516 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. i04 



Due to lack of comparative material we are guided in our sub- 

 specific identification by the ranges given for this form and for the 

 race flaviventris in Phelps and Phelps' (1950, pp. 335-336) list of the 

 passerine bu'ds of Venezuela. 



A pair of these birds was seen and this one collected in a clearing 

 in the heavy lowland seasonal forest at Caicara. This was the only 

 time the species was encountered. 



Family Fringillidae: Finches, Sparrows, and Buntings 



Saltator coeriilescens brewsteri Bangs and Penard 



Saltator olivascens brewsteri Bangs and Penard, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 42, 

 1918, p. 91 (Caparo, Trinidad). 



Although in our previous paper this form was reported absent at 

 Cantaura, it has since proved to be rather common there, particu- 

 larly in the oil company camps. Either the bird was overlooked 

 previously, or else this is another example of greatly increased 

 abundance concurrent with the increased supply of surface water at 

 these localities. In August and again in the first days of November 

 the two parent birds accompanied a single fledgling to the collector's 

 feeding station where one or possibly both of the parents fed the 

 young bird. The call of the fledgling is a single very characteristic 

 loud peeeep quite similar to that of a lost chick. 



Richmondena phoenicea (Bonaparte) 



Cardinalis phoeniceus Bonaparte, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, vol. 5 (1837), 1838, 



p. Ill ("the country south of the Bay of Honduras"; error= Venezuela, apud 



Hellmayr, 1938, p. 74; Cumand suggested as restricted type locality by 



Phelps and Phelps, 1950, p. 349). 



1, unsexed, Barcelona, May 25, 1951; gonads small; iris brown; bill and feet 



pale gray; adult bird in worn plumage. 



This cardinal was found only in the very sparse thorny woods 

 bordering the seacoast at Barcelona. Its song and call note were 

 quite similar to those of the North American cardinal Richmondena 

 cardinalis. 



Cyanocompsa cyanea minor Cabanis 



Cyanocompsa minor Cabanis, Journ. Orn., vol. 9, 1861, p. 4 (Caracas, Venezuela). 



1 cf, Caicara, December 12, 1949; gonads small; skull well ossified; iris dark 

 brown; bill and feet black. 



1, unsexed (cT by plumage), Caicara, November 10, 1951. 



The November specimen has the forehead, superciliary and malar 

 areas much lighter blue than the rest of plumage, while the December 

 bird does not show any such local paleness. As a matter of fact, 

 the latter bird is generally darker everywhere than the former example. 

 If the two bu'ds came from different places they would look as though 

 they were distinct forms. 



