Birds from Central America. 611 



with black, and is in strong contrast with the almost spotless 

 under surface of .8. obsoletus. S. guttatus is somewhat inter- 

 mediate, but the three forms can be readily distinguished. 

 The southern birds probably have very limited definite local 

 habitats. ^ 



-^ 4, Spermophila richardsoni, sp. n. ^ 



S. minutce proxima, sed capite summo, genis, cervice postica, et 

 dorso antico plumbeis, nee brnnneis, facile distinguenda. 

 Long, tota 3"8, alee 2*0, caudse 1"5, tarsi 0*6. 



Hub. Tonala in the State of Chiapas, Mexico, and Retal- 

 huleu in Guatemala {JV. B. Richardson). 



Mr. Richardson a few months ago sent us several males and 

 a female of a Spermophila from the frontier States of Mexico 

 and Guatemala bordering the Pacific Ocean. The bird is 

 very different from any member of the genus hitherto met 

 with in that part of Central America, and finds its nearest 

 ally in S. minuta, a common species of South America, and 

 occurring at Panama. But the slate-coloured plumage of the 

 crown, cheeks, and upper back at once distinguishes it from 

 S. minuta, and its slate-coloured {not chestnut) cheeks 

 separate it from the Brazilian S. hypoxantha, another allied 

 bird. The female is hardly to be distinguished from that sex 

 of /S. minuta ; the bill, however, seems to be rather smaller. 



On receiving these birds it at once occurred to us that 

 they might belong to the species described by Mr. Lawrence 

 from a single female specimen from Tehuantepec as Sper- 

 mophila parva, but on sending a pair to Mr. Ridgway for 

 comparison with the type, he kindly sent us the following 

 note : — 



"Comparing the 5 Sjyermophila with the type of S. parva, 

 Lawr., I find them much alike, but yet easily distinguishable, 

 S. parva having a decidedly smaller bill, other dimensions 

 being equal or greater (the wing being decidedly longer). 

 The bill is also of a decidedly different colour, being, in 

 S. parva, a pale reddish brown or cinnamon colour, very much 

 as in Spizella pusilla. The plumage of the upper parts is 

 much alike in the two birds, only deeper in the Tonala 

 specimen ; but that of the under surface is quite different, 



3t 3 



