like in form, though without a chisel-shaped tip and well adapted to hammering or chipping the decayed wood, as in the case of the Woodpeckers. In size the Dendrocolaptidæ vary from the dimensions of a true Creeper (Certhia) to those of a Flicker (Colaptes). There is little range in the variety of their coloration, rufous or chestnut and olivaceous hues prevailing throughout the group, often unvaried but sometimes relieved by streaks or bars of darker and lighter hues.
The family as properly restricted is equal to the "Subfamily Dendrocolaptinæ" of Dr. Sclater,[1] minus the genera Margarornis and Pygarrhicus, which belong to the Furnariidæ, and plus the genera Glyphorhynchus and Dendrornis, which constitute Dr. Sclater's "Subfamily Glyphorhynchinæ."
KEY TO THE GENERA OF DENDROCOLAPTIDÆ.[2]
a. Nostril roundish, without distinct operculum. (Dendrocolaptinæ.)
- b. Bill moderately elongated (much less than twice as long as tarsus) or rather short.
- c. Bill depressed (at least as broad as deep at nostril); maxillary tomium more or less distinctly notched subterminally. (Dendrocolapteæ.)
- d. Bill relatively short and stout, the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla not greater than length of tarsus, its depth at nostril equal to one-third the length of exposed culmen and nearly half the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla.
- c. Bill depressed (at least as broad as deep at nostril); maxillary tomium more or less distinctly notched subterminally. (Dendrocolapteæ.)
- dd. Bill relatively longer and more slender, the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla greater than length of tarsus, its depth at nostril less than one-fourth the length of exposed culmen and less than one-third the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla.
- cc. Bill compressed (much deeper than broad at nostril); maxillary tomium without trace of subterminal notch. (Xiphocolapteæ.)
- d. Bill straight.
- cc. Bill compressed (much deeper than broad at nostril); maxillary tomium without trace of subterminal notch. (Xiphocolapteæ.)
- dd. Bill more or less decurved.
- e. Larger (wing 120-152 mm.); bill relatively shorter and deeper, with gonydeal angle more prominent and base of gonys with a narrow but distinct median ridge.
- dd. Bill more or less decurved.
- ee. Smaller (wing less — usually much less — than 120 mm.); bill relatively longer and less deep, with tip of maxilla more decidedly decurved, gonydeal angle less prominent, and base of gonys without median ridge.
- f. Bill nearly straight (only the tip of maxilla decidedly decurved), relatively much deeper (depth at nostril equal to nearly one-fourth to about one-third the distance from nostril to tip of maxilla).
- ee. Smaller (wing less — usually much less — than 120 mm.); bill relatively longer and less deep, with tip of maxilla more decidedly decurved, gonydeal angle less prominent, and base of gonys without median ridge.
- ↑ Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, vol. xv, 1890, pp. 117-175.
- ↑ The genus Hylexetastes Sclater (type, Dendrocolaptes perrotii Lafresnaye) I have not examined, and therefore is omitted.
- ↑ Dendrexetastes Eyton, in Jardine's Contr. Orn., 1851, 76. (Type, D. capitoides Eyton = Dendrocolaptes temminckii Lafresnaye. — Cladoscopus Reichenbach, Handb. Spec. Orn., 1853, 192. Type, Dendrocolaptes temminckii Lafresnaye. (Cayenne and upper Amazon Valley; two species.)
- ↑ Dendroplex Swainson, Zool. .lourn., iii, 1827, 354. Type, Oriolus picus Gmelin. (Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia, southeastern Brazil, and lower Amazon Valley; two species.)
