Wetmore and Peters — New Genus and Subspecies of Birds. 43 



represent the bird of southern South America. A considerable series of 

 birds from the southwestern United States and Mexico have afforded 

 abundant material for comparison. 



An occasional specimen of D. b. helva approaches typical hicolor in dark 

 dull coloration, but all of the North American birds are readily distinguished 

 by the narrower, more slender bill. The greatest breadth of the bill in 

 hicolor ranges from 20.2 to 22.1 millimeters, in helva (37 specimens) from 

 17.6 to 19.8 millimeters. Both sexes agree more or less in size of biU. 

 Other measurements of birds from the two continents offer nothing of 

 diagnostic value. 



Colaptes pitius cachinnans, subsp. nov. 



Description. — Type, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cat. No. 85293, 

 adult female, from Bariloche, Gobernaci6n de Rio Negro, Argentina, alti- 

 tude 2500 ft., collected February 17, 1921, by James L. Peters (orig. No. 

 4054). (Specimen starting postnuptial moult.) Top of head between 

 plumbeous and light violet gray, the shafts of feathers dusky; lores, super- 

 ciliary stripe, cheeks and auriculars pale ochraceous buff; upper back 

 between hair brown and chaetura drab, each feather narrowly edged with 

 whitish; interscapulars and lower back the same, but each feather with a 

 whitish band about 2 mm. broad placed about 6 mm. from the distal 

 end (a few fresh feathers are blackish, near chaetura drab, with bars deep 

 olive buff') ; concealed feather bases pallid neutral gray, shafts golden-yel- 

 low; rump white; central upper tail-coverts sulphur yellow, their shafts 

 golden yellow; lateral upper tail-coverts blackish, barred with white; 

 primaries between olive brown and clove brown (old feathers), or blackish 

 (new feathers) ; first (innermost) to eighth inclusive marked on the outer 

 web with whitish or deep olive buff (narrowly tipped with whitish in the 

 new plumage); all primaries except 10th, which is plain throughout, 

 blotched basally with deep olive buff, shafts golden-yellow; secondaries 

 incompletely barred on both webs with deep olive buff to whitish, shafts 

 golden-yellow; primary coverts colored like primaries with a few faint spots 

 on the outer webs; other series more or less completely barred across with 

 one or more bands of deep olive-buff; shafts golden-yellow; axillars and 

 under wing coverts cream color; tail above and below blackish, outer pair of 

 rectrices (minute) irregularly marked on both webs with deep olive-buff; 

 second pair irregularly marked with the same on outer web only; remaining 

 rectrices plain except middle pair which are incompletely barred on the 

 inner web with whitish; shafts black becoming paler basally; under tail- 

 coverts blackish barred with white and faintly washed with sulphur yellow; 

 throat, malar region, and intra-ramal space light buff; sides of neck banded 

 with black; lower throat with sub-cordate spots of blackish; upper breast 

 whitish, each feather with a broad terminal to subterminal blackish band ; 

 lower breast sulphur yellow, each feather banded terminally and centrally 

 with blackish; abdomen and sides sulphur yellow with a few spots and 

 bands of blackish; tibiae whitish, narrowly banded with black. Legs and 

 feet lead; bill dusky; iris yellow (collector's note on label). 



