( 237 ) 



and unquestionably refers to the same species. The preparation of the skin is that 

 of Bridges' Bolivian specimens. 



C. Jlaviventris must, accordingly, be added to the synonymy of Tachyphonus 

 luctuosus (Lafr. & D'Orb.). 



53. Emberiza obscura Lafr. & D'Orb. should be Catamenia obscura (Laf r. & D'Orb.) 



Emleriza obscura Lafresnaye & D'Orbigny, Syn. Av. i. in Mag. Zool. 1837, cl. ii. p. 81 (1837. 



Chiquitos, Bolivia ; descr. juv.). 

 Sperniophila obscura Taczanowski, P.Z.S. Lond. 1874, p. 519 (1874. Paltaypampa, Central Peru). 



No. 1. Museum d'Hist. Nat. Paris. Juv. (skin) labelled : "No. 313, D'Orbigny 

 1834, D. no. 236. Chiquitos." Type of Emberiza obscura Lafr. & D'Orb. 



Wing 53 ; tail 43 ; bill 9 mm. 



This specimen agrees exactly with the original description, save in the 

 total length, which is only 11| cm., instead of 12| as given by Lafresnaye and 

 D'Orbigny. In coloration of the upper parts it closely resembles an adult 

 male from Vina, Maranon, North Peru, in the Tring Museum. The pileum and 

 back are light brown, with a hardly perceptible olive tinge, but the upper 

 tail-coverts are somewhat duller, and the rufescent edges to the median and 

 greater wing-coverts so conspicuous in the Vina bird are barely indicated in the 

 type specimen. The throat and foreneck (still covered with the fluffy feathers 

 of the juvenile plumage) are decidedly darker than in adults of S. obscura, being 

 dingy smoky brownish, with the greyish basal portion showing through. The 

 sides of the body appear to be slightly brighter fulvous brown, while the upper 

 mandible is somewhat paler horny brown. 



These small differences are, no doubt, due to immaturity, and I think there 

 can be no question that E. obscura is merely a young bird of the species called 

 S. obscura nearly forty years afterwards. Structure and general style of coloration 

 are exactly the same as in a considerable series of the last-named species. Seen 

 from below, the type bears a certain likeness to the female of Tiaris faliginosa 

 (Wied),* but may be easily distinguished by having the middle of the belly 

 extensively white and the inner margin to the remiges rufous-buff (instead of 

 whitish), by its shorter tail, as also by its much smaller, less convex bill. 



On comparing twelve adult specimens from various localities (2 Bolivia ; 

 1 Callacate, N.W. Peru; 4 Marafion, N.E. Peru; 4 Chimbo, S.W. Ecuador; 

 1 Paramba, N.W. Ecuador), I fail to see any differences connected with geographical 

 distribution, and can no longer recognise the northern form S. obscura pauper 

 (Berl. and Tacz.).f At all events, birds from N.E. Peru which are certainly 

 S. obscura Tacz. cannot be distinguished from the Bolivian ones. | S. obscura 

 Tacz. becomes, therefore, a strict synonym of Emberiza obscura Lafr. & D'Orb. 



* Fringilla fuliginosa Wied, . Naturg. Bras. 3, i. p. 628 (1830. Camamu, Bahia, East Brazil). 



f Spermophila pauper Berlepsch & Taczanowski, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 293 (Cayandeled, West Ecuador). 

 J Specimens from different localities average as follows: 



One (J ad., Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (Carnegie 



Museum) Wing 59 ; tail 47 ; bill 9 mm. 



One $ ad., Omeja, Bolivia (Mus. H. v. Berlepsch) . Wing 53| ; tail 44 ; bill 9 mm. 



Three $ ad., Maranon, N.E. Peru (Tarapoto, Vina) . Wing 54-56 ; tail 42-44 ; bill 8-9 mm. 



One <$ ad., Callacate, N.W. Peru Wing 56; tail44J; bill 9| mm. 



One $ ad., Maranon, N.E. Peru (Vina) . . . Wing 53 ; tail 42 ; bill 9| mm. 



Four ad., Chimbo, S.W.' Ecuador .... Wing 53|-56; tail 41-44 ; bill 8-9i mm. 



One ad., Paramba, N.W. Ecuador .... Wing 54; tail 41 J bill 9 mm. 



