324 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 93 



tail G2.5, oilmen from base 17.4, tarsus 21.5 mm. Its dimensions 

 therefore come within those of spurius. 



These two records seem to indicate a range for this type of oriole 

 extending along the coastal plain from southern Veracruz to southern 

 Tamaulipas. The color difference between fuertesi and spurius ap- 

 pears analogous to that noted recently by Burleigh in the barn swal- 

 low, where he has described as Hirundo rustica insularis 71 the birds 

 lightly pigmented with brown that nest on islands along the Gulf 

 coast of the United States from southeastern Louisiana to western 

 Alabama. 



ICTERUS PROSTHEMELAS (Strickland) 



Xanthornus prosthemelas Stbickland, Contributions to ornithology, 1850, p. 120, 

 pi. 62 (Guatemala). 



Although this is the rarest of the orioles in this section, we secured 

 several at Tres Zapotes on April 10 and 12, 1939, and February 22, 

 1940, and at El Conejo on February 12, 1940. I found them in forest 

 trees where these bordered milpas. In flight they appear noticeably 

 longer-tailed in proportion to their size than other species of the 

 genus found here. Four of the seven taken have the greenish-yellow 

 back of what is considered second year dress, while the remaining 

 three have the dorsal surface entirely biuck. 



Hellmayr's thesis 72 that this oriole is specifically related to Icterus 

 northropi Allen of Andros, Little Andros, and Abaco Islands in the 

 Bahamas is interesting but is one that requires more consideration 

 before acceptance. Unquestionably the two are closely related, but 

 the Bahaman birds to me seem merely to preserve a coloration that 

 may be more primitive. Proportions are quite similar except that 

 northropi has a longer bill and is less richly colored, the yellow being 

 lighter and more greenish, and the black on the breast less extensive. 



ICTERUS MESOMELAS MESOMELAS (Wagler) 



Psarocolius mesomelas Wagler, Isis von Oken, 1829, col. 755 (Mexico). 



Our specimens come from Tres Zapotes, March 11, 23, and 27, 1939, 

 and February 23 and March 14, 1940, and from Tlacotalpam, Febru- 

 ary 7 and 15, 1940. This bird, known as the calandria, a name given 

 to all orioles, is not common. It ranges under cover of leaves and so 

 is easily missed, except when seen in flight. I found it among groves 

 in open pastures, and in the thickets that covered abandoned fields. 

 One came to the clearing at our camp to give a mellow, Avarbling song, 

 quite different from that of our northern orioles. 



71 Hirundo rustica insularis Burleigh, Occ. Papers Mus. Zool. Louisiana State Univ., 

 No. 11, Mar. 4, 1932, p. 179 (Ship Island, 16 miles offshore from Gnlfport, Miss.). 

 "Tubl. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., vol. 13, pt. 10, Apr. 12, 1937, pp. 115-117. 



