610 Messrs. Salvin and Grodman on new 



Mr. Richardson has sent us two specimens (male and 

 female) of this Rock-Wren, which he shot in March of the 

 present year on the rocky summit of the Volcano of San 

 Miguel at an elevation of about 4000 feet. The bird seems 

 to be clearly distinct from the well-known S. obsoletus of the 

 Rocky Mountains and the high lands of Mexico and Guate- 

 mala. Of the latter we now have a large series, and no 

 specimen has the under surface nearly so distinctly spotted 

 as the San-Miguel birds. The latter are, however, inter- 

 mediate between S. obsoletus and the bird next described, 

 showing that on the isolated rocky summits of the volcanoes 

 of Salvador and Nicaragua we may look for distinct forms of 

 Salpinctes varying in the intensity and size of the spots of 

 the under surface, in the length of the bill, and in the general 

 tone of the colour of the plumage. 



In our notes on Salpinctes obsoletus in the ' Biologia Cen- 

 trali- Americana/ (Aves, i. p. 71) we mentioned the fact of 

 Salvin having seen examples of a Salpinctes on the summit 

 of Conchagua in March 1863. He did not obtain a speci- 

 men, and they were supposed to belong to S. obsoletus. This 

 point must now be re-examined, as it is more than probable 

 that the Conchagua bird differs from S. obsoletus, and will 

 prove to belong to S, guttatus or to S. fasciatus, or even to 

 possess characters of its own. 



^- 3. Salpinctes fasciatus. 



Prsecedenti similis et corpore subtus dense, haud leviter macu- 

 latus sicut in ;S^. obsoleto, plumis singulis fascia subapicali 

 distincta nigra notatis, basi plumarum quoque nigra; 

 rostro longo. Long, tota 5*5, alse 2*6, caudse 1*85, rostri 

 a rictu I'O, tarsi 095. ''^ 

 Hab. Volcan El Viejo, Nicaragua {W.B.Richardson). 

 This is again another race of Salpinctes, probably peculiar 

 to the rocky summit of the Volcano El Viejo, which lies 

 near Chinandega and the Lake of Managua. Mr. Richardson, 

 who recently visited this mountain, obtained two specimens 

 on 28th April of the present year at an elevation of 6500 

 feet. 



The under surface of this form is very densely banded 



