548 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.42. 



BUTORIDES VIRESCENS MESATUS, new subspecies. 



CJmrs. suhsp. — Similar to Butorides virescens eremonomus , but wing 

 and tail shorter; neck, sides of head, and posterior lower parts paler. 



Description. — ^Type, adult female. No. 151366, U.S.N.M; Managua, 

 Nicaragua; Charles E. Kern. Pileum, occipital crest, postocular 

 region, and a short subauricular streak, deep, glossy bottle green; 

 malar stripe buffy white; submalar stripe chestnut mixed with 

 blackish brown; cheeks, auriculars, sides and back of neck, chestnut, 

 more rufescent and paler anteriorly, more purplish posteriorly; upper 

 surface of body deep bottle green, somewhat glossy, the long, pointed, 

 plume-like feathers of -back and scapulars somewhat glaucous bluish; 

 wings fuscous, the primaries and outer secondaries dull, dark, greenish- 

 blue slate color, the inner primaries and outer secondaries tipped 

 with white; tertials, outer webs of inner secondaries, with greater, 

 median, and lesser wing-coverts, dark, glossy bottle green; the first 

 rows of lesser wing-coverts margined rather narrowly with tawny, 

 the other rows and the median coverts with ochraceous buff, the 

 greater coverts and outer webs of tertials and innermost secondaries 

 with buff or cream white; tail fuscous, all the exposed portions, 

 except the middle feather, glossy bottle green; chin and middle of 

 upper throat white, medially rather sparingly streaked with dark 

 brown; jugulum purplish chestnut, a httle lighter than the hind 

 neck, conspicuously and broadly streaked with white, and slightly 

 with dull, dark brown; breast, sides, crissum, and axillars, smoke 

 gray; abdomen and crissum paler gray, even whitish; longest under 

 tail-coverts with dark brownish gray distal markings; thighs pale 

 brownish gray; lining of wing pale gray, mottled with white, 

 ochraceous, and buff, the edge of wing broadly cream white. 



Measurements. — Male:^ Wing, 169 mm.; tail, 63; exposed cul- 

 men, 61.5; height of bill at base, 12.5; tarsus, 49; middle toe, 44. 



Female: 2 Wing, 164; tail, 61; exposed culmen, 62; height of bill 

 at base, 12.5; tarsus, 50.5; middle toe, 44.5. 



Type-locality. — Managua, Nicaragua. 



Geographical distribution. — ^Western Nicaragua, probably north to 

 Momotombo, and probably south to Ometepe and San Juan del Sur. 



From Butorides virescens antJionyi it may be separated by much 

 shorter wing and tail, somewhat paler posterior lower parts, and more 

 purplish (less fulvescent) neck; and from Butorides virescens vires- 

 cens by shorter wing, much lighter posterior under parts, and paler, 

 more maroon tinged (less purplish) neck. A specimen in juvenal 

 plumage is apparently indistinguishable from juvenal examples of 

 Butorides virescens antlionyi. 



1 One specimen, from western Nicaragua. 



2 One specimen (the type), from western Nicaragua. 



