464 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



442. Diglossa nocticolor Bangs. 



Diglossa aterrima (not of Lafresnaye) Salvin and Godman, Ibis, 1880, 119 

 (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta). — Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., XI, 

 1886, 8 (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta). — Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. 

 Hist., XIII, 1900, 174 (Salvin and Godman's reference; crit.;. 

 Diglossa nocticolor Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XII, 1898, 180 (Maco- 

 tama ; orig. descr. ; type now in coll. Mus. Comp. Zool. ; meas. ; crit.). — 

 Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 121, 174 (El Libano). — 

 Dubois, Syn. Avium, I, 1901, 686 (Macotama, in range; ref. orig. descr.). — 

 Sharpe, Hand-List Birds, V, 1909, 346 (ref. orig. descr.; range). — Brabourne 

 and Chubb, Birds S. Am., I, 1912, 393 (ref. orig. descr.; range). 

 Additional records: Paramo de Macotama (Brown). 

 Thirty- four specimens: San Lorenzo, Sierra Nevada de Santa 

 Marta (6,000 feet), San Miguel, Cerro de Caracas, Macotama, Par- 

 amo de Mamarongo, Paramo de Chiruqua, and Heights of Chirua. 



Four specimens of a black Diglossa collected by Simons in the 

 Sierra Nevada, at from 10,000 to 11,000 feet, were referred by Salvin 

 and Godman, and later by Sclater, to D. aterrima Lafresnaye, a species 

 which is described as being wholly black. A small series procured 

 by Mr. Brown from Macotama proved to differ from the description 

 in having the rump and upper tail-coverts slaty gray, and were ac- 

 cordingly described as a distinct species by Mr. Bangs. Dr. Allen 

 retained aterrima on his list on the ground that if Salvin and Godman's 

 specimens " had been what Mr. Bangs has since described as D. nocti- 

 color they could not have been referred by these authors to D. ater- 

 rima." The distinguishing character of D. nocticolor, however, is one 

 that might readily be overlooked in a skin, the gray area being entirely 

 concealed when the wings are in place; moreover, it is exceedingly 

 ; unlikely that two forms so closely allied would be found together. 

 The question of the relationship of these two forms can not be dis- 

 cussed further for lack of the necessary material. The series indi- 

 cates that females of the present form average a trifle duller black 

 and less glossy than males. 



On the open stretches of the summit of the San Lorenzo this is a 

 characteristic and not uncommon bird, seeming to prefer the bushes 

 and shrubbery out in the open to the edge of the forest, to which D. 

 albilateralis is so partial. In the Sierra Nevada, too, it is abundant 

 wherever conditions are suitable, being found as low down as 5,000 

 feet, although more abundant higher up, and ranging as high as 11,000 



