102 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



Characters. — Dark gray, with thick, heavy bill. 



Measurements. — Males (12 specimens), wing 282-299 (290.1); 

 tail 101.7-116.9 (108.7), culmen from base 67.6-81.3 (73.8), tarsus 

 87.7-101.3 (92.1), depth of bill at nostril 22.2-25.1 (23.4) mm. 



Females (2 specimens), wing 288-291 (289.5), tail 101.1-109.0 

 (105.0), culmen from base 73.7-74.7 (74.2), tarsus 96.5-97.4 (97.0), 

 depth of bill at nostril 22.2-23.5 (22.9) mm. 



Resident. From Isla Coiba and southern Veraguas eastward along 

 the Pacific coast (continuing southward along the Pacific littoral of 

 Colombia and Ecuador) ; and on the Caribbean side from Bocas del 

 Toro to the Comarca de San Bias. 



Specimens are recorded on the Pacific side from Isla Coiba ; Para- 

 cote, Veraguas ; Isla Taboga ; Isla San Jose, Isla Morena, Isla del 

 Rey, and Isla Saboga in the Archipielago de las Perlas ; Fort Kobbe, 

 Rio Farfan, and Balboa, Canal Zone; and on the Caribbean coast 

 from Almirante, Bocas del Toro; and Puerto Obaldia, San Bias. 



Gen. G. Ralph Meyer found a colony on Isla Changame near the 

 Pacific entrance of the Canal, where their nests of sticks were placed 

 on the ground, or less than a meter above it in low growths of cactus. 

 In three sets of 3 eggs each, taken February 23 and March 29, 1941, 

 in which incubation had started, the color varies from pale glaucous- 

 green to pale Niagara green, and the shape from elliptical to^long 

 elliptical. Measurements of these 9 eggs are as follows : Length 48.0 

 to 51.5 ; breadth 33.7 to 37.9; with an average of 49.9 by 36.0 mm. 



NYCTANASSA VIOLACEA CAYENNENSIS (Gmelin) 



Ardca cayennensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 626. (Cayenne.) 



Characters. — Closely similar to Nyctanassa v. violacea from south- 

 eastern United States in slender bill, but averaging darker in color, 

 with the dark streaks on the dorsal feathers narrower. 



Measurements. — Males (6 specimens), wing 271-292 (284), tail 

 101.5-114.8 (109.7), culmen from base 68.4-73.8 (70.2), depth of 

 bill at nostril 19.9-22.0 (21.0), tarsus 97.8-103.0 (99.8) mm. 



Females (5 specimens), wing 263-288 (279), tail 97.4-107.8 

 (101.7), culmen 61.8-71.7 (67.2), depth of bill at nostril 20.3-21.0 

 (20.5), tarsus 92.7-99.2 (96.6) mm. 



Found in eastern Darien, in the Rio Tuira Valley ; and in eastern 

 San Bias, near the Colombian boundary. 



This race is resident in northern South America from northwestern 

 Colombia and Trinidad south to Surinam and northern and eastern 

 Brazil. An adult male from Yavisa, Darien, on the lower Chucunaque 



