_Catherpes_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 357. (Type, _Thryothorus
mexicanus_, SW.)
GEN. CHAR. Bill longer than the head, slender; all the outlines nearly
straight to the tip, then gently decurved, gonys least so; nostrils
linear; tarsus short, about equal to the middle toe, which reaches to
the middle of the middle claw. Outer toe considerably longer than the
inner, reaching beyond the base of the middle claw. Wings a little
longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary about
half that of the fourth and fifth. Tail-feathers very broad and
perfectly plane; tail nearly even; the two lateral graduated; the
outer about eleven twelfths of the middle.
[Line drawing: _Catherpes mexicanus._
3969 ♂]
This genus agrees with _Salpinctes_ in the broad, plane tail-feathers,
but the bill is much longer, the nostrils linear, not oval, the feet
much stouter, the outer toe rather longer; the tarsus shorter, being
equal to the middle toe, not longer; the hind toe much longer than the
outer lateral, instead of equal to it. The wings are but little longer
than the tail, and shorter than in _Salpinctes_.
This genus is confined to the western portions, where a single
species, _C. mexicanus_, occurs in two well-marked varieties:—