Helminthophaga ruficapilla.
2238
Gen. Char. Bill elongated, conical, very acute; the outlines very nearly straight, sometimes slightly decurved; no trace of notch at the tip, nor of bristles on the rictus. Wings long and pointed; the first quill nearly or quite the longest. Tail nearly even or slightly emarginate; short and rather slender. Tarsi longer than the middle toe and claw.
The species of this section are well characterized by the attenuation and acuteness of the bill, and the absence of any notch. There are, however, considerable subordinate differences in the different species. In some the bill is larger and more acute than others; in one species, the H. peregrina, the wings are unusually lengthened, the tail being only about seven twelfths as long.
Species and Varieties.
Common Characters. Iris brown. Length about 5.00. Nest on the ground, in grass or dead leaves. Eggs clear white, thickest at end, with minute dots of brown of various shades and faint purple.
A. Tail with a conspicuous patch of white.
a. A black patch covering throat and breast.
1. chrysoptera. Above ash, beneath white. Forehead and a patch on the wing yellow. Hab. Eastern Province of United States, south to Bogota; Cuba.
2. bachmani. Above olive-green; beneath, with forehead, yellow; crown ash, bounded anteriorly with a black bar. No yellow on wing. Hab. South Carolina and Georgia. Cuba in winter.
b. No black on throat or breast.