38 



SMITHSONIAN MISCET.LANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 66 



group, are now known to inhabit the highlands of Mexico and 

 Guatemala and of the Philippines (Luzon), but the presence of a 

 form of White- winged Crossbill within the tropicus was wholly 

 unexpected. The new bird, recently described as Loxia megaplaga, 

 closely resembles its Boreal relative in color, but possesses a much 

 heavier bill, the mandibles approximating in bulk those of the Red 

 Crossbills, whereas those of the White-winged species are of much 

 feebler build ( see fig. 39) . 



Another problem in distribution is furnished by a new species of 

 Brachyspha, obtained at Constanza, at an elevation of about 4,000 

 feet. Brachyspi:::a is a genus of non-migratory sparrows, ranging 



Fig. 39. — Upper figure, Santo Domingo Cros^liill (Loxia megaplaga), show- 

 ing heavy bill. Lower figure. White-winged Crossbill (Loxia Icucoptcra) , 

 showing slender bill. 



from the mountains of Mexico to Chili, with related species in 

 British Guiana and Curacao, but hitherto not recorded from any part 

 of the West Indies ])roper. The discovery of a species of this genus 

 in the mountains of Santo Domingo is noteworthy, particularly as 

 the new bird (Brach\spiza aiitillantiii ) is more nearly related to the 

 mainland bird ( B. capeusis pcruvicnsis) than to the form from 

 Curaqao (B. capeusis iusularis). A large owl (Asia noctipctcns) 

 found at Constanza proved to be new, though not distantly related 

 to a species of Cuba and Mexico. The Santo Domingo Barn Owl 

 (Tyto glaucops), described many years ago. but still very rare in 

 museums, is represented by three fine specimens, the first received by 

 the National Museum. Five examples of the e(|ually rare Narrow- 



