^".sJs"! Rkiimoxd, Ha/'/ts of Porzaiia ciiicrric(/>s. 27 



Nicaragua, Feb. i, 1892, C. W. R.) agrees with the subjoined 

 description : — 



Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, light bistre, passing gradually into 

 clove brown on the rump and upper tail-coverts; tail and tertials almost 

 black; primaries and secondaries similar to the back but slight! v darker; 

 under wing-coverts and axillars white, spotted somewhat obscurely with 

 dusky, most pronounced at bend of wing and on under primary coverts. 

 Top of head, including lores, cheeks, and malar region, slate gray; the 

 brown of the back encroaching on the gray of the nape, and extending 

 forward on the crown to a point almost between the eyes; throat dull 

 white, \ aried on sides with pale vinaceous-cinnamon ; breast vinaceous- 

 cinnamon along median line, passing laterally into deep chestnut, darkest 

 on sides of lower breast and on sides of neck, this color almost contin- 

 uous over back of neck, there being only a narrow and indistinct dorsal 

 line of bistre separating it; rest of lower parts white, barred with black, 

 these black bars broadest and most conspicuous on the sides bordering 

 the chestnut of the breast, becoming narrower towards the median line, 

 and below on the flanks and under tail-coverts; tibia with still narrower 

 blackish bars; some feathers of the under tail-coverts faintly tinged with 

 chestnut; abdomen along median line white, without bars. Culmen, .70; 

 wing, 2.82; tarsus, i.io inches. Iris, carmine ; feet and legs, olive; bill, 

 with a triangular apple green spot at base. 



The above description will answer in a measure for all adults 

 of this species, but individual variation is exhibited to a consider- 

 able degree, and it may be well to mention the chief differences. 

 The most striking variation, perhaps, is in the amount of 

 unmarked white on the breast and abdomen. In some e.xamples 

 this is very conspicuous, the white extending uninterruptedly 

 from the throat to the lower tail-coverts, including the tibia. This 

 feature appears to be due to age, and is to be noticed in specimens 

 that have recently assumed the adult plumage. 'I'he type of 

 Porzami Icucogastra Ridgw. is one of this class. The several 

 variations here mentioned, while to some extent to be accounted 

 for by age, sex or season, are largely individual. A male bird 

 shot July 18 is unusually white below. The head is dull gray, 

 and there are traces of chestnut spots on one wing. It was one 

 of the parents of a nest and five eggs. 



The gray of the head is another character apparently dependent 

 on the age of the bird, and is clearest and of greatest extent in 

 the oldest birds. One apparently old adult, however, is without 

 the gray on the head, this color being replaced by the umber 



