CHAR. Tarsus stout, shorter, or not longer than the middle toe and
claw; conspicuously scutellate anteriorly, and frequently on one or
other or on both sides; sometimes with a row of small plates behind.
Wings much graduated; the second quill not longer than secondaries.
Outline of lateral tail-feathers parallel or widening from base to
near tip. Tail unvaried, or else inornate at end. Quills without light
patch at base. Head crested. Young birds not spotted. Not conspicuous
for song.
There are two genera of this section having in brief the following
characters:—
Crest narrow, pointed, its feathers stiff, their webs compact;
outer primaries broad. Tail rounded … _Phænopepla_.
Crest broad, decumbent, soft, the feathers loose; outer
primaries attenuated. Tail even or cuneate … _Ptilogonys_.
The genus _Ptilogonys_ has two species, one Mexican, the other
Costa-Rican, neither coming within the limits of the United States.
The type is _P. cinereus_, SWAINSON (BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 412), a
species of the tablelands of Mexico, which may yet be found within the
southern borders of the United States in New Mexico or Arizona.