62 BULLETIN 117, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



in the Temperate Zone, are clearly separable as a distinct though 

 obviously representative form, the characters of which are discussed 

 in connection with its description. 



San Miguel Bridge (6,000 feet), 4 (June 29-July 20); Torontoy 

 (8,000 feet), 5 (Apr. 28-July 20). 



ARATINGA MITRATA ALTICOLA, new subspecies. 



Suhspecific characters. — Similar to Aratinga mitrata mitrata (Tschu- 

 di), but general color darker, less yellow, the under parts somewhat 

 glaucous, the frontal band narrower, the cheeks with but few red 

 feathers, the tibiae with no red. 



Type. — No. 129,136, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., male adult, Cuzco, 

 11,000 feet, November 16, 1914; H. and C. Watkins. 



Specimens examined. — Aratinga mitrata alticola. Peru: Type- 

 locality, 1 male, 2 females. Aratinga mitrata mitrata. Peru: San 

 Miguel Bridge, Urubamba Canyon, 6,000 feet, 1 male, 3 females; 

 Torontoy, 7,800 feet, 4 males, 1 female. Bolivia: Tujima, 8,200 

 feet, Province of Cochabamba, 1 male, 1 female; Mizque, 7,500 feet, 

 Province of Cochabamba, 1 male, 3 females; Rio Grande, 3,600 feet, 

 Province of Santa Cruz, 1 (?). 



Remarks. — The bird here described is evidently a zonal represen- 

 tative of Aratinga 7nitrata mitrata of which our 16 specimens are all 

 from the Subtropical Zone, while alticola is a form of the Temperate 

 Zone. Bolivian specimens of mitrata from the Subtropical Zone, 

 when due allowance is made for seasonal variation, apparently agree 

 with our Peruvian examples of this race from the same zone, showing 

 that, in its zone, the species presents no racial variation in an area 

 over 500 miles in length. When, however, in traveling but a few 

 miles one passes from the Subtropical to the Temperate Zone, one goes 

 also from the range of mitrata into that of alticola. Although so 

 closely related to mitrata that its derivation from that form seems 

 unquestionable, and although the ranges of the two forms merge into 

 each other, our series of 19 specimens contains no examples which can 

 not at once be referred to one form or the other. All the 16 specimens 

 of mitrata have red on the tibiae, a variable number of red feathers 

 scattered through the plumage, and only one is without red on the 

 eye region. On the other hand, three specimens of alticola have no 

 red on the tibiae, while the red in the bod}^ plumage is restricted to a 

 narrow frontal band, the lores and a few feathers on the sides of the 

 head. The differences in the tone of green mentioned in the diagnosis 

 hold good throughout the series. 



Lacking specimens of A.frontatus, I can make no comparison with 

 that species in which the bend of the wing, tibiae, and crown, as well 

 as forehead, are described as "scarlet." 



