278 TANAGRIDA, 
There is little difference to be traced in birds from different parts of Mexico and 
Central America, and with these birds from Colombia closely agree, but in Ecuador the 
blue of the wings is rather richer in tint. This is most strongly seen on comparing 
an example from Belize with one from the island of Puna in the Gulf of Guayaquil. 
We are inclined, however, to include all the forms under the name of Tanagra cana. 
This title was bestowed by Swainson upon a bird which he figured in his ‘ Ornitholo- 
gical Drawings,’ and represents the race of the northern parts of South America. The 
Central-American bird was described by Lesson, from specimens obtained at Realejo 
near the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, as Tanagra diaconus. The two birds were kept 
separate by Mr. Sclater in his “ Synopsis Avium Tanagrarum,” published in the ‘ Pro- 
ceedings of the Zoological Society ’ for 1856. The large amount of additional materials 
has since led us to the conclusion that the two birds are not definitely distinct, and 
in the ‘Nomenclator Avium Neotropicalium ’ they were united under Swainson’s title. 
As will be seen above, Tanagra cana has a wide range throughout our region, from 
Southern Mexico to Panama. It is, as Sumichrast says, a bird of the low-lying hot 
region, from which it ascends to a height of upwards of 3000 feet at such times as 
certain fruits ripen in the mountains®. We once obtained one of these birds at Dueiias 
in Guatemala at a height of nearly 5000 feet ©; but the species is seldom to be seen 
so high as this. 
These birds pass most of their time in fruit-trees. Salmon found them building in 
orange-trees near Medellin in the Colombian State of Antioquia. The eggs are of a 
rich brown, densely blotched with darker spots, especially at the larger end °. 
2. Tanagra abbas. 
Tanagra abbas, Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 2 (ef. J. £. Orn. 1863, p. 57*); Sel. P.Z.S8. 1856, 
pp. 235°, 303°; 1859, pp. 864°, 378°; 1864, p. 173 °; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 
i. p. 5507; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 836°; Lawr. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 19°; 
Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 189”. 
Tanagra (Aglaia) vicarius, Less. Cent. Zool. p. 206, t. 68”. 
Tanagra vicarius, Bp. P. Z. 8. 1837, p. 116"; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 16°; Moore, P. Z. 8. 
1859, p. 59“; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 111”. 
Pallide olivascens, capite ceruleo, gutture cerulescente ; interscapulii plumis medialiter nigris, alis et cauda 
nigris, speculo alari et secundariis ad basin flavissimis ; tectricibus alarum majoribus olivaceis, minoribus 
cerulescentibus ; rostro et pedibus nigro-plumbeis. Long. tota 6:8, alee 3-9, caudee 2-7, rostri a rictu 0°7, 
tarsi 0-85. (Deser. maris ex Choctum, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 
Q mari valde similis sed coloribus paulo dilutioribus, gutture minus cerulescente. (Descr. exempl. ex Chisec, 
Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Mexico 4, valley of Mexico (White®), Tierra caliente of the Atlantic coast (le 
Strange), hot and temperate region of Vera Cruz (Sumichrast"), Jalapa (Deppe’, 
de Oca*), Cordova (Sallé28), Orizaba (Botteri?), Teotalcingo and Villa Alta 
(Boucard®), Guichicovi (Sumichrast °); Brivis Honpuras, Belize (Leyland ™, 
