HAKPOEHYNCHUS. 33 



Supra fusco-cinereus, campterio et tectricum alarum apicibus albis ; subtus sordide albus, pectore fasco- 

 cinereo variegato, bypocbondriis eodem colore suffusis ; oaudas reotricibus (nisi quatuor internis) praecipue 

 in pogonio interne albo terminatis ; rostro nigro, pedibus obscure fascis. Long, tota 9-7, alse 4-5, caudjB 

 4*5, rostri a rictu 1-4, tarsi 1-35. (Descr. exempl. ex Mexico merid. Mus. nostr.) 



Hah. North America, southern frontier of United States*. — Mexico Tableland 

 {Bullock ^), Mazatlan (Xantus ^, Bischoff^), Tepic {Grayson ®), Tamaulipas {Couch*), 

 Mountains of Colima {Xantus^), Temascaltepec {Deppe, Mus. Berol.), Orizaba 

 {Botteri^), Oaxaca {Boucard ^), Tebuacan {Sumichrasf^}, Cuemavaca {le Strange). 



Originally described by Swainson from a specimen obtained by Bullock in the table- 

 land of Mexico ^, Harporhynchus curvirostris has since been met with by nearly every 

 collector who has worked in Southern Mexico ; and the bird seems to be common from 

 the State of Oaxaca, where M. Boucard found it ^, northwards to the valley of the Rio 

 Grande and Texas ^ ^, extending also along the western coast through the mountains of 

 Colima ® to Mazatlan ^. Prof. Sumichrast never met with it except on the plateau of 

 Mexico, and omits the name of the species from his list of the birds of Vera Cruz, 

 stating that the localities cited in that State, where the species is said to have been found, 

 may be erroneous ^. 



We have no record of the habits of the species in ikexico ; but in Texas, where it 

 came under the observation of both Dr. Merrill ^ and Mr. Sennett ^, it is described as a 

 bird of very retiring disposition and of no great powers as a songster. 



In Mexico Prof. Baird speaks of the western specimens having heavier and thicker 

 bills and stouter legs than eastern birds, but does not attach much importance to the 

 fact. In Arizona a race occurs which has received the distinct title of H. palmeri, but 

 which is apparently only imperfectly separated from the typical form. 



Of the names proposed for this species subsequently to Swainson's, Turdus deflexus 

 of Lichtenstein ^° seems, by the light of specimens in the Berlin Museum, to be certainly 

 applicable to H. curvirostris. 



Pomatorhinus turdinus, given to it by Temminck ^^, was applied to a bird said to have 

 come from New Holland ! No such species has ever been recognized in Australia ; and 

 the plate is a fair representation of H. curvirostris. 



Wagler's name Toxostoma vetula ^^ has always been a recognized synonym of this 

 species, and was suspected to apply to the same bird as Swainson's title by Wagler 

 himself. This latter writer considers it to be the Chietottotl of Hernandez. 



4. Harporhynchus graysoni. 



Harporhynchus graysoni, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. x. p. 1^; Grayson, Pr. Bost. Sec. N. H. xiv. 

 p. 298'; Lawr. Mem. Bost. See. N. H. ii. p. 267'. 



" Male. Above of a rather dirty reddisb-brown, the front paler, a blackish spot in front of and under the 

 eye ; chin, upper part of throat and sides of the head pale ochreous, the latter marked with faint dusky 



BIOL, CBNTB.-AMER., Zool., Aves, Vol. 1, Nov. 1879. 5 



