roDD : A Revision of mi Genus < 'm i mi ii u a. 555 



Colombia. The type came from Carthagena, and is --till extant. 

 I have before me five skins from this locality. As mighl be exp< 

 they are exactly the same as .1 series from the Santa Marta di 

 which ni.i\ therefore be regarded as typical of this form. As we pass 

 eastward along the coast of Venezuela, however, we find the birds 

 becoming slightly darker below and more brownish above; the basal 

 two-thirds of the bill is less distinctly yellowish, and the plumbeou 

 of the crown and nape is obsolescent. This tendency is especially 

 well marked in a series of twelve skins from the lower Orinoco valley 

 (Caicara, Cindad Bolivar, etc.), which are unquestionably inter- 

 mediates between ( '. p. albivitta and the Brazilian form, C. p. griseola, 

 as in all their characters they show an approach to the latter. For 

 the present, however, I refer them to C. p. albivitta, to which on the 

 whole they seem nearer. The bill in some of these specimens is 

 marked as being "reddish yellow at the base, tip black" (Carriker), 

 "blackish, ochraceous rufous at base," or "blackish at tip, dusky 

 orange at base" (Cherrie). No specimens from Trinidad have been 

 examined, and, indeed, there seem to be no recent unquestioned records 

 of the occurrence of the species on that island. 



After very careful comparison I am quite unable to distinguish a 

 series of specimens from Arnba, Curacao, Bonaire, and other of the 

 islands to the eastward from a series of Santa Marta skins, there being 

 no differences obvious in either size or color. Dr. Ernst Hartert 

 has described the bird from these islands under the name Columbi- 

 gallina passcrina perpallida, which seems to be a pure synonym of 

 C. p. albivitta, contrary to what might be expected in view of the 

 development of so many insular forms on the islands in question. 

 Evidently Dr. Hartert could have had no specimens from the north 

 Colombian coast for comparison, or he would not have been led into 

 taking this unnecessary step. The large series of tin- present form 

 from these islands in the collection of the Field Museum shows the 

 usual range of variation for this species. The palest birds are those 

 from the island of Orchilla, but the rough condition of many of the 

 skins forbids satisfactory comparison. 



ChaemepeHa passerina antillarum Lowe. 

 "Lesser Turtle" Ligon, A true and exact History of the Islands of Barbados, 1673, 

 60 (Barbados). — Hughes, The Natural History of Barbados, 1750, 70 (descr.; 

 habits). 



