BIRDS OF SOUTHERN VERACRUZ — WETMORE 325 



ICTERUS GULARIS TAMAULIPENSIS Ridgway 



Icterus gularis tamaulipensis Ridgway, Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 3, Apr. 

 15, 1901, p. 152 (Alta Mira, Tainaulipas). 



Taken at Tres Zapotes, March 9 and April 11, 1939, February 24 

 and March 25, 1940; at Tlacotalpam, February 7 and 19, 1940; and 

 at El Conejo, February 12, 1940. 



These birds were found through the tree tops in heavy forest, in 

 the lines of trees bordering fields and streams, and in scattered 

 groves through the pastures. They were the most common of the 

 orioles and were often kept as cage birds. The song is a quick 

 repetition of two or three notes without the clear tone of that of the 

 Baltimore oriole or the troupial, though the alarm calls are like those 

 of the northern orioles. On April 11 I recorded two nests under 

 construction, one placed conspicuously in the top branch of a small 

 tree in a pasture and the other at the end of a branch in a huge tree 

 growing over the arroyo at the village. Both were of the usual 

 purselike, hanging type and were of large size. 



This oriole is generally similar to Icterus mesomelas ■mesomelas 

 but is marked by much larger size, more orange-yellow color, and 

 much heavier bill, particularly in the lower mandible. 



AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS RICHMONDI Nelson 



Agelalus phoeniceus richmondi Nelson, Auk, 1897, p. 58 (Tlacotalpam, Vera- 

 cruz ) . 



Our excellent series includes two males from Tres Zapotes, April 

 11, 1939, and a series of males and females from Tlacotalpam, 

 February 5, 7, 9, 19, and 20, 1940. In 1939 near Boca San Miguel 

 I found red- winged blackbirds common on March 6 and April 15. 

 At Tres Zapotes I noted a flock of a hundred along the arroyo at the 

 village, and at the end of the month I located a little colony at 

 Laguna Larga a short distance from town. Here the birds remained 

 in the main in the sedges growing in locations where I could not reach 

 them because of the depth of the mud. Finally on April 11 I shot 

 two adult males that came out to feed on the fruits of a palo mulato 

 on higher ground. Though I heard them singing a typical redwing 

 song, this was not their breeding season, as the sexual organs were 

 not active. Carriker found redwings abundant along the river and 

 through the ponds and marshes at Tlacotalpam. 



Our series comes mainly from the type locality of the race at 

 Tlacotalpam, while the two from Tres Zapotes are only a short 

 distance away. The females are obviously different from those of 

 A. p. megapotamus from southern Texas and northeastern Mexico, 

 and the males average a little smaller. Measurements of available 

 topotypes of richmondi are as follows: 



