194 BULLETIN 133^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



was swift and direct. Their chattering notes were high pitched and 

 at times suggested the excited calls of barn swallows. Three were 

 taken. On March 21 a flock was recorded at an altitude of 1,800 

 meters near the hotel at Potrerillos. 



MYIOPSITTA MONACHUS MONACHUS (Boddaert) 



Psittactis monachus Boddaert, Tabl. Planch. Enl., 1783, p. 48. (Monte- 

 video. ) 



No locality is cited by Boddaert in connection with his Psittacus 

 tnonachus^ though Brabourne and Chubb "^^ give Montevideo as the 

 type locality, apparentl}^ taking this from Latham.*'^ Latham under 

 his gray-breasted parrakeet includes reference to Buffon, Daubenton, 

 and Pernetty, the latter of whom says that the species was found 

 at Montevideo. As it is proposed to divide the species into three 

 geographic races, Montevideo, Uruguay, is here accepted as the 

 type-locality. The three subspecies recognized in available material 

 will stand as follows: 



MYIOPSITTA MONACHUS MONACHUS (Boddaert). 



Bill large and heavj'^; abdomen more yellowish; dorsal surface 

 bright green. 



Culmen from cere, 18.6-22; wing, 140.5-157; tarsus, 17-19.4 mm. 

 Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre llios, and Uruguay (at least in 

 southern part). 



MYIOPSITTA MONACHUS COTORRA (Vieillot). 



Bill small; abdomen less yellowish; dorsal surface bright green. 

 Culmen from cere, lG-17.3; wing, 127-140.6; tarsus, 15.2-16.9 mm. 

 Formosa (Kilometer 182) and Paraguay (Puerto Pinasco). 



MYIOPSITTA MONACHUS CALITA (.Tardine and Selby™). 



Bill small, wing short, dorsal surface distinctly duller green. 



Culmen from cere, 16.8-17.7; wing, 131-137.5; tarsus, 15-16.4 mm. 



Mendoza, and San Luis (Nueva Galia). According to Hartert,^^ 

 also at Rio Colorado, Tucuman, and La Banda, Santiago del Estero. 



The large-billed form of the monk parrakeet was recorded near 

 Lavalle, Buenos Aires, from October 23 to November 15, 1920, and a 

 male and two females were preserved as skins on October 30. A 

 small colony inhabited a clump of eucalyptus trees in town, while 

 at the estancias in the surrounding country the birds were common 

 wherever there was tree growth to furnish them shelter. At Los 

 Yngleses large stick nests of this parrakeet were placed in the higher 



"« Birds South America, 1912, p. 85. 



«o Syn. Birds, vol. 1, pt. 1, 1781, p. 247. 



''opsittaca calita Jardine aud Selby, 111. Oni., vol. 2, pt. 6, August, 1830, pi. 82 

 (Province of Mendoza). The name calita is an evident lapsus calami for catita, the 

 common name of this parrakeet in Argentina and Uruguay. Las Catitas in the Province 

 of Mendoza, given by Jardine and Selby as calitas, is today an important center in the 

 grape district. 



" Nov. Zool.. vol. 16, December, 1909, p. 234. 



