Messrs. Salvin and Godman on Mexican Birds. 235 



by Professor Baird, and again more recently by Mr. Ridg- 

 way (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. x. p. 507). When we wrote on 

 this bird we bad only a single worn specimen before us ; but 

 with the series now at our command it is evident that C. ru- 

 finucha may readily be distinguished by its spotted under 

 surface and its barred crissura. Mr. Ridgway, in the paper 

 just referred to, separates the Guatemalan and Honduras 

 forms of C. capistratus under the name of C. castaneus, the 

 back and scapulars being of an entirely uniform chestnut. 

 This is the bird figured by Des Murs (Icon. Orn. pi. 63), 

 who had access to Lesson^s type of C. capistratus in the Paris 

 Museum, We have before us a specimen from Realejo, 

 shot while changing the dorsal feathers from a striped or 

 variegated character to one wholly chestnut; other birds 

 from Guatemala are changing in a similar way ; further- 

 more, our specimen from the Motagua valley and another 

 from Guatemala and one from Costa Rica agree in having the 

 dorsal plumage distinctly variegated, so that not only is there 

 no difference in the distribution between C. capistratus and 

 C. castaneus, but our specimens suggest that the characters 

 upon which they are founded are possibly due to age, season, 

 or sex. Now that C. rufinucha is established as a species, 

 we much doubt if C. capistratus is found in Mexico at all ; 

 we have never seen a specimen, nor has Mr. Ridgway. 



Concerning the various species of Campylorhynchus in 

 Mexico, we find that C. zonatus is by far the commonest on 

 the eastern flank of the mountains, being abundant at Teapa 

 and thence northward to Misautla. In Mexico, at least, it 

 is not confined to the highlands, but approaches the sea both 

 at Vera Cruz and Misantla. 



C. bruneicapillus is the only species in the Rio Grande 

 valley, where it is abundant, and thence it spreads south- 

 wards to the central States of Aguas Calientes and San Luis 

 Potosi. C.jocosus proves to be the prevalent species in the 

 Sierra INIadre del Sur, where C. humilis also occurs nearer 

 ^ the coast. C. pallescens is the only one found in the hills 

 surrounding the Valley of Mexico ; and lastly, C. gularis, of , 

 which the exact locality has been hitherto unknown, proves 



