_Helmitherus_, RAFINESQUE, Journal de Physique, LXXXVIII, 1819, 417.
(Type, _Motacilla vermivora_.)
_Vermivora_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. IV. 1827, 170 (not of MEYER,
1822).
_Helinaia_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 66. (Type, _Sylvia swainsoni_, AUD.)
[Line drawing: _Helmitherus vermivorus_, Bonap.]
GEN. CHAR. Bill large and stout, compressed, almost tanagrine; nearly
or quite as long as the head. Culmen very slightly curved; gonys
straight; no notch in the bill; rictal bristles wanting. Tarsi short,
but little longer, if any, than the middle toe. Tail considerably
shorter than the wings; rather rounded. Wings rather long, the first
quill a little shorter than the second and third.
[Illustration: _Helmitherus vermivorus._
2148]
The birds of this division are very plain in their colors, more so
than any other American Warblers. There are but two species referable
to the genus, of which the _H. swainsoni_ differs from the type in
having a considerably longer and more compressed bill, the ridge of
which is compressed, elevated, and appears to extend backwards on the
forehead, as well as to be in a straight line with the upper part of
the head. The wings are longer; the tail forked; not rounded; the
feathers narrower and more pointed; the tarsi shorter than in the
type. It appears to be at least a distinct subgenus to which the name
_Helinaia_, AUD., is to be applied.
Species.
COMMON CHARACTERS. Colors plain. Above olivaceous, beneath nearly
white. No spots or bands on wing or tail.
H. vermivorus. Above olive-green. Head yellowish, with a
black stripe above and one behind each eye. Tail rounded.
_Hab._ Eastern Province of United States; south to Costa Rica;
Cuba. (_Helmitherus._)
H. swainsoni. Above dull olive-green, tinged with brown.
Stripes on the head somewhat as in the last, but reddish-brown;
the median light stripe on the crown scarcely visible. Tail
slightly forked. _Hab._ South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba (very
rare). (_Helinaia._)
Helmitherus vermivorus, BONAP.