BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA WETMORE 255 



The four taken when compared with C. v. toddi of the Santa Marta 

 region have the brown of the head distinctly darker and the coloration 

 of the lower surface more bluish green, resembling thus the typical 

 form of Trinidad. The shade of green is duller in my November skins 

 than in others that I have seen taken in February and June, but this I 

 assume is due to wear in the case of the latter. While Hellmayr ^* 

 has united viridissima and toddi as races of Calospiza gyrola, that bird 

 is so different in its blue-marked imderparts and yellow shoulders that 

 I can see no reason for this action. WhUe generally similar the two 

 groups are specifically distinct. 



CALOSPIZA ARTHRUS (Lesson) 



Tanagra Arthrus Lesson, Illustrations de zoologie, livr. 3, Oct. 1832, pi. 9, with 

 text (Caracas, Venezuela).'* 



One of the most pleasing of forest bkds in its beautifully contrasted 

 markings of chestnut, yellow, and black this tanager had the fortunate 

 additional merit of being common over the timbered slopes at Rancho 

 Grande, where four skins were prepared on November 2, 4, and 5. 

 The birds ranged from the undergrowth to the tops of the tallest trees, 

 coming with others to small berry-bearing trees in the lower growth. 

 In their movements they suggested titmice at times as they moved 

 quickly and then paused to look about. While under proper light 

 conditions their colors were visible at some distance, on many occa- 

 sions they appeared as dark silhouettes so that their beauty in the 

 hand was a surprise. 



Until hitergradation is known it seems to me useless and confusing 

 to try to list the related members of this group as geographic races of 

 arthrus. The only resemblance is in the colors represented, the 

 pattern arrangement and the extent of the various colors being 

 widely divergent. 



TANAGRA XANTHOGASTER EXSUL (Berlepsch) 



Euphonia ruficeps exsul Berlepsch, Verb. V Int. Orn.-Kongr. Berlin, 1912, p. 1017 

 (San Esteban, Estado Carabobo, Venezuela). 



At Rancho Grande I collected a female at 3,700 feet elevation on 

 November 4 and a male at 3,000 feet on November 6. Both had the 

 intestinal tract filled with the seeds of a mistletoe, and on November 

 10 I saw one at close range with a mistletoe berry in its bill. This 

 species seems to be more sluggish and to move more slowly than the 

 sm.aller ones with which I have been familiar. They were not heard 

 giving the whistled notes of related species. 



" Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., vol. 13, pt. 9, 1936, p. 148. 



" Designated by Hellmayr, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., vol. 13, pt. 9, 1936, p. 100, 



