ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCHER. 
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under the name of Troglodytes obsoleta, from its close 
resemblance to the Carolina wren, ( Troglodytes Ludo- 
vicianus,) which Wilson considered a Certhai, and 
Vieillot a Thryoihorus, 
As the rocky mountain antcatcher is the first and 
only species hitherto discovered in North America, we 
shall make some general observations on the peculiarities 
of a genus thus introduced into the Fauna of the United 
States. 
Bulfon first formed a distinct group of the antcatchers, 
under the name of Fourmiliers, and considered them as 
allied to his Breves , now forming the genus Pitta of 
Vieillot, they having been previously placed in that of 
Tardus . Lacepede adopted, that group as a genus, 
and applied to it the name of Myrmecophaga. llliger 
added such species of the genus Lanius of Linne and 
Latham, as are destitute of prominent teeth to the bill, 
and gave to the genus, thus constituted, the name of 
Myiothera ; rejecting Lacepede’s designation, as already 
appropriated to a genus of mammalia. 
Cuvier perceived that some of the Fourmiliers of 
Button were true thrushes; but he retained the 
remainder as Myioihercs , among which he also included 
the Pittas . Vieillot, besides the Pittas, removed some 
other species, in order to place them in his new genera 
Conopophaga and Tamnophilus , giving the name of 
Myrmothera to the remaining species, with the excep- 
tion of the Myiothera rex, for which he formed a distinct 
genus, with the name of Gr allaria. We agree with 
Vieillot, in respect to the latter bird ; but, as regards the 
other species, we prefer the arrangement of Temminck, 
who has adopted the genus Myiothera nearly as con- 
stituted by llliger, including some of the slender-billed 
Tamnophili of Vieillot, of which our Myiothera 
obsoleta would probably be one, as above stated. 
The genus thus constituted contains numerous 
species, which inhabit the hottest parts of the globe ; a 
greater number of them existing in South America, 
than elsewhere. For the sake of convenience, several 
sections may be formed in this genus, founded on the 
