M& N HariViart i
MYIADESTES OBSCURES.
(DUSKY SOLITjYIBE).
Myiadestes ohscurus . Lafr. Eev. Zool. 1839, p. 99.
Selater, P.Z.S. 1857, p. 2 1 3 ; 1859, p p . 364, 376 ; Cat. A. B. p. 47.
„ „ . Sclat. e t Salv. Ib is, 1859, p. 14.
„ „ . Baird, E ev . A. B. p. 430.
Sc liista ceu s; eiliis oculorum albis, loria c t s tr ig a r ic ta li n ig r i s : alis fusco-nigris, e s tu s rufo lim b a tis : in te r-
scapulio paliidioro r u f o ; dorso imo oliváceo p e rfu s o ; su b tu s d ilu te aehistaceus, g u ttu re e t v e n tre medio cum crisso
a lb ic a n tib u s ; remigum maculá m ag n á in te rn a oekraceo-albá : c au d a n ig ric an te , ree tricib u s d uabus mediis cum unius
u trin q u e prosim® pogomo e s te n io g ris e is ; re e tric ib u s la tera lib u s albo te rm in a tis ; b a rum u n iu s u trin q u e estim®
dimidio apicali p a llide g r is e o : ro s tro nig ro , p edibus fu s c is : long, to ta 7 '5 , aim 4 0, caud® 4 1 .—Ibsm. m a ri similis.
M a i. in Mexico Me rid . e t Guatemalá.
This Solitaire was first made known to science by the veteran French Ornithologist, the
late Baron de Lafi-csnaye, who has added so largely to our knowledge o f the American Avifauna,
i l . de Lafi-esnaye described the species from Alexican specimens, and recent collections have
contained examples o f it from many localities in the Southern States o f that country. Botteri
and Sumichrast have each met with it in the vicinity of Orizava, De Oca near Jalapa, and
Boucard iu the mountainous districts o f Oaxaca, where the eggs were likewise procured.
Professor Baird registers specimens as having been obtained by Xantus at TonaU in ’ the
southern part o f the State o f Chiapas, and by Col. Grayson on the Tres Alarias Islands, which
is the most northern locality for it we arc acquainted with. Going southward this species is
very abundant in some parts o f Guatemala, where it is generally known by the name of the
Guarda-harranca— or guard o f the ravines. It is diffused tliroughout the high tablc-land,
o f from 5000 to 7000 feet above the sea-level, which runs parallel with the Pacific Coast of
Guatemala, and constitutes the principal watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific. Hence
it follows the principal spm- o f tlie main chain, which extends towards the higli-lands o f \ era
Paz, as far as the village o f Tactic, but a little further northwards is replaced by the allied
species—Myiadestes unicolor.
In the ravines o f the two Y’olcanoes o f Agua and Fuego, Air. Salvin fomid this bird to he
v e iy abundant and constantly resident. Its clear, metallic, ringing song, which is uttered at
intervals throughout the day, at once attracts attention and makes its presence known. But it
sits concealed in the low thick bushes which clothe the gullies, and it is not v ciy easy to get