2 
352 FRINGILLIDA. 
Fringilla ochropyga, Licht. Mus. Ber.*. 
Sporophila ochropyga, Cab. J. £. Orn. 1861, p. 5 
Spermophila atriceps, Lawr. Aun. Lyc. N. Y. viii. p.479 (ex Baird MS.)’. 
Nigra, plaga utrinque cervicali, speculo alari et subalaribus albis ; dorso postico et corpore toto subtus pallide 
rufis, torque pectorali nigra; rostro corneo, pedibus plumbeis. Long. tota 4-2, ale 2°2, caudex 2:0, tarsi 
0°56. (Descr. maris ex Capulalpam, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 
Q. Fuscescenti-olivacea, alis caudaque obscurioribus, subtus valde dilutior-ochraceo perfusa. (Descr. femine 
ex Mazatlan, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Mexico1, Mazatlan (Grayson® °°, Xantus, Forrer), Tepic (Grayson*®), Plains of 
Colima (Xantus°), Guanajuato (Dugés*), Cuernavaca (Deppe, Mus. Berol.7), Capu- 
lalpam, Oaxaca? (Loucard), Tehuantepec (Grayson °). 
Bonaparte’s short description of this species was based upon a specimen in the 
Berlin Museum, very probably that subsequently characterized by Prof. Cabanis as 
Sporophila ochropyga, a manuscript name of Lichtenstein’s bestowed upon a specimen 
of Deppe’s collecting at Cuernavaca on the western slope of the Mexican highlands. 
The name Spermophila atriceps was given by Prof. Baird to specimens from Mazatlan 
and its vicinity. These were submitted to Mr. Sclater when he was compiling his 
monograph of this genus, and when we had also an opportunity of seeing them. 
We quite agree with Mr. Sclater that these specimens are immature examples of 
S. torqueola. We have similar ones now before us from the same district, sent us by 
M. Alphonse Forrer. 
Grayson describes S. forgueola as a cheerful bird, with a sweet little song, which 
always renders it attractive. It is a constant resident in the State of Sinaloa, and is 
quite common at Tepic, occurring also at Tehuantepec. Individuals do not associate in 
flocks, but often in pairs, a few being sometimes seen in the same locality, where they 
frequent openings in which there is an abundance of low bushes, weeds, and grass, 
the small seeds furnishing their principal food. 
In the months of April and May the males are in full song. The nest is placed in 
a low bush, and is compactly formed of fine roots with but little lining; the eggs, 
five in number, are nearly white or very pale blue. ‘Two or more broods appear to be 
raised in the season, as young birds just able to fly are to be seen in October ®. 
Spermophila torqueola appears to be, as Mr. Sclater says, a western species ranging 
through the western States of Mexico from Sinaloa to Tehuantepec. Inland it reaches 
Guanajuato, Cuernavaca, and Capulalpam, but has not yet been recorded from any of 
the eastern States. 
3. Spermophila moreleti. 
Spermophila moreleti, Bp. Consp. i. p. 4971; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 3027; 1859, pp. 865 *, 378%; 
Ibis, 1871, p. 10°; Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv., Zool. ii. Birds, p- 17°; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 
1859, p. 17"; P.Z.S. 1870, p. 836°; Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 468°; Cat. Strick]. Col. p. 222”; 
Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. ix. p. 102"; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p-551”; Frantz. 
