NO. 9 BIRDS OF ISLA COIBA, PANAMA—WETMORE 97 
RAMPHOCELUS DIMIDIATUS ARESTUS subsp. nov. 
Characters —Darkest of the races of Ramphocelus dimidiatus ; 
male similar to Ramphocelus dimidiatus limatus Bangs,?* but red 
deeper throughout, especially on the abdomen; female decidedly 
darker. 
Description—Type, U.S.N.M. No. 461317, male, Isla Coiba, 
Panama, collected Jan. 8, 1956, by A. Wetmore (orig. No. 20095) : 
Crown, side of head, hindneck, and foreneck maroon; upper back 
garnet brown; lower back, rump, and upper tail coverts slightly 
darker than spectrum red; wing black, with the outer webs of the 
wing coverts and the tertials maroon ; tail black ; chest carmine ; lower 
breast, sides, abdomen, and under tail coverts between nopal red and 
garnet brown; tibia and a lightly marked band down center of 
lower breast and abdomen black; under wing coverts black. Maxilla 
and tip of mandible black; base of mandible plumbeous centrally, 
margined with gray; tarsus and toes black (from dried skin). 
Measurements.—Males (8 specimens), wing 74.3-78.9 (77.3), tail 
65.5-70.0 (67.9), culmen from base 16.6-19.6 (17.4), tarsus 19.3- 
21.3 (20.6) mm. Females (7 specimens), wing 73.3-75.2 (74.3), tail 
65.6-69.7 (67.5), culmen from base 17.6-18.5 (18.2), tarsus 20.2-21.8 
(21.0). 
Type, male, wing 77.5, tail 70.0, culmen from base 17.2, tarsus 
17.0 mm. 
Range.—Isla Coiba, off the Pacific coast of Veraguas, Panama. 
Remarks.—The notably darker coloration that marks this geo- 
graphic race is more readily apparent in the female than in the male, 
as is especially noticeable when comparison of arestus is made with 
the female of R. d. limatus of the Pearl Islands, this being the dark- 
est of the other forms. The under surface of arestus is duller than 
that of the female of R. d. dimidiatus, while the crown is darker, and 
the back duller. 
The male of the new form agrees with that of limatus in the re- 
stricted black area on the center of the lower breast and abdomen, 
this being decidedly less than in the mainland races. 
The subspecific name is from the Greek dpeords, pleasing, in allu- 
sion to the attractive coloration of these tanagers. 
28 Rhamphocelus limatus Bangs, Auk, vol. 18, No. 1, January 1901, p. 31. (San 
Miguel Island, Bay of Panama = Isla El Rey, Archipiélago de las Perlas.) 
