ART. 10 BIKDS OF PINCHOT EXPEDITION FISHER AISTD WETMORE 23 



TIARIS GRANDIOR (Cory) 



Old Providence grassquit 



Euethia grandior Cory, Auk, 1887, p. 245. (Old Providence Island, Caribbean 

 Sea.) 



Three males, two adult and one immature, were taken on Old Provi- 

 dence Island April 24, and a female on St. Andrews Island April 27, 

 1929. The latter has the following measurements : Wing, 57.8 ; tail, 

 49.8; culmen from base, 10.0; tarsus, 18.7 mm. This well-marked 

 form has not been represented previously in the National Museum. 



This active little species was common on both Old Providence and 

 St. Andrews. When it is working through the shrubbery or when 

 the male flies to a point of vantage to deliver its song, it reminds 

 one of the northern indigo bird. 



SPIZA AMERICANA (Gmelin) 



Dickcissel 



Emberisfa atnericana Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 872. (New 

 York.) 



A male was collected on Swan Island April 19, 1929, from among 

 five or six birds seen sitting in the top of a dead tree after the manner 

 of waxwings. The bird collected causeei some surprise when it was 

 found to be this species. Apparently the dickcissel crosses regularly 

 over the sea in this region, since there is a previous record of two 

 taken here March 25 and April 14, 1887, by C. H. Townsend."* 



MELOPYRRHA TAYLORI Hartcrt 



Grand Cayman bullfinch 



Melopyrrha taylori Harteet, Nov. Zool., vol. 3, September 18, 1896, p. 257. 

 (Grand Cayman Island, West Indies.) 



An adult and two immature males, a female, and a second female 

 preserved as a skeleton were taken on Grand Cayman April 17, 1929, 

 by A. K. Fisher and G. B. Pinchot. One of the young males is in 

 somewhat worn post-juvenal plumage- The other is in molt into 

 adult dress. 



Though Doctor Hartert ^® has recently considered the present 

 bird a subspecies of Melopyrrha nigra of Cuba, the two seem suffi- 

 ciently distinct to warrant specific status for M. taylori. 



This little finch was moderately common among the shrubbery 

 bordering roads along which we traveled. 



"» Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 10, August 6, 1888, p. 576. 

 « Nov. Zool., vol. 24, 1919, p. 154. 



