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OXYHHAMPHUS FRATER,
PLATE LXVI.
OXYRHAMPÏ ÏUS FRA T E R
(SHOET-TAILED OXYEHAirPTTTTS).
Oxijrhynchus ßammiceps
Oxyrhamplius fra tei-
Lawr. An n . L .K , T . ís. p. 106.
Sclat, e t Salv. P . Z . S. 1868, p. 326.
Clare viridis ; pileo n ig ro variegato, cris ta m ediali coccineâ : alis eaudaque n igris e s tu s viridi lim b atis ; secundariorum
e t te ctricum ma rg in ib u s e s te rn is e t caudæ apice e s trem a iiallide flavis : su b tu s p a llide flavus, n ig ro sq u am atu s, v en tris
medii e t crissi maculis fere ev anescentibus : ro s tro corneo, p ed ib u s plumbeis : long, to tá 6'5, alæ 3 '5 . caudæ 2 '1 , ro s tri
a r ic tu 0-85, ta rs i 0-8.
Ila b . in V e rag u â {Areé) ■. Costà E ie â (t). Fra ntzius.)
It is a remarkable fact that in some oases the fauna o f Central America presents us with
species more intimately allied with those o f the wood-region o f South Eastern Brazü than with
any found in the intermediate country. For instance, Neamrrpkus sa h in i o f Veragua is mueli
more nearly allied to N. geojfroyi o f Brazil than to N. rvfipmnis of Guiana. But no more .striking
example o f the recuiTence o f Brazilian forms north o f the Isthmus o f Panama can be given than
that o f the present species. Oxtjrlamphus has heen hitherto justly regarded as one o f the most
characteristic types o f the Omis o f South Eastern Brazil, and' as absolutely unknown in every
other part o f the neotropical region. But now we find in Veragua a species so closely allied
to the Brazilian form that even the experienced eye o f onr friend Mr. G. N. Lawrence was
unable to detect the differences.
Om- original description o f Oxgrlamphus fra ter was based upon two specimens obtamcd by
Arcé at Calovevora in Veragna in 1867. Since their receipt a subsequent collection from the
same locality has arris-ed containing a more ample supply o f specimens. These fully confinn
the differences which we have already pointed ont as subsisting between the two species, viz.
the much shorter tail, the generally brighter plumage, and the rather broader orcam-coloured
edgings to the outer webs o f the secondaries and wing-coverts in the Verao-uan form.
Mr. Lawrence’s recently published Catalogue o f the Birds o f Costa litea shews us that this
Oxgrhamplma occurs also in that country, specimens having been forwarded to the Smithsonian
Institution from tbe vicinity o f San José by Dr. v. Frantzius. But, as has been already remarked,
Mr. Lawi-ence has not distinguished this bird from its Brazilian ally.
The genus Oxgrlamplms is a very isolated type, and there is great difficulty in assigning
it a proper systematic position in the natural series. Tlie presence o f ten fully developed
primaries and the structure o f the tarsi seem to prove that Cabanis was right in arranging it
amongst the TraxUoplomc. But we can hardly follow him so far as to regard this p°eculiar
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