TACHYPHONUS. —CHLOROSPINGUS. 313 
itenti-niger, crista rufo-aurantiaca, tectricibus alarum minoribus et subalaribus albis ; rostro nigro, mandibule 
basi albicante, pedibus fuscis. Long. tota 5:5, alee 2-7, caude 2°5, rostri a rictu 0°6, tarsi 0-7. 
@ olivacea subtus flavescentior ; alis et cauda fuscis extus olivaceo limbatis, subalaribus albis. (Descr. maris 
et feminee ex Bugaba, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Costa Rica, Valza (Carmiol), Irazu (Zeledon*); Angostura (Carmiol 4); Panama, 
Bugaba!, Vivala (Arcé). 
This is a very distinct species, which at first sight might be mistaken for 7. /uctuosus, 
the black plumage and white wing-coverts as well as the size being much as in that 
species. The rufous-orange crest, however, at once distinguishes it from 7. luctuosus, 
_and recalls 7. delattrit, which again has duller plumage and no white on the wing. 
T. nitidissimus was discovered by Arcé in the neighbourhood of Chiriqui, where it 
would appear to be not uncommon. His collections contained examples of both sexes, 
as well as young males in transition plumage. A bird in the latter dress, which was 
obtained during the late Prof. Gabb’s expedition to Talamanca in Costa Rica, was subse- 
quently described by Mr. Lawrence as Chlorospingus axillaris?. We have never seen 
an adult male from so far north; but Salvin examined Mr. Lawrence’s type in 1874 and 
recognized it as being 7’. nitidissimus 2. 
Cassin seems to have had specimens of this species before him when writing his notes 
on ‘“‘ Conirostral Birds from Costa Rica” +4, as he speaks of nearly all the males of the 
bird he calls Tachyphonus luctuosus having a concealed but well-defined coronal spot of 
: pale yellow. 
{Nore.—A species of Tachyphonus apparently allied te 7. melaleucus was described 
by J. and E. Verreaux (Rev. Zool. 1855, p. 851) from ‘Central America” as Pyrrota 
valerit. It was placed by Mr. Sclater (P. Z.S. 1856, p. 114) next to 7. melaleucus, which 
it resembles, except that the wings are wholly black. We have not yet met with a 
bird answering to this description. 
Tachyphonus lacrymosus, DuBus (=Pecilothraupis lunulata) is stated by Bonaparte 
(Consp. i. p. 237) to be found in Mexico; but this is clearly an error. | 
CHLOROSPINGUS. 
Chlorospingus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. i. p. 189 (1851). (Type C. leucophrys, Cab.=C. ophthalmicus 
(DuBus) ). 
The researches of recent travellers in the mountainous countries of Western South 
America have added greatly to our knowledge of the extent of this genus, so that it 
now musters some twenty-six or twenty-seven species. All of these appear to affect 
forests situated at some considerable elevation above the level of the sea. Thus C. post- 
ocularis, with which we are most familiar, is found in forests lying between 5000 and 
10,000 feet. 
BIOL. CENTR.-AMER., Aves, Vol. I., February 1884. 40 
) ) —— 
Vv 29 
