590 OHIO BIRDS. 
thophaga pinus, although in the concealed black of vertex and auriculars it slightly 
resembles certain plumages of Oporornis formosa. From H. pinus, its nearest ally it differs 
in its decidedly larger size, the presence of rictal bristles, the concealed black of vertex 
and the black auriculars; negatively, in the total absence of white wing bars, white tail 
bloiches, and ashy blue on wings and tail. With 0. formosa it seems hardly necessary to 
‘compare it; its smaller size, dissimilar proportions, short tarsi, yellow forehead, and 
white margin to outer tail feathers, sufficiently distinguish it from that species. A 
suspicion of hybridism between the two genera is, in the present state of our knowledge, 
inadmissible. 
“‘Of its habits nothing is known except that it was shot while searching for insects 
at the end of a maple limb about fifty feet from the ground. 
‘Tt is a little remarkable that this should be the third new species of this genus 
announced from the eastern United States during the past six years; such, however, is 
the fact, and in all three instances the discovery has been made in an already thoroughly 
explored section. Whether this has any significance as indicating a special tendency of 
the genus to differentiation on account of changes in its environment, or is merely a 
coincidence, is of course problematical; the question of an extension of range from some 
heretofore unexplored habitat would also come in here for consideration.”’ 
Mr. Ridway (1. c.) expresses his views in regard to its validity and re- 
lations to other species as follows: ? 
‘‘ Having had, through Dr. Coues’ courtesy, the pleasure of examining the type speci- 
men of Mr. Langdon’s new Helminthophaga, recently described in the Journal of the Cin- 
cinnati Society of Natural History, July, 1880, I feel constrained to offer a few remarks 
concerning it, as an expression of my own views regarding its validity as a species. At 
first sight, the bird impresses one with its unique coloration, which on farther examina- 
tion is found to be a perfect combination of the plumage of Helminthophaga pinus and 
Oporornis formosa. ‘The wings and tail are plain-colored, as in the latter, but the wings 
show a faint suggestion of the wing-bands of the former, in the pale olivaceous tips to 
the middle and greater coverts. The forehead is yellow, as in H. pinus, but behind and 
along the postero-lateral edge of this yellow is seen a portion of the black cap which 
characterizes O. formosa. The black markings of the side of the head are intermediate in 
extent between the narrow and postocular streak of the Helminthophaga, and the broader 
loral patch with suborbita! continuation, as seen in the Oporornis. In form, the bird is 
as nearly intermediate between the two as could well be imagined, the bill inclining 
more to that of Oporornis in size and shape, the feet more like those of Helminthephaga. 
The bird may eventually prove to be a distinct species ; but it certainly suggests a hybrid 
between those named aboved, with quite as good (in fact exactly the same) reason as 
that between Hirundo erythrogastra and Petrochelidon lunifrons, recorded in a former num- 
ber of the Bulletin (Vol. TI, pp. 135, 136). This view of the matter is strengthened by 
the circumstance that in many, if not most, parts of the Mississippi Valley, especially in 
the latitude of Cincinnati, the two species bred very abundantly in the same localities, 
both nesting on the ground, and often having their nests situated only a few feet apart.” 
242. Helminthophaga pinus, Dury and Freeman, Obs., Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii, 
1879, 101. 
243, Helminthophaga chrysoptera, Dury and Freeman, Obs., Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., 
ii, 1879, 101—Langdon, Field Notes, ib., iii, 1880, 122. 
