72 TEO&LODTTID^, 



the top of the volcano of Conchagua, at an elevation of about 4000 feet, this mountain 

 forming the north-western extremity of the Gulf of .Fonseca. Here, too, it was on open 

 barren stony ground. The wide gap in the range of this species between Conchagua 

 and Quezaltenango is partly bridged by specimens having been observed hear Jutiapa, 

 in Guatemala, not far from the frontier of San Salvador. 



There is considerable diversity in the plumage of different specimens of this species, 

 due, we believe, to season or age. Our Quezaltenango specimens, shot in August, have 

 none of the characteristic black and white spots on the back; but the whole upper 

 surface is transversely barred with black, giving the bird a very different appearance ; 

 a close examination, however, reveals a few freshly-moulting feathers of the normal 

 type ; so that we are led to infer that these specimens are either young birds or old 

 ones in abraded plumage. A Cachil specimen killed in November is exactly like one 

 from the Yellowstone River. 



Concerning the name Troglodytes latifasciatus ^° little can be said, except that it may 

 apply to this species. The description is exceedingly meagre ; and, moreover, a fruitless 

 search in the Berlin Museum for Lichtenstein's type leaves us with nothing but the 

 description upon which to form an opinion. 



CATHEEPES. 



Catherpes, Baird, B. N. Am. p. 356 (1858). (Type Thryothorus mescicanm, Sw.) 



Though the feet are somewhat stouter in this genus than in Salpinctes, the relative 

 length of the toes is about the same, and the feet are more feeble than in other 

 Troglodytidse. The posterior covering of the tarsus is of the normal type, being a 

 single plate instead of several, as in Salpinctes. The bill is long and slender, and 

 without subterminal notch. The nostril is shaped much as in Salpinctes. 



Two species constitute this genus, one of which, C. mewicanus, is rather variable in 

 its characters, at least in Mexico, but more stable towards the northern limits of its 

 range. The second species is only known from a single specimen obtained in the 

 Mexican State of Vera Cruz. 



1. Catherpes mexicanus. 



Thryothorus mexicanus, Sw. Zool. 111. ser. 2. i. t. 11\ 



Salpinctes mexicanus, Cab. Arch. f. Naturg. xiii. p. 333 ' ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1857, p. 212 \ 1858, p. 297 *. 



Catherpes mexicanus, Baird, B. N. Am. p. 356 ' ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 172 " ; Baird, Rev. Am. B. i. 



p. Ill'; Dresser, Ibis, 1865, p. 484'; Sumichrast, Mem. Best. Soc.N. H. i. p. 545°; Lawr. 



Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 268"; Duges, La Natur. i. p. 139". 

 Catherpes mexicanus, var. conspersus, Baird, Brew. & Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 139 ". 

 Catherpes mexicanus conspersus, Coues, B. Col. Vail. i. p. 164". 

 Troglodytes murarius, Licht. Preia-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 2 " (J. f. Orn. 1863^ p. 57). 



