ANATOMICAL NOTES ON TODUS, OXYRUNCUS AND

402

Clark,NotesonTodus,Oxyruncus andSpindalis.

[j^

ANATOMICAL NOTES ON TODUS, OXYRUNCUS AND

SPINDALIS.

BY HUBERT LYMAN

CLARK.

During

a recent visitto Cuba, Dr.

Thomas

Barbour was so kindas tosecurealcoholicspecimensof Todus andSpindalisfor

my

studyandI

am

gladtoexpress here

my

thanksfor histhought- fulness. Mr.

Ridgway

hasvery kindly entrustedto

me

theremains ofaspecimenofOxyruncus which hecollected inCostaRicaand Ihavetothank

him

andDr.

Richmond

forgiving

me

-theoppor- tunityofexaminingthisinteresting bird.

Todus.

The

anatomicalcharacteristics of this genushave beenso fully workedout

by

Murie(1872,Proc.Zool. Soc.London, p.664)and Forbes (1882,Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 442) that there would seem tobe verylittletoadd to theiraccounts.

But

theformer confinedhisstudiestothe skeletonwhile thelatter dealswith the pterylosis so brieflythat afewmoredetails

may

wellbe mentioned.

Forbeshascalledattention to the very shortintestine in Todus;

inthespecimenbefore

me

from Cuba,it isabout70

mm.

long or justaboutequaltothelengthofthe birdwithoutits tailfeathers.

The

arrangementofthe loopsoftheintestineisstrikingly likethat ofAlaudaas figured

by Gadow

(1879,Jena.Zeits.,vol. 13,^pi.XI,

figs.8and11)except that the loop4-7isnot nearlyas long. In thisrespectitresembles thearrangementinCypselus (1.c,PI.X,

fig.10), towhichit isverysimilar.

Nitzsch's account (1840, Syst. der Pteryl. p. 127, pi. IV, figs.

9 and 10) of the pterylosis of Todus is unfortunately not very accurate. Forbes suggests that this was probably due to his observationsbeingbasedon thestudyof skins. While thisisno doubttrue, it isalso duein partto his inclusion of Todirostrum cinereum (L.) with Todus tiridis L. in the genus Todus. It is

hardly strange that the studyoftheskins oftwobirdsbelongingto

^1913 J Clakk,NotesonTodus,Oxyruncus andSpindalis.

403

different orders, underthe impression that theywerecongeneric, should leadto mistakesindescribing thepterylosis of thegenus!

Forbeshas pointed out that thesternal tractsarenot remarkable, as they arefigured

by

Nitzsch, butare quite likethose of

many

Passerinebirds, broad, undivided butabruptly contractedwhere they passintothe verynarrowventrals.

The

connectionbetween thesternalsandthehumeralsover the baseofthewingishowever unusuallywellfeatheredandthis,nodoubt, hasled tooneofthe errors in Nitzsch's figure 9. Nitzsch says there are 19 remiges which Forbescorrects to 20, butthespecimen athand shows21 very clearly, there being 11 secondaries in each wing. In the pterylosis ofthe head, there arecertain peculiaritieswhichneither Nitzsch nor Forbes mention but ^{w^iich} are of some importance nevertheless.

The

backoftheheadisvery sparsely featheredbut about the middle of the neck the upper cervical tract begins abruptly and is densely feathered.

The

frontal tract is thickly feathered and is sharply limited on each side

by

a conspicuous supraocular apterium.

The

lower cervical tract continues clear tothegonysasa narrow, thickly-featheredstripbounded oneach side

by

aprominent apteriumalongeachramusofthe lower jaw.

Inallthesethreefeatures,thereisa noticeable resemblance to the pterylosis ofAlcedo.

In thespecimen beforeme, whichis anadult Todus multicolor Gould, fromCojimar,

Havana

Province, Cuba, there isaninter- esting peculiarity, which calls for special comment. There are only eightrectricesand, while examinationshowsthatoneofthe middlepairand oneofthe outsidepairhave beenaccidentallylost, itisclearthatthisbirdneverhad butten. Nitzschgivesthe

num-

berof rectrices in

Todus

astwelve andalllaterwriters havefol-

lowedhim.

Through

thekindnessofMr.Bangs,Ihave examined a

number

ofskins ofTodus from Cuba,Jamaica,HaytiandPorto Ricoandinevery case there are twelverectrices. Itseems then that this specimen which Dr. Barbour collected in

Cuba

is an individual variant, which inviewofthe peculiarities ofthelittle familytowhichitbelongs,isofmore thanordinaryinterest.

404

Clark,NotesonTodus,OxyruncusandSpindalis. rAuk_[july

OXYRUNCUS.

The

only material of this rare bird available forstudy is the skinned carcase,minus head, limbsandintestines, ofa specimen shot

by

Mr. Ridgway,April7,1905,atBouilla,CostaRica.

The

carcase hasat sometimebeen partiallydriedsothatthemuscles permittedofnocareful dissection,and

my

observations arethere- foreconfinedto thetongue(which remains attached to thewind- pipe), the syrinx, theheart, the sternum, the backboneand the sacrum. Innoneoftheseparts,didIfindacharacteristic feature, but instead astrikingresemblance to Sayornis and Tyrannus is

evident inall.

The

tongue and syrinx are so

much

like thoseof Sayornis that the onlydifference noted is that the tongueisa Httlemore horny thanin thePhoebe and itsposterior lobeshave distinctlyfewerand

much

smaller,sharp marginal papillae.

The

heart is noticeably large,

much

larger than that of a Kingbird.

