BIRDS OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA — WETMORE 259 



SICALIS FLAVEOLA FLAVEOLA (Linnaeus) 



Fringilla flaveola Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ei. 12, 1766, p. 321 (Surinam) .sa 



Two immature individuals molting into first fall dress shot at La 

 Providencia near Maracaj^, October 21, were the first bii-ds that I 

 collected in Venezuela. As I entered a little pasture several flew 

 from weeds into the top of a low tree, where they rested quietly. On 

 November 111 noted others in this locality and observed that on the 

 ground they walked as readily as blackbirds. At Ocumare de la 

 Costa, where I collected an adult female in worn plumage on October 

 26, they were common. Near my house at the beach I saw them in 

 little companies of eight or ten, walking about in close company in 

 the grass, or, inland, found them in openings in the brush or at the 

 edge of the woodland. The song is high-pitched and squeaky. As 

 immature and adult birds mingled there was much variation among 

 them in depth of color. Between Maracay and El Sombrero on 

 November 12 and 21 I found them abimdant along the liighway, and 

 at El Sombrero from November 13 to 20 they were common. 



CORYPHOSPINGUS PILEATUS BREVICAUDUS Cory 



> Coryphospingus pileahis hrevicaudus Cory, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., orn. ser., 

 vol. 1, Aug. 30, 1916, p. 345 (Margarita Island, Venezuela). 



This Httle red-crested sparrow was first seen on November 12, 

 9 miles north of Parapara, Estado Guarico, where an immature 

 female was taken. From this point to El Sombrero these birds were 

 common and in all six specimens were prepared, including adult and 

 immature individuals. The birds fed on the ground at the borders 

 of the thorny scrub in little flocks of six or eight that flew up with a 

 flash of black from tail and wings contrasting with the gray and white 

 of the body plumage to alight on twigs near the ground, and if alarmed 

 again disappeared in heavy cover. 



The northern race hrevicaudus is rather indefinitely characterized 

 by shorter tail on the average, and by very slightly darker dorsal 

 color, when compared with C. p. inleatus of the south. 



ATLAPETES BRUNNEI-NUCHA XANTHOGENYS (Cabanie) 



Buarremon xanthogenys Cabanis, Museum Heineanum, pt. 1, 1851, p. 141 (Cara- 

 cas, Venezuela) . 



On November 8, at an elevation of 4,000 feet above Kancho Grande, 

 in heavy forest with fairly open undergrowth I watched one of these 

 interesting birds for a short time as it walked and ran on the ground. 

 The white underparts made a striking mark in the dim light and 

 attracted the eye as the bird moved. In this remote forest, where 

 men seldom penetrated, the bird seemed unafraid, far less shy than 



" Designated by Berlepsch and Hartert, Nov. Zool., vol. 9, 1902. p. 27. 



