I'ICID.K — Till: WOUDrhiCKKUS. 



507 



I )r. Cones tails uttt'iit ion to cxtraordinurv (Uflt'renci's in tlie color of the 

 iris, which varies from white to red, bine, yellow, ochracecjns, or brown. A 

 niixtnre of bine, he thinks, indicates ininiatnrity, and a reildish tinge the 

 fnll spring coloration. 



The male of tliis s])ecies has a white forehead extending a little backwards 

 of the anterior edge of the eye, the rest of the top of head to the nape being 

 red. The female lias the wliite foreliead, and a (piadrate occi}>ito-inichal red 

 patch, a black band abcnt as broad as the white one separating the latter 

 from the occipital red. The length of the two anterior bands together is 

 decidedly greater than that of the posterior red. In both .sexes the jngidiim 

 is entirely and continuonsly black. Anteriorly (generally with a red spot in 

 its anterior edge) and on the feathers of its j)osterior border only are these 

 ehmgated white spots, on each side the shaft, the featliers of the breast being 

 streaked centrally with black. The inner webs of the .secondaries have an 

 eh»ngated continnons patch of white along their internal edge, with a very 

 sligiit, almost inaj)preciable, border of black ; tliis white only very randy con- 

 verted j)artly or entirely into (^nadrate spots, and that never on the inner- 

 most (jnills marked with white. Sjiecimens from California are very similar 

 to those from the Kocky Monntains and the. {lio Grande Valley, excej)t, 

 perliaps, in being larger, with longer and straighter bill. 



In M. Jlaviijida from Bogota, the male has the head marked with the red, 

 black, and white (the red mnch less in extent, however) of the female M. 

 formwivori's, while the female has no red whatever. All, or nearly all, the 

 feathers of the jugnlnm have the two white spots, and (as pointe<^ ont by 

 Reichenbach) the white of the inner webs of the inner (piills is entirely con- 

 verted into a series of non-continent (^nadrate spots. The black streaks on 

 the sides and behind ai)pear to be of greater magnitude, and more nniforndy 

 distributed. In both species all the tail-feathers are perfectly l)lack. 



A Guatemalan bird, received from Mr. Salvin as M. formicivortis, — and in- 

 deed all specimens from Orizaba and ^lirador to Costa llica, — agrees in the 

 main \vith the northern bird, except that all the black feathers of the jugn- 

 lum have white spots, as in M.flaviyula. The outermost tail-feather of Mr. 

 Salvin's specimen has two narrow transverse whitish bands, and a spot indi- 

 cating a third, as well as a light tip. The white markings on the inner 

 quills are more like the northern bird, though on the outermost ones there 

 is the same tendency to form spots as in a few northern specimens (as 

 G,149 from Los Nogales, &c.). The bill is very dill'erent from either in being 

 shorter, broader, much stouter, and the culmen more decurved. 



These peculiarities, which are constant, appear to indicate a decided or 

 strongly marked variety, as a series of almost a hnndred specimens of 

 the northern bird from many localities exhibit none of the diameters 

 mentioned, while all of an ei^ually large series from Central America agree 

 in possessing them. 



A series of Jalapan specimens from the cabinet of ^Ir. Lawrence show a 



