Z. COLAPTES. 



19 



washed with rufesceiit viiiaceous or vinaceoiis pink ; the female 

 having the cinnamon-brown malar stripe often very clearlj- dctined 

 and large. Examples from California and Nevada are somewhat 

 similar, hut, as a rule, the malar stripe in the female is less defined. 

 In a young female from Colorado the malar stripe is well marked. 

 Chihuahua birds have the back lighter grey, and the top of the 

 head more rufous anteriorly, while Ciudad Durango specimens have 

 the back and the top of the head dark. In San Luis Potosi the 

 birds are intermediate ; those from Aguas Calientes have the head 

 and back dark, but grey, particularly the head ; the neck clear 

 slate-grey, and the underparts slaty pink or vinaceous. Examples 

 from Cofre de Perote are very dark on the head and back, and, as 

 in the Guerrero (Omilteme) birds, the forehead is sometimes rufous 

 anteriorly ; the underparts are vinous-slate or vinous-pink, the 

 latter in the older birds, and the neck is less brown in older speci- 

 mens. An example from Jalapa is scarcely separable from a Nevada 

 specimen, but it has less rufous on the sinciput ; the underparts are 

 vinous-pink. At Omilteme, Guerrero, and in the Sierra Madre del 

 Sur this species resembles the Vancouver Island bird, but is smaller ; 

 it has the back and the head very dark and brown, and the neck 

 browner than in typical examples ; the underparts are vinous or 

 pinkish buff as in Vancouver birds, but this colour is scarcely so 

 intense. An Oaxaca specimen is rufous-brown above, and rufous 

 on the head, and the underparts are vinous-pink. 



The varied forms of C. mexlcanus appear to be the result of 

 climatic influence, as they are not confined to any particular geo- 

 graphical area. An examination of a very large series of specimens 

 convinces me that they cannot well be separated. The close re- 

 semblance in colour between the Vancouver birds and those from 

 the State of Guerrero, and also between an example from Nevada 

 and one from Jalapa, precludes the jiossibility of recognizing an}^ of 

 the forms as subspecies occupying a fixed area. 



Huh. Mexico (generally), except the eastern portion north of 

 Vera Cruz, south into Oaxaca ; north thi-ough the Western United 

 States to Sitka*; also found in Guadalupe Island, Lower Cali- 

 fornia. 



a. (f ad. ; 



b. Juv. sk. 

 c-f. J ad. ; 



g. $ ad. sk. 

 h, i. S $ ad. sk. 

 k. c? ad. sk. 

 I. d ad. sk. 

 7n. c? imm.; ??. 



[ $ ] ad. sk. 

 0. S ad. sk. 



[Behriiig Straits.] 



Vancou-\er Island, British Co- 

 lumbia. 

 St. Juan Island. 

 Orcas Island. 

 British Columbia. 

 British Columbia. 



Esquimalt, British Columbia 

 {A. H. Marhhum). 



Capt.Kellett& Lieut. 



Wood [P.]. 

 Dr. Lyall [P.]. 



Dr. Lyall [P.]. 

 Dr. Lyall [P.]. 

 Mis. i)euman [P-^- 

 J. K. Lord, Esq. [P.]. 



Salvin-Godman Co!l. 



* A specimen in the collectiou is labelled Bebring Straits {Capfs. KcUeit and 

 Wood) ; the precise locality whence this example came cannot be ascertained, so 

 that the range cannot, -nith certainty, be extended so far north. 



c2 



