494 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Costa Rican birds are undoubtedly referable to the Colombian 

 (Santa Marta) form, that is true ceriea and not to C. ce. stictoptera 

 (Ridgway). The northern race, which has been named C. stictoptera, 

 is not a very good form, in my opinion, although birds from British 

 Honduras and Mexico have the white spots on the secondaries very 

 pronounced and constant. On the other hand some of the Santa 

 Marta birds have traces of this spotting, and all the birds from Panama 

 and Costa Rica are more or less intermediate, but always running 

 nearer to the South American birds. 



This dainty little kingfisher is not common in Costa Rica, while 

 the nature of its habitat causes it to be easily overlooked. They are 

 found on both the Caribbean and Pacific lowlands, up to at least 2,000 

 feet, frequenting, as a rule, very small creeks running through the 

 heavy forest, where they are seen flitting back and forth or perched 

 on a twig just over the water. The only exception to this habitat 

 was a specimen secured on the edge of a small lake in an open pasture 

 at Bonilla, where it was perched on some reeds. 



Family MOMOTID^E. 



Key to the Costa Rican Species. 



a. Size very small (wing 75 or 80 mm.); tail without spatulate tips; crown and 

 nape chestnut, back green ; blue spot over eye. Hylomanes momotida. 



aa. Size medium or large (wing not less than 100 mm.); tail with spatulate tips. 



b. No brown on upper parts ; back and wings green ; lower parts brownish- 

 or tawny-green. 

 c. Pileum black, surrounded by a blue band ; lores, subocular and sub- 

 orbital region black. Momotus lessoni. 

 cc. Pileum green like back ; forehead chestnut ; a blue supraocular patch. 



Prionomis carinatus. 

 bb. Whole pileum chestnut-brown or else middle of back and abdomen rufous- 

 brown. 

 c. Whole pileum chestnut-brown ; lores and a stripe on side of head below 

 eye black ; black spot in centre of breast. 

 d. Size large (wing 150, tail 290 mm.); outer web of outer primaries 

 deep purple ; lower parts mostly chestnut-brown. 



Urospatha tnartii. 



dd. Size smaller (wing Iio, tail 175 mm.); outer webs of primaries 



green ; chin bluish-green ; cinnamon-rufous of lower parts ending 



on lower breast ; rest below bluish-green. Prionomis minor. 



cc. No brown on pileum ; a postocular spot and middle of back chestnut ; 



rest above (except wings and tail blue, feathers tipped with black), 



