268 Riker and Chapman, Birds at Santarem, Brazil. [July 



[33. Guiraca cyanea {Linn.). — A female taken by Smith March 14, 

 18S9.— F. M. C] 



34. Sporophila minuta (Linn.). — Common about meadows. 



[A male taken July 1, 1SS7, apparently represents the fully adult plu- 

 mage of this species and differs from Panama, Venezuela, and Cayenne 

 specimens in having the head and upper back ashy gray, without oliva- 

 ceous or brownish wash. — F. M. C] 



35. Sporophila castaneiventris {Cad.). — Common about meadows. 

 Gregarious. 



36. Sporophila lineata {Gm.). — Common in flocks, feeding on wild rice- 



37. Paroaria gularis {Linn.). — Common along watercourses. 



38. Sycalis columbiana {Cab.). — Common; gregarious; song resem- 

 bles that of a Canary. Observed building nests in half submerged bushes 

 about the meadow, during June and July. 



[The female, before unknown, may be described as follows: (" $ , 

 July 16, 1SS4; shot on an island in the Tapajos; male shot at the same 

 time;'* coll. C. B. R.). Differing from the male, and not resembling the 

 female of Sycalis flaveola. Above olivaceous ashy, forehead with an in- 

 distinct frontal band of orange yellow, feathers of the crown and back 

 with obscure darker centres; quills blackish brown, margined externally 

 with greenish yellow, the borders of the coverts and tertiaries having 

 more of an ashy color; inner web of the quills whitish with slight yel- 

 lowish reflections ; under wing-coverts with a more evident trace of yel- 

 low; tail of the same color as the wings, the feathers externally margined 

 with yellowish green, the under surface having slight greenish reflec- 

 tions; below soiled whitish, the breast with a band of pale buffy, the 

 flanks slightly washed with yellowish, the crissum pale sulphur. Wing, 

 2.22; tail, 1.53; tarsus, .71; culmen, .42 in. — F. M. C] 



39. Sycalis minor {Cab.). — Common in large flocks about the meadows 

 and river. 



[Three specimens collected by Mr. Riker in June, July, and August, 

 and a single one in the Smith collection taken March 1, present a large 

 amount of variation but are evidently the same, and with some hesitation 

 I refer them to minor of Cabanis. Of this form I have no examples, but 

 should the identification be correct there can be little doubt that this 

 bird should rank as a species, so widely does the most extreme of these 

 four specimens differ from a series of over fifty true arvensis with which 

 I have compared it. The Smith specimen more closely approaches typical 

 arvensis, and agrees well with the description of minor, but from it we 

 pass, through the remaining examples, by three nicely graduated steps to 

 a specimen which below is clear, pure yellow, as are the others, but this 

 color largely predominates above, the brownish of arvensis being here 

 restricted generally to a narrow median line or shaft streak; the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts are clear, bright yellow of the same shade as the 

 undeK surface ; the lesser wing-coverts are entirely greenish yellow, the 

 yiedian coverts widely margined with the same color. 



