272 ' vracteri V yo South American Birds, 



makes no allusion in Comptes Kcndus to his previous description 

 in (' A v. of /. auratus, which he surely would have done 



had he considered them identical. 



lescription is as follows : — 



•• [ctcroa auratus, Du Bus, Mus. Brux. es Yucatan. 



•• Flavo-aurantius : gula late, alia, caudaque nigra; tectricibus alarum 

 minoribus flavissimia; mediis, remigibusque albo-marginatus ; rostro 

 brevi, crassiculo, recto." 



The following description is that of the Smitlisonian specimen 

 from Merida, Yucatan, No. 30,S35: 



Male. General color reddish orange ; the feathers of the neck and 

 back have their ends dusky ; lores, feathers at base of under mandible, 

 chin and throat black; tail and wings black; bend of the wing and 

 smaller wing coverts orange yellow, the feathers edged with black; the 

 middle coverts are largely marked with white, greater coverts with 

 white on their outer webs at the end ; quill feathers margined with 

 white; under wing coverts yellow; bill black, the under mandible 

 pluml us at base; tarsi and toes black. 



Length 8 in.; wing 3§; tail 8| ; tarsi g. 



It will be seen that it has essentially the characters of the 

 orange coloring, and the white middle wing coverts which apply 



I i /. ,111 ruins. 



rte deeper orange-yellow, the middle wing coverts conspicu- 

 ously ending in white, and its more restricted throat patch, are 

 marked points of difference between this and the bird considered 

 to be auratus by Mr. Cassin, which is of a lighter, less orange- 

 yellow, with the black of the throat continuing on the breast, 

 and with no white on the middle wing coverts, but it has a rather 

 narrow edging of white on the greater coverts. This agrees with 

 Bonaparte in Compt Rend, of "ailea d'un noir de jais, et presque 

 b 



The Smithsonian specimen, marked " /. auratus" by Mr. 

 -in. is from Ed. Verreaux, and labelled " Icterus xa/nihornus ; 

 I. Mexicanue, Bp. M. 8. plus grand," and from li Msxique." 



The locality oi Mexico, I think, is questionable. I have 



Trinidad and St. Martha, and doubt its inliabit- 

 ' the Isthmus of I >arien. 



