190 r.ROOKI.VN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2, 6. 



Sporophila boiivroiiidcs Hellmayr, Novit. Zool. XIII. 1906. p. 58; idem. 



XIV. 1907. p. 8. 



This species is nowhere common, but seems to be widely dis- 

 tributed on the Orinoco, where it was noted and collected from Las 

 Barrancas in the delta region and at various other points up as far 

 as the mouth of the Apure River. Of four birds taken at Caicara, 

 three show traces of a white spot on the forehead represented by a 

 number of crown feathers with diamond-shaped median spots. No 

 trace of a white crown spot was seen in other specimens examined. 



Birds of this species seem to have a preference for open spaces in 

 the forest rather than the open savanna regions. 



Eye seal brown ; bill black ; feet slate black. 



Sporophila gutturalis gxttturalis (Lichtenstein). 

 Frimjilla gutturalis Licht., Verz. Doubl. 1823. p. 26. 

 Sporophila gutturalis Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 26. 



Found all along the river from Ciudad Bolivar to above the fa' Is, 

 but nowhere common. 



In fresh birds, adult males, the eye is seal brown ; bill plum- 

 beous ; feet dusky grey. 



DOLOSPINGUS nuchalis ElUot. 



Doles pingus nuchalis Elliot, Ibis 1871. p. 402. 



The type of this interesting species, in the American Museum col- 

 lection, is still the only known example. 



VoLATiNiA jACARiNi splendens (VieiUot). 

 Fringilla splendens Vieill., Nouv. Diet. XII. 1817. p. 173. 

 Volatinia jacarina splendens Berlepsch & Hartert, p. 27. 



Common both at Ciudad Bolivar and Caicara. Frequents bor- 

 ders of thickets on the open savanna. 



On the 14th of June, at Caicara, a nest of this species was found 

 containing three eggs, all of them pipped. The nest was in a tuft of 

 grass, about 15 cm. from the ground, concealed by overhanging 

 bushes. The eggs are pale bluish white, marked all over, but most 

 thickly about the larger end, with reddish chestnut spots. The one 

 egg saved measured 16.75 ^ ^--S mhi. 



Young males resemble the females. One of the birds taken at 

 Caicara was in transitional plumage, from that of the female to that of 

 the adult male. 



