(86 ) 

 108. *Psittacula passerina crassirostris Tacz. 



[Psitlticvs pmsttrinut Linnaeus, Syst. Xat. x. p. 103 (1758. — ex "America").] 



I'sittncuht missirnslris Taczanowski, P. Z. S. London 1883, p. 72, descr. orig. juv. (Yurimaguas, 

 North Peru). 



No. 825. S ad., 15. vii. 00. " Iris light yellowish grey, feet aud bill light 

 grey."— Wing 78 ; tail 38; bill 13 mm. 



No3. 789, 794. SS juv., 10. vi. 06. "Iris brown, feet and bill greyish 

 white." 



No. 726. ? ad., 31. v. 06. "Iris yellow, bill and feet greyish yellow."— 

 Wing 75 ; tail 37 ; bill 12J mm. 



The adult c? differs from those in the British Museum, collected by Hauxwell 

 near Samiria and Nauta on the Peruvian Amazons, by its slightly more yellowish 

 green underparts, and by the back being a shade lighter green. The blue under 

 the wings and on the rump is of exactly the same tinge. 



The ?, which was unknown hitherto, has no bine whatever in the plumage, 

 t lie axillaries and under wing-coverts being yellowish green like the under-surface ; 

 the rump as well as the upper wing-coverts and the exterior secondaries are light 

 parrot-green like the back. It differs from th e ? of P. p. passer/ na by its shorter 

 wings, larger and higher bill, and by having the forehead and sides of the head purer 

 green like the back (not yellowish). 



P. p. crassirostris is new to the Brazilian fauna. 



I append a short review of the various forms allied to P. passerina, which, 

 owing to lack of material, are very unsatisfactorily treated in the Catalogue of 

 Birds. As pointed out in my report on the birds from Obidos, P. deliciosa Ridgw. 

 is an excellent form. The fine series in the Tring Museum enables me to prove 

 that P. guianensis (Sw.) and P. viridissima Lafr. are perfectly distinct, and the 

 examination of four specimens from the Rio Brauco tends to show that P. ojanochlora 

 Hartl. is also separable. It appears to me that the following forms ought to be 

 recognised : 



a. P. passerina passerina (Linn.) Had. Ceara, N.E. Brazil. 



b. P. passerina vivida Ridgw. llab. Eastern Brazil from Bahia to Santa 



Catharina, thence westwards through S. Paulo to Paraguay. 



I have not sufficient material before me to form an opinion about the 

 distinctness of these two forms. Two S S ad. from Ceara in Count Berlepsch's 

 collection are certainly more yellowish green on the back and more yellowish on 

 the front and sides of the head than any other specimen I have seen, with the 

 exception of the type of P. Javescens Salvad. (ex Bolivia), which is obviously 

 identical with P. p. passerina as restricted by Mr. Ridgway (Proc. U.S. Mas. x. 

 }). 538). Though the distribution (N.E. Brazil and Bolivia) might at first appear 

 extraordinary, it would not be the only instance of a species ranging from the 

 campos of Eastern Bolivia through the dry districts of the interior of Brazil to 

 the north-eastern provinces ; for I have lately ascertained— by direct comparison of 

 the types— that Xothura marmorata Gray (ex Bolivia) is the same as N. boraquira 

 (Spix) of Bahia and Piauhy* Yet the examination of a good series of fresh skins 

 from Bolivia and Ceara may prove P. p. passerina and P.Jtavescens to be 

 separable. 



* See my revision of Spix' types, p. 705, 