Itmeasures about16

mm.

inlength

by

9

mm.

in thickness,while the Kingbird's ^is about 14

by

7|

mm. The

sternum is almost exactlylikethatof Sayornis, onlyit islargerand the

manubrium

islonger, moredeeply forked andhence

more

conspicuous.

The

scapulaearealittlelonger,

more

pointedand morecurvedthanin Sayornis, butthedifferencesare verytrifling.

The

coracoids are stoutandthe procoracoids are very conspicuous as inTyrannus.

The

vertebralcolumnislikethatofTyrannusinthe

number

ofits

componentpartsbutthefirstofthesevenpairs of ribs arelongand slender as in Sayornis.

The

sacrumis noticeably largerandits vertebralcomponents morefully ossifiedthaninT>Tannus,sothat the sacraofthetwogenera canbeeasily distinguished,butnone ofthedifferences are important. Indeed, itmustbesaidthatso farastheinternal structureswhich^Ihave examinedare concerned, thereis no reason

why

Oxyruncus should be separated fromthe Tyrannidffi.

Mr. Bangshas kindly permitted

me

toexaminetheskins ofan adultmale Oxyruncuscristatus(Swains.) fromBrazil andofthree femalesof 0. c.frater (Scl.

&

^Sal.)from Costa Rica.

The

male showsthepeculiarmodificationofthe outer

web

ofthefirst(tenth) primaryperfectlydeveloped, whileit isentirelylackinginthe three

1913 ^] Clark,NotesonTodus,OxyruncusandSpindalis.

405

females. Mr.

Ridgway

(1907, Bull.U.S.Nat.Mus.,No.50,p.332) considers the character asreallynotworthconsideration,theserra- tionbeingso faint as tobepractically non-existent." Again on

p. 333 (footnote) hesays the characteris "veryindistinct inall specimensexamined" andyetonp.334(footnote)he says thatitis

"veryobviousinaspecimensexed

by

thecollector asa female."

Itseemsto

me

thatMr.

Ridgway

hasbeenmisled

by

the mistake of this collector

who

apparently sexed amaleasfemale. Suchmis- takes are notrare,mostcollectorshavingprobably

made them

at sometime,anditiseasier for

me

tobelievethatsuch a mistake has occurred in this case, than to question the importance of this striking character. It is well

known

that in several genera of Pipridpe, the male possesses peculiar modifications of the wing feathers asasecondarysexual characterandit isprobable thatin Oxyruncustheserration ofthetenthprimary on itsouter

web

is ofa similarnature.

More

materialwould seem to be necessary beforethe questioncanbedefinitely settled.

Spindalis.

Dr. Barbourcollected atGuantanamo, Cuba,a finepair, male and^female, of Spindalisprctrei (Lesson) which I have examined with

much

interest.

The

general pterylosis is notable only in that the dorsal tract does not have the rhomboidal form usual

among

Passeres butisnarrowly elliptical as Nitzschfigures itin Oriolus.

The

othertractsshow nospecial peculiarities.

The

wing

is

somewhat

rounded, thesixth,seventhandeighth primaries being rather short andsubequal, with the ninthandfifth still shorter.

There are of course nine primaries and nine secondaries.

The

twelverectricesare approximatelyequal,thoughthe outer ones are reallythelongest.

The

bonypalateisnotablechiefly forthe very longandslender palatineprocesses. Thereisnotrace ofa second- ary palatine processsuchasoccursinZamelodia.

The

alimentary canal is characterized

by

a rather shortand unusuallylarge in- testine.

The

stomachissmall,lessthan10

mm.

long,and^thereis

no crop, though the basal part of the oesophagus is

somewhat

enlarged.

The

intestineis onlyabout90

mm.

long, butis about

406

Sherman, NestLife of the SparrowHawk. [j^iy

3

mm.

indiameter and thereis little difference in size between the small intestine and the rectum.

The

intestinal loops are naturally few and simply arranged as in

many

Passerine birds;

thereisnothingdistinctive in theirarrangement.

Examinationof the sternumrevealed the interesting fact that itislikethatofanyfinch,the onlypeculiaritybeinginthe

manu-

brium whichisverylargewith thetwo arms^ordivisionslongand widely spreading. Thereisno trace ofan"osseous bridge"from theanteriormarginofthesternumtothe

manubrium

suchasoccurs inPiranga,noristhereanybonyroof,eitherwithorwithoutfor- amina, covering a spacebackoftheanteriormargin, suchasoccurs in Saltator, Pipilo etal. Thereare nodifferences to be seen be- tweenthesternumofthemaleinSpindalisandthatofthe female.

The

absenceofthe"osseous bridge"inthisgenusindicates either thatits presenceis notcharacteristic of all tanagers orelsethat Spindalisisnot a tanager.

THE NEST LIFE OF THE SPARROW HAWK.

BY

ALTHEA

R. SHERMAN.

The

nestingofaspecies

new

to our placealwaysisaneventof greatinterest,and doublyso

when

thebirdsareofthe hole-nesting sort,whose

home

lifeat verycloserange hasneverbeenexhibited (so far asisknown)tomortaleye; but

when

thespeciesisoneof the Raptoresinterestheightensandfeelingsbecomeindescribably mixed; thereis the anxiety to watchthe nest lifemingled with fear forour harmless,littlefeatheredfriends,thattrustinglyhave returnedto their

summer

home; henceonApril4,1912,itwaswith a perturbed

mind

that apair ofSparrow

Hawks

(Falco sparvcrius sparverius) that had arrived the

day

before, were watchedwhile theyinspected the nestboxoccupied

by

ScreechOwlstwo years previously.

Neverbeforeinourimmediate neighborhood

—

National,

Iowa—