456 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



somewhat. The white spot at the base of the primaries is a more 

 variable character, being large and conspicuous in some individuals, 

 and entirely absent in others. Some examples have the blue of the 

 upper parts very dark, or overspread with black. But none of these 

 color-characters seem to be correlated with locality, and there are no 

 valid grounds for attempting to subdivide the species. 



Two females, apparently adult, are duller above than the males, with 

 the crown colored the same as the back; below they are whitish, tinged 

 with buffy yellowish, as also are the ear-coverts. No. 42,996 (Au- 

 gust 18), marked as a young female, is pale yellowish (sulphur yellow) 

 below, the throat and breast shaded with buffy, and the upper parts 

 tinged with greenish. 



A fairly abundant bird about Fundacion, but not many were seen 

 at Tucurinca. The individuals secured were all taken in the lower 

 reaches of the foothills, in the tangled woodland so characteristic of 

 this section. It is always seen in pairs or family groups, and is not 

 shy, being easily approached while climbing about the tips of the 

 branches. Like the various species of Diglossa, it is fond of hunting 

 among flowers, either for insects or for the blossoms themselves, it 

 was not determined which. One was taken at Valencia, in the Rio 

 Cesar Valley. 



432. Conirostrum rufum Lafresnaye. 



Conirostrum rufum Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus.. XI, 1886, 14 (Sierra 

 Nevada de Santa Marta). — Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XIII, 1899, 

 105 (Paramo de Chiruqua and Paramo de Macotama). — Allen, Bull. Am. 

 Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 174 (Bangs' reference). 



Four specimens : Paramo de Mamarongo and Paramo de Chiruqua. 



An alticoline form, peculiar to the Andes of Colombia, whence it 

 was described by Lafresnaye in 1843. It was traced northward to this 

 region by Simons, who collected three specimens in the Sierra Nevada 

 (exact locality not specified) at an altitude of 9,200 feet. Mr. Brown 

 succeeded in securing five specimens, all shot at about 11,000 feet. It 

 was met with by the writer in the same general region, along the edge 

 of timber-line at about 9,000 feet, and also in the Macotama Valley 

 at about 10,000 feet. It seems to be a rare bird, for not more than two 

 more were seen besides the four secured. All were in low stunted 

 trees, hopping about among the tips of the branches, rather sluggish 

 in their movements, and not easily alarmed. 



