332 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



its time on or near the ground, climbing and hopping about more after 

 the manner of the larger wrens than anything else. Apparently it is 

 entirely insectivorous. It is almost always seen in pairs (after the 

 breeding season), or a pair of old birds accompanied by one or two 

 young birds of the year. They are very shy, and when approached 

 go skulking off, hopping rapidly from limb to limb or making short 

 flights. The most striking characteristic is the song, which is of the 

 true wren type, having none of the qualities of the warblers and being 

 made up of a series of exquisite trills and whistles, but always with 

 that full, open, liquid quality so characteristic of the tropical wrens. 

 Unfortunately nothing was observed of the breeding, the type of nest, 

 or the number of eggs deposited, as I arrived in that region after the 

 breeding season. 



Scytalopus argentifrons and Zeledonia coronata. Almost all which is 

 to be said of the habits of one of these birds is applicable to the 

 other. They range from between 7,000 and 10,000 feet in the dense, 

 moisture-soaked forests to be found at those altitudes, on a hillside or 

 in some dark deep ravine, choked with brush and fallen trees. They 

 are continually creeping and hopping about under the masses of half 

 decayed branches, searching for insects and larvae, and would be 

 rarely seen or collected were it not for their song. The notes of the 

 birds are quite alike in quality and in pitch, but there is a consider- 

 able difference in the manner of rendering. It is a clear, musical 

 whistle, the tone being very close to D # in Scytalopus and to C# in 

 Zeledonia. Zeledonia repeats the same note from six to eight times 

 with the same interval between each note, while the length of the note 

 and the interval is about the same. Scytalopus has quite a different 

 method, repeating the notes in triplets, very rapidly, and with only a 

 very short interval between each. These triplets may be repeated from 

 three to ten times according to the mood of the bird, with an interval 

 of perhaps one or two seconds between each triplet. The note is easy 

 to imitate and the birds readily respond (although not every time) to 

 skillful calling. Nothing was ever learned about the nidification of 

 either species. 



Localities in Costa Rica at which Birds have been Collected. 



Achiote ; El Achiote de Pbas : — Name given to two small brooks, 

 which rise on the western slope of the Volcan de Poas, emptying into 

 the Rio Poas between Grecia and the summit of the volcano. This 



