VOL. XVIII, PP. 219-222 OCTOBER 17, 1905 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



DESCRIPTIONS OF THREE NEW BIRDS FROM THE 

 MERIDA REGION OF VENEZUELA. 



BY J. H. RILEY. 



By permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



The U. S. National Museum recently purchased a small col 

 lection of bird skins from the well-known zoological collectors 

 Salomon Briceno Gabaldon e hijos from the Merida region of 

 Venezuela. Coming from a locality from which most of the 

 European museums and collectors have received so much mate 

 rial, principally from the above source and the exertions of 

 A. Goering, it was not to be expected that the collection would 

 contain many novelties. The three following birds appear to 

 be new, however, and are herewith described. 



Leptasthenura montivagans sp. nov. 



Type from San Antonio, Venezuela, 3000 meters. No. 190,383, U. S. 

 National Museum, cT adult. July 20, 1903. 



Specific characters. Similar to Leptasthenura andicola Sclater, but grayer, 

 the back more prominently streaked with white, the shaft streaks on the 

 top of the head lighter, the wings shorter and the tail feathers more pointed. 



Description. Top of head black with cinnamon shaft streaks ; cervix and 

 interscapular region clove brown with rather broad white shaft streaks ; 

 lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts broccoli brown with obsolete 

 dusky streaks, these streaks more pronounced and lighter on the rump ; 

 chin and narrow superciliary streak white ; below hair brown with white 

 shaft streaks, these streaks more pronounced on the jugulum and chest, 

 fading and becoming obsolete on the belly ; flanks washed with Isabella 

 43 PROC. BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XVIII, 1905. (219) 



