° 1919 J Oberholser, Subspecies of Piranga hepatica. 75 



Description. — Type, adult male, No. 168397, U. S. Nat. Mus.; Pine 

 Canyon, at 6000 ft. altitude, Chisos Mountains, central western Texas, 

 June 3, 1901; Harry C. Oberholser; original number, 290. Forehead and 

 anterior portion of crown, dark scarlet; occiput rather light Brazil red; 

 cervix light brick red; back and scapulars, between ochre red and brick 

 red, somewhat mixed with neutral gray; rump neutral gray washed with 

 the reddish of back; upper tail-coverts light brick red; tail Natal brown, 

 the rectrices edged externally with dragon's-blood red; wings fuscous, the 

 superior coverts rather paler, the primaries, secondaries, median and lesser 

 coverts, edged with dragon's-blood red, the greater coverts and outer 

 webs of the tertials, with dull coral red or dull light coral red; supraloral 

 streak scarlet; lores and mastax brownish gray, a little mixed with buffy 

 white; suborbital region grayish white somewhat mingled with grayish; 

 auriculars dull neutral gray, washed with light Brazil red; a broad stripe 

 down the sides of the neck back of the auriculars, of the same color as the 

 cervix; a broad stripe behind this, like the back; extreme anterior point 

 of chin creamy white; sides and flanks between dragon's-blood red and 

 scarlet ; thighs dragon 's-blood red ; remainder of under parts scarlet, paling 

 on the anal region and lower tail-coverts to peach red (a patch of primubne 

 yellow on the middle of the abdomen is doubtless adventitious); edge of 

 wing light scarlet; lining of wing dark shrimp pink. 



Measurements. — Male: 1 wing, 103-106 (average, 104.5) mm.; tail, 

 81.5-86.5 (84.6); exposed culmen, 16-17.8 (17.1); tarsus, 21-23 (22.1); 

 middle toe without claw, 15-16.5 (16.). 



Female: 2 wing, 98-101 (average, 99.3) mm.; tail, 79.5-84.5 (82.7); 

 exposed culmen, 16.2-19 (17.5); tarsus, 21.5-23.3 (22.3); middle toe 

 without claw, 14.5-16 (15.4). 



Geographic distribution. — Southwestern United States to central Mexico. 

 Breeds in the Transition Zone of the mountains, north to north central 

 New Mexico and Beaverdam, northwestern Arizona; west to western 

 Arizona, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Tepic; south to central western Jalisco; 

 east to western Jalisco and southeastern Coahuila, Santa Catarina in 

 central western Nuevo Leon, central western Texas, and east central New 

 Mexico. Winters north to southern Sonora, and south to Michoacan and 

 the State of Mexico. 



Remarks. — The race of Piranga hepatica here newly distin- 

 guished is not so dark above or below as Piranga hepatica dextra * 

 from eastern Mexico, and, furthermore, is considerably larger; 

 while the female is lighter and less greenish above. Specimens 

 from Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona are largest; those from 



1 Five specimens, from Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 



2 Five specimens, from Texas and Arizona. 



« Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., XX, March 27, 1907, p. 30. 



