PICUMNUS. 453 
Picumnus granadensis, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1847, p. 787; Lawr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. vii. p. 333°; Hargitt, 
Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 549°. 
Picumnus flavotinctus, Ridgw. Pr. U. 8. Nat. Mus. xi. p. 548”. 
Supra saturate olivaceus, secundariis extus pallidiore flavo-olivaceo limbatis, capite summo nigro, nuche plumis 
albo pilei antici aurantio terminatis: subtus sordide olivaceus, gula pallidiore, plumis singulis stricte nigro 
limbatis, abdomine sordide flavido olivaceo flammulato; alis nigricanti-brunneis, remigibus ad basin et 
subalaribus albidis; cauda nigra, longitudinaliter flavido-albido tristriata; rostro et pedibus plumbeis. 
Long. tota circa 3:5, ale 2-1, caude 1:1, tarsi 0°47, dig. med. absque ungue 0-4, dig. ext. 0-4. 
2 mari similis, pileo toto albo punctato. (Descr. maris et feminz ex Bugaba, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Honpuras, Julian and San Pedro (G. M. Whitely+*®); Costa Rica, Pozo Azul 
(Zeledon !); Panama, Mina de Chorcha, Bugaba (Arcé?), Lion Hill (‘Leannan 8), 
Obispo (0. S.).—Co.Loms1a, Bogota!, Cali’; Ecuapor®. 
In his Catalogue Hargitt admitted the birds described by Lafresnaye in 1846 as 
Picumnus olivaceus+ and in 1847 as P. granadensis’ as subspecies, basing their difference 
upon the colour of the spots on the anterior part of the crown—these in P. olivaceus 
being described as “ orange-scarlet” and in P. granadensis as “ golden-yellow.” As the 
distribution of the two supposed forms, he gives Honduras and the neighbourhood of 
Bogota for the former, and the intermediate country of Panama, the northern portion 
of Colombia, and Western Ecuador for the latter. The assignment of the specimens to 
these disconnected areas is evidently extremely unlikely to be correct. On examining 
the specimens there is no doubt in the most marked individuals a perceptible difference 
of colour in the spots of the crown; moreover, on an average, in the Bogota specimens 
these spots seem the reddest and in the Panama birds the yellowest ; but the differences 
are so blended by intermediate forms that we consider the evidence in favour of their 
being more than one species very insufficient, and more likely than not the difference 
is due to the age of the feathers themselves or to the age of the birds. 
In 1874 Salvin examined the type of Lafresnaye’s P. granadensis at Boston, and he 
then believed it to be only a young example of P. olivaceus, and this has been our 
opinion sincé. 
In 1888 Mr. Ridgway described a Costa Rica Picumnus as P. flavotinctus, and 
with it he placed the Panama form, suggesting, however, that the bird might be a 
geographical race of P. olivaceus. No comparison is made with P. granadensis, the 
bird most nearly allied if distinct at all. 
P. olivaceus is the only species of Picwmnus which has the upper plumage olive, the 
chest plain olive, and the abdomen striped and not barred. Its range extends from 
North-eastern Honduras to the United States of Colombia, and thence southwards to 
Western Ecuador. Skins of it are by no means uncommon in the trade collections 
made in the neighbourhood of Bogota. 
When staying at Obispo Station on the Panama Railway in 1873, Salvin had oppor- 
tunities of watching birds of this species. They perch on trees like an ordinary 
insessorial bird, and never climb after the manner of Woodpeckers. 
