, or green, 

 with the head above usually with more or less of blue, yellow, or 

 rufous; if not glossy black above, the color semimetallic olive-green 

 or bluish gray; under parts usually mainly yellow (sometimes orange- 

 rufous, rarely grayish), with or without black throat and chest. 

 Females with olive-green and yellowish (sometimes with gray and 

 white also) replacing the black and brighter hues of the males. Young 

 essentially similar to adult females, wholly unstreaked. 



Notwithstanding the vast difference in the form of the bill exhibited 

 by the three extremes described above, the remaining thirty-odd spe- 

 cies show every possible intermediate condition, and consequently, 

 being unable to discover any other segregative characters, I am dis- 

 posed to ignore the so-called genus Ypophoea, recognized by Dr. 

 Sclater in the eleventh volume of the Catalogue of Birds in the British 

 Museum. Dr. Sclater says that this lacks the notch near the tip of 

 the maxillary tomium; but I find it quite as distinctly indicated in 

 specimens examined as in some examples of true Euphonia. Should 

 Ypophcea be recognized as a genus it would be quite necessary to 

 restrict Euphonia to E. musica and its nearer allies, make E. minuta 

 the type of another genus, and perhaps carry the subdivision still 

 further. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF EUPHONIA. 



a. Crown, occiput, and hindn.eck light blue. 

 6. Back dark steel blue or glossy blue-black, 

 c. Rump black like back; forehead chestnut. (Southern Mexico to Isthmus of 



Panama. ) Euphonia elegantissima, adult male (p. 12) 



cc. Bump yellow; forehead yellow. 



