BANGS AND PENARD: SOME CRITICAL NOTES ON BIRDS. 39 



mayr (Nov. zool., 1906, 13, p. 19) criticised Dalmas's form, and viewed 

 the separation as a mistake, on the ground that the characters given 

 by Dalmas were precisely those distinguishing the female from the 

 male of the species, and suggested that the specimens seen by Dalmas 

 were incorrectly marked as to sex. 



In 1917 Todd (Proc. Biol. soc. Washington, 30, p. 3), on the other 

 hand, named the Colombian form Ostinops decumamis melmiterus 

 supposing the Colombian bird to be blacker than the Guianan. 

 Chapman (Bull. Amer. mus. nat. hist., 1917, 36, p. 24) has entirely 

 disproved this, showing that there is no difference in color between 

 Colombian and Guianan specimens. He, however, noticed the more 

 chestnut tone of birds from Trinidad and the Paria Peninsula. 



We have lately examined and compared a large series from the con- 

 tinent and from Trinidad and Tobago, and while we, like Chapman, 

 cannot find any differences in specimens from Colombia and Guiana, 

 we believe that the paler coloration and castaneous upper parts, 

 especially the rump, of birds from Tobago, Trinidad, and the Paria 

 Peninsula (the latter on Chapman's authority), are constant char- 

 acters, and we therefore re\'ive the name Ostinops decumanus insularis 

 Dalmas. 



CiSSILOPHA SANBLASIANA SANBLASIANA (Laf resuayc) . 



Pica san-blasiana Lafr., Mag. zool., 1842, pi. 28 ("Elle vit en 

 troupes selon M. Leclancher a Acapulco et a San-Blas sur la cote 

 ouest du Mexique" — we select Acapulco). 



Type.— M. C. Z. 76,202, Lafr. coll. 5,543. Acapulco. 



Cissolopha pulchra Nelson, Auk, 1897, 14, p. 56 (Acapulco, Guerrero, 

 S. W. Mexico). 



Although Lafresnaye, in naming this species, cited " Geai de San- 

 Blas, Neboux, Rev. zool., 1840, p. 290, et 323," he described from his 

 own specimen and even called attention to the fact that his bird was 

 slightly different from Neboux's. Lafresnaye's bird, the type of the 

 species, came from Acapulco as stated by Lafresnaye (Rev. zool. 

 1840, p. 323) in quoting Leclancher from whom he obtained it: " Cette 

 Pie noire et bleue vient d' Acapulco." 



Dr. E. W. Nelson, has redescribed this southern race, as Cissolopha 

 pulchra, assuming the type-locality of Pica sanblasiana to be San Bias. 

 Dr. Nelson has kindly lent us the type of C. pidchra and a long series 

 of topotypes. These we have compared with more than fifty skins 

 from Cohma, Tepic, in M. C. Z. 



