244 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. os 



Linnaeus gives the type locality in the original reference as 

 "America," while in his twelfth edition in 1766, p. 270, he lists it as 

 from "Peru." 



PENELOPE PURPURASCENS PURPURASCENS Wagler 



Penelope purpurasccns Wagler, Isis von Oken, vol. 23, 1830, col. 1110 (Mexico). 

 « Two females were secured by Carriker on Volcan San Martin on 

 April 16 between 2,500 and 3,500 feet and on April 17 between 3,000 

 and 4,000 feet. His notes on this species are as follows: "My first 

 encounter with this magnificent bird was on Cerro de Tuxtla, on my 

 second trip up there. I surprised a pair on top of a ridge at about 

 2,000 feet, and they burst into a fearful racket. One was clearly 

 visible, so far as its head and tail, but a large limb concealed the body. 

 1 waited quietly for it to emerge, but it suddenly launched into a power 

 dive down into the deep valley of the Rio Lirios, followed by the 

 concealed mate. 



"On San Martin they were more abundant. On the second day of 

 my stay there, while I was skinning birds in the afternoon, a man 

 came along with a fine specimen he had shot and after considerable 

 pursuasion sold it to me for 3 pesos. The next day I shot another, 

 and afterward several were seen high up on the volcano near 4,500 

 feet." He heard it called faisdn and faisdn roncador on San Martin 

 and cholin on the east side of Cerro de Tuxtla, the latter name being 

 applied to the curassow at Tapacoyan. 



ORTALIS VETULA VETULA (Wagler) 



Penelope vetula Wagler, Isis von Oken, vol. 23, 1830, col. 1112 (near the city of 

 Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico). 



The 10 specimens that we secured near Tres Zapotes were collected 

 on March 28 and 31, 1939, and March 3 and 16, 1940. 



The chachalaca, a name varied by some of the natives to chichalaca, 

 is one of the most common of the larger birds of the region, hundreds 

 of them being present. They are found regularly in tracts of heavy 

 woodland, and they come out also from such cover into low thickets 

 and thin lines of trees bordering milpas. 



Early in the season, in January and February, it was difficult to 

 see them, but with the opening of the breeding season in March and 

 April, when they began to call, their true abundance became appar- 

 ent. At alarms they flew heavily, or ran off along the larger limbs 

 through the tree tops,' usually so far ahead that they were safely 

 hidden from our guns. Sometimes I found them dusting in loose soil 

 between rows of corn in the milpas where these adjoined thickets. 

 This must be a regular habit as I observed these dust baths on many 

 occasions. When flushed they went immediately into the trees. 



