BIRDS OF SOUTHERN VERACRUZ — WETMORE 331 



throat completely white, one female (No. 360407) with the throat white 

 except for a slight ticking of brown in two or three feathers on the 

 lower margin of the patch, and one male (No. 360404) with the brown 

 suffusion covering the lower half of the patch with a brownish wash 

 extending beyond. All others have the throat area deep brown. There 

 are in addition in our collections two skins from Paso Nuevo near the 

 Rio San Juan, about 35 miles southeast of Tres Zapotes, that are typi- 

 cal suffuscus. A skin from the same locality is found in the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology. One in the National Museum from Buena 

 Vista, about 15 miles farther up the valley of the San Juan, has the 

 throat white, as does another without certain locality that probably 

 comes from near this same point. These two, with one from Frontera, 

 Tabasco, are very slightly paler than atriceps, indicating intergrada- 

 tion toward the pale breasted S. a. raptor of the Yucatan Peninsula. 

 The brown-throated suffuscus seemingly is restricted to a region be- 

 tween Tres Zapotes and Paso Nuevo, extending for an undetermined 

 distance toward Catemaco, and so occupies a very limited range that 

 remains to be outlined fully. In the collection of P. W. Shufeldt I 

 have seen five specimens of atnceps from La Buenaventura, Acayucan, 

 Veracruz, of which four are typical atriceps, while one, a female, has 

 the throat brown, of a paler shade than typical suffuscus. It seems to 

 represent an intermediate. In the collection of the Academy of Nat- 

 ural Sciences of Philadelphia there is one old specimen, No. 7816, with 

 the brown throat of suffuscus, a female without locality, from the 

 Rivoli (Massena) collection presented by Dr. T. B. Wilson. We have 

 one bird from Motzorongo that has a very slight suffusion of brown on 

 the throat, the quantity being sufficient to be worth remark especially 

 since this locality is near the area of the brown-throated birds. 



In summary, in specimens throughout the range of atriceps occa- 

 sional individuals show a little brown, usually in the lower margin of 

 the throat patch. In the Tres Zapotes region this tendency becomes 

 intensified to a point where the brown submerges the normal white 

 color of the throat. The whole anterior part of the body tends to be 

 more heavily pigmented also, since the black breast band averages 

 heavier than in other sections. This latter character, however, is one 

 subject to much individual variation. 



These saltators were found spread through woodland as well as 

 along the lines of trees and thickets that border the fields. While 

 they live in heavy cover their presence is usually made known by 

 their loud, strange calls. The usual note is an explosive chuh chuh, 

 given with emphasis, and often followed by a loud warbling song 

 of rough notes. If one can imagine the song of a Bell's vireo broad- 

 cast through an amplifier the effect can be understood. While 

 found near the ground saltators ranged also through the tree tops. 



