Aug. 1922. Game Birds — Osgood & Conover. 27 



and the forehead being only slightly darker than the crown. The 

 throat is white, the lower foreneck gray washed with buff, the upper 

 breast and sides wood brown to buffy brown, becoming ochraceous 

 buff in middle of breast, and the middle of the abdomen is whitish. 

 The mantle is cinnamon brown to Mars brown with slight traces of 

 darker vermiculations posteriorly; the lower back is cinnamon brown 

 lightly barred with dusky and the upper tail coverts are broadly and 

 distinctly barred with blackish brown and light ochraceous buff. 



In allocating this form as a subspecies of C. noctivagus some assump- 

 tion is necessary, for the available material leaves much to be desired. 

 C. noctkmgus is represented in the Field Museum by a specimen from 

 Macaco Secco, near Andarahy, Bahia, Brazil; C. n. dissimilis is rep- 

 resented by two adults from Corentyne River, British Guiana; C. n. 

 cinnamomeus by four from Chinandega, Nicaragua ; and C. n. goldmani 

 by three from Yucatan. These forms, as thus represented, are closely 

 related and differ from each other only by such characters as usually 

 prove to be subspecific. Moreover, it is indubitable that practical con- 

 tinuity of range exists. Between assumptions, therefore, we prefer 

 that which is supported by the larger element of probablity and the one 

 that tends to clarify rather than obscure relationships in a group as 

 yet imperfectly {mderstood. Other forms, perhaps belonging to the 

 same series, but of which we have seen no specimens, are C. strigulosus 

 and C. erythropus. The latter may prove to be closer to spencei than 

 either dissimilis or cinnamomeus, but the original description indicates 

 that the barring on the wing coverts is much less developed and the 

 colored plate given by Salvadori (Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus., XXVII, pi. 

 X, 1895), if at all reliable, indicates that erythropus is a bird much 

 darker and more richly colored than the one here referred to spencei. 



This tinamou was fairly common in the forest near the Rio Cogollo. 

 Here the foliage was quite thin near the ground and it was possible to 

 watch the tactics employed by individual birds in sneaking out of range. 

 They did not run or flush, even when encountered within a few yards, 

 but stood watching the intruder for a moment and then ducked their 

 heads under the nearest vine and, keeping as near a crouching position 

 as possible, glided away on a zigzag course until out of sight. A 

 female shot Feb, 21, contained a fully developed egg which was 

 preserved. Its color is light pinkish. 



Odontophorus guianensis canescens subsp. nov. 



Type from Rio Cogollo, District of Perija, State of Zulia, Vene- 



