542 F. SUMICHRAST ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL 



XVI. The Geographical Distribution of the Native Birds of the Department of Vera Cruz, vith a 

 Lid of the Migratory Species. By F. Sumichrast. Communicated to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, and published by permission of the Secretary. Translated 

 from the French, by T. M. Brewer, M. D. 



Read Dec-ember 16, 18G8. 



1 HAVE cited in this list only those species in regard to the determination of which I have 

 no doubt, and which I have myself been able, with but few exceptions, to observe in the 

 places of their abode. In a country in which the altitude of very few points has been ascer- 

 tained with exactness, I have met with great difficulties in determining the limits in height 

 to which each species attains. I have used for my present work the measurements of the 

 French Scientific Commission taken on their route from Vera Cruz to Mexico. It is true I 

 have never had before my own eyes the original observations of these gentlemen, and this 

 must be my excuse for any errors which I may have made. 



I have endeavored, as will be seen, to trace the distribution of the birds of the State of 

 Vera Cruz, which are the best known to me, in such a manner as to suggest certain general 

 facts that may serve as the basis of more extended researches. I do not doubt that when 

 the catalogue of the native birds shall have been more completely prepared than at 

 present, and when the observations upon their mode of distribution shall have been multi- 

 plied, that we shall be able to recognize, as in conformity with actual facts, the division into 

 three regions which appears to me to characterize the State of Vera Cruz in a zoological 

 point of view. 



The three regions here referred to and generally recognized, are the hot, the temperate, 

 and the alpine. All these are met with in ascending from the sea-level at Vera Cruz to 

 the snow-capped summit of Orizaba. 



In this undertaking I have been aided by Prof. S. F. Baird in numerous communications. 

 But for his assistance the preparation of these notes would have been almost impossible. 



F. Sumichrast. 



Orizaba, July 20th, 1868. 



TuRDIDJE. 



1. Caiharus melpomene Cab. Vulg. Chcpito. Temperate and alpine regions. 



2. Caiharus occidentalis Scl. Vulg. Chepito. Alpine region. 



These two species of Caiharus have, with only slight variations, the same geographical 

 distribution. Both inhabit the most elevated portions of the temperate region and the 

 lower zone of the alpine. The C. occidentalis ascends to an altitude of 2500 metres 1 among 

 the mountains of Orizaba, while the C. melpomene comes down as low as Orizaba in the tem- 

 perate region, that is, to a height of 1200 metres, and even nests in the gardens of that city. 



3. Caiharus mcxicanus Bp. Temperate region. Having been able in the course of several 

 years to procure but a single individual of this species, I have reason to regard it as quite 

 rare, and perhaps as confined to the temperate region. 



4. Tardus Audubonii Baird. Vulg. Solitario. Alpine region. This species is common in 

 the pine woods of the alpine region in the district of Orizaba. I have obtained it at all 

 seasons in Moyoapam, a locality the height of which approximates 2500 metres. It is, how- 

 ever, also found near Orizaba, 



1 For all practical purposes the metre may be estimated at about 3; feet. — T. M. B. 



