496 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Oct., 



walnut brown above, tail uniform dull black beneath. 



tail 15.10, crissum black, macroura. 



tail 11.25, crissum gray, holiviana. 



Piaya melanogastra(Vieillot). 



Cuculus vielanogaster A^ieillot, Nov. Diet., VIII, p. 236, 1823 ['Java/ loc. 



err. = South America]. 

 Piaya brachi/ptera Lesson, Traite, p. 140, 1831 [Cayenne]. 

 Melius corallirhynchus Lesson, Rev. Zool., 1840, p. 1 [Hab. ?]. 



Length of wing, 5,46 inches; tail, 8.85. 



Above ferruginous, tail and wings glossed with wine purple, entire 

 pileum, nape and eye region ashy gray, rectrices with white tips and 

 black subterminal bands, remiges with dusky tips, throat and breast 

 cinnamon rufous, rest of under surface dull black; specimens examined 

 from Cayenne; Demarara; Napo River, Ecuador; Amazonia. 



The nomenclature of this species is considered under P. rutila. 



Piaya rutila (Illiger). 



Cuculus rutilus Illiger, Abhl. Berl. Akad. Wiss., 1812, p. 224 [Cayenne]. 

 Coccyzus minutus Vieillot, Nov. Diet., VIII, p. 275, 1817 [Cayenne]. 

 Macropus caixana Spix, Av. Bras., I, p. 54, 1824 [Brazil]. 

 Coccycua monachus Lesson, Traite, 1831, p. 142 [Cayenne]. 



Length of wing, 4.12; tail, 6.15. 



Above ferruginous chestnut, tail and wings glossed with wine purple, 

 rectrices with white tips and black subterminal bars, remiges dusky 

 at their tips, throat, breast and cheeks cinnamon rufous, rest of under 

 parts gray, tinged with buff on abdomen and flanks. 



Specimens examined from Panama, Colombia, Orinoco, Cayenne, 

 headwaters Huallaga River, Guyaquil. 



This bird was first described by Brisson as Cuculus cayanensis minor, 

 and is entered by Linnaeus and Gmelin as var. /? under Cuculus 

 cayanus. Gmehn also adds a description of a var. y, which from its 

 'capite cinereo' must be Piaya melanogaster. 



Illiger (1812) regarded these as sexes of the same species and gave 

 them the name Cuculus rutilus, while Spix (1824) did the same thing, 

 calling them Macropus caixana. The figure and description of his female 

 ( = melanogaster) is defective in that he does not give the abdomen as 

 black; furthermore he showed by a query that he was not sure whether 

 this was the same species as the smaller bird, therefore his name 

 must unquestionably be restricted to the latter. lUiger's name could 

 be allotted to either bird , but as the smaller one, var. «, stands first, and 

 as it was not subsequently named minutus until after the name melano- 

 gaster was proposed for var. r, I think rutilus should be used for 

 'var. a,' currently known as Piaya minuta. 



