_Salpinctes_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 323. (Type,
_Troglodytes obsoletus_, SAY.)
GEN. CHAR. Bill as long as the head; all the outlines nearly straight
to the tip, then decurved; nostrils oval. Feet weak; tarsi decidedly
longer than the middle toe; outer lateral toe much longer, reaching to
the base of the middle claw, and equal to the hinder. Wings about one
fifth longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary
about half that of the second, and two fifths that of the fourth and
fifth. Tail-feathers very broad, plane, nearly even or slightly
rounded; the lateral moderately graduated.
Of this genus but one species is so far known in the United States,
the Rock Wren of the earlier ornithologists. It is peculiar among its
cognate genera by having the two continuous plates on each side the
tarsus divided into seven or more smaller plates, with a naked
interval between them and the anterior scutellæ. Other characters will
be found detailed in the Review of American Birds, p. 109.
Salpinctes obsoletus, CABAN.