24 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XII. 



Sierra Nevada de Merida, April 8-10, 1920. The Sierra Nevada 

 was visited at a point southeast of Merida on the side of a very steep 

 mountain slope near the head of a small southern tributary of the Rio 

 Chama, known as the Rio Fria. Heavy temperate zone forest pre- 

 vails. Altitude 7500 ft. 



Tinamus tao septentrionalis Brabourne & Chubb. 



La Azulita, i. 



The bird taken is a male and much smaller than a female from 

 Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela in the Field Museum. The male speci- 

 men measures, wing, 255 ; tarsus, 74.5 ; against wing, 285 ; tarsus, 83 

 mm., for the female, and is more olivaceous on the back. The male, 

 taken April 29th, had enlarged gonads. , 



This tinamou was abundant in the heavy woods near La Azulita, 

 as indicated by the calls heard, but it was very hard to secure. The 

 natives said it could be called up, but the only time we saw this tried, 

 the birds would not approach closely enough to be seen, although they 

 kept answering. It feeds on the ground and, when certain trees are 

 bearing, gathers in large numbers in favorable places. Natives state also 

 that it lays from four to six eggs in hollows on the ground. It roosts 

 in trees at night. A piece of broken egg shell seen by the authors 

 was very nearly robin's tgg blue. According to our own experience 

 with the bird it appears to favor brushy places in the woods when not 

 out feeding. In escaping it prefers to use its legs as is the case with 

 most of the tinamous, and is very adept at sneaking quietly away 

 through the woods. 



Local name, Gallinefa. 



Tinamus major zuliensis subsp. nov. 



Type from Rio Cogollo, District of Perija, State of Zulia, Venezuela. 

 Elevation 350 ft. Adult male, in Field Museum of Natural History 

 (Conover Collection). Collected Feb. 21, 1920 by W. H. Osgood 

 and Boardman Conover. Orig. No. 3485. 



Characters. Adult male : Similar to T. m. ruficeps but upperparts 

 paler, more olivaceous; upperparts and inner wing quills with fewer 

 and narrower dark bars. Occipital crest small; forehead and crown 

 mahogany red indistinctly barred with black; upperparts brownish 

 olive irregularly barred with black on the middle and lower back. 

 Upper wing coverts light brownish olive, barred with narrow and in- 

 complete black bars; primaries blackish brown; secondaries lighter. 



