Family— SPHENOSTOMIDiE. 
Genus— APHELOCEPHALA. 
Aphelocephala Oberholser, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 
Philad., 1899, p. 214, June 2nd. Type (by 
original designation) .. .. .. • • Xerophila leucopsis Gould. 
Xerophila Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1840, 
p. 175, July 1841. Type (by monotypy) .. Xerophila leucopsis Gould. 
Not— 
Held., Isis, 1837, col. 913. 
Very small non-crested birds with short stout conical bills, short tail, short 
wings, long slender legs and delicate feet. 
The bill is short and conical, about half the length of the head, the culmen 
arched, the tip sharp not hooked, laterally compressed, and with little basal 
expansion, the culmen semi-keeled ; the lower mandible is not so deep as the 
upper, the gonys more than half the length ascending and the interramal 
space feathered; the depth of both mandibles at the base more than the 
breadth ; the nostrils are oval apertures in a short nasal groove which is, 
however, nearly half the length of the culmen ; the nostrils are hidden by 
frontal projecting feathering •with two or three nasal bristles; rictal bristles 
few and delicate. 
The wing is short and rounded, the first primary short but more than half 
the length of the second which is longer than the secondaries and the eighth 
primary ; the third, fourth, fifth and sixth primaries are subequal and longest, 
the seventh a little shorter but longer than the eighth. 
The tail is short, a little rounded, the upper tail-coverts long, more than 
half the length of the tail. 
The legs are comparatively long and slender, booted in front, but some¬ 
times scutes may be obscurely seen, bilaminate behind; the toes are short 
and delicate, the claws weak; the hind-toe equals the mid-toe, the hind claw 
longest; the outer and inner toes are subequal, the inner toe and claw equal 
to the middle toe without claw. 
Key to the Species. 
No band on chest .. .. .. .. .. A. leucopsis. 
Band on chest 
Black band .. .. .. .. .. A. nigricinda. 
Chestnut band .. .. .. .. .. A. pectoralis. 
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