Zoological Illustrations/VolII-Pl100

by William Swainson

XENOPS genibarbis,

Whiskered Xenops.

Generic Character.

Xenops. (Hoffmansegg. in Illiger. Prod. p. 213).

Rostrum mediocre, rectum, acutum, valdè compressum, inversè cultratum, i. e. culmine recto, gonyde recurvâ ascendente. Nares basales, laterales, ovatæ, parvæ, patulæ. Lingua—? Pedes mediocres, congrui. Digiti antici basi coadnati, laterales subæquales. Hallux digitum medium æquans. Illiger.

Bill moderate, straight, acute, much compressed, and inversely curved; the top of the upper mandible being straight, and the edge of the lower ascending or recurved. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, small, and covered by a naked membrane. Tongue—? Feet moderate, claws united at their base, the lateral ones nearly equal; the hind claw as long as the leg and the middle toe.

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Specific Character.

X. suprà fusco-rufa, infrà griseo-fusca; mento, superciliis maculisque jugularibus et pectoralibus albentibus; maculo infra aures niveo; remigum secundorum nigricantium basi fulvâ, apicibus marginibusque rufis.

Above reddish-brown, beneath grey-brown; chin, eyebrows, and spots on the throat and breast, whitish; beneath the ears a snowy spot; lesser-quills blackish, the base fulvous, the tips and margins rufous.

Xenops genibarbis Illiger Prod. p. 218. (1811.)

Neops ruficaudus Vieillot. Orn. Elem. p. 68. (1816.)

A very extraordinary and not inelegant little creature, having a bill totally different from any other bird. Its general habit evinces a close connexion with the Sittæ, particularly those of New Holland; some of which have their bills (which are slender) slightly inclining upwards, thus forming a connexion between Xenops and the straight billed Sittæ of the old world.

The figure is of the male, and its natural size; the head dark brown with pale spots; the back of a reddish tinge, and the rump and tail rufous; tail much rounded, and of twelve feathers; the three outer and the two pair in the middle entirely rufous, the other pair having the inner shafts black; the greater quills black; the last having an internal bar of pale fulvous. Beneath the eye a spot of white downy feathers, with a dusky border above and below; there is a little difference between this and Illiger's bird, but it may be only sexual.

Inhabits Brazil, but is rare.