268 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 93 



After somewhat prolonged examination of a good series of speci- 

 mens, I am not able to separate satisfactorily the Mexican race called 

 goldmani by E. W. Nelson from the bird of Panama, Costa Rica, and 

 Nicaragua. There is evident no difference whatever in size, individual 

 variation being considerable. Some of the northern birds are a little 

 greener than the average, but there is no definite distinction here, 

 particularly since many individuals are in rufescent phase, which 

 varies greatly in depth of color from specimen to specimen regard- 

 less of locality. The other color character that has been used, i. e., 

 the amount of violet in the posterior margin of the blue crown cap, is 

 definitely variable. In the majority of specimens from southern Cen- 

 tral America, this color is extensive and prominent. It tends to lessen 

 in amount in Mexican and Guatemalan specimens, and in occasional 

 birds may be absent. Usually, however, it is present, and some indi- 

 viduals show as much as the southern birds. Any separation on this 

 character must be purely arbitrary, and I consider it merely a tend- 

 ency that has not become definitely stabilized with geographic lo- 

 cality. I believe, therefore, that it is necessary to unite all these 

 motmots from central Veracruz and Oaxaca to Panama under the 

 name lessonii. This is in agreement with the conclusions of Dr. van 

 Tyne." 



Mo-motus lessonii ex'/guus Ridgway from Yucatan and Campeche is 

 well marked by paler coloration above and below, particularly in the 

 shades of green, and in smaller size, the wing ranging from 123.7 to 

 130.1 mm. in the birds that I have seen. The bill also appears more 

 slender. 



As for the rufescent phase in these birds, the juveniles I have seen 

 are all of a rufescent-brown shade above and below, so that the phase 

 mentioned may represent a partial stage of this early coloration. 



Peters 25 has indicated his belief that all the blue-crowned motmots 

 of the genus Momotus are conspecific and therefore to be included 

 under the oldest specific name momota. This seems a reasonable con- 

 clusion, but until the question has been fully checked to determine it 

 completely I have preferred to list this series from Veracruz as 

 M. lessonii lessonii. 



HYLOMANES MOMOTULA MOMOTULA Lichtenstein 



Hylomanes Momotula Lichtenstein, Abh. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1S38 (1839), p, 

 449, pi. 4 (Valle Real, Mexico). 



"While found in the Sierra de Tuxtla, apparently these odd little 

 motmots are not common. Carriker secured two females on Cerro de 



* Univ. Michigan Mus. Zool., Misc. Tubl. 27, Aug. 1, 1935, p. 10. 

 55 Bull. Mus. Comp. ZoOl., vol. 69, 1929, p. 425. 



