BTRDS OF WESTERN COLOMBIA, 1151 



The Costa Rica form, H. s. virgatus Lawr.*, may be distin- 

 guished from H. s. asswiilis by its more elongated as well as 

 slenderer bill (23i to 24 mm.) ; bright chestnut-brown colour 

 of the wing-coverts and remiges ; blackish ground-colour of the 

 pileum and nape, with sharply defined, buff shaft- streaks ; by 

 having the upper back distinctly streaked with buff, etc. 



Mr. Ridgway has rightly separated F. virgatus under the new 

 generic term Hyloctistes t, but it is certainly only subspecifically 

 distinct from H. s. subulatus and H, s. assimilis^ the three races 

 replacing each other geographically. With regard to the differ- 

 ences between the two last-named races see my remarks in Nov. 

 Zool. xvii. 1910, p. 320. 



108. Xenicopsis subalaris subalaeis Scl. 



Anahates subalaris Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 141 (1859. — Palla- 

 tanga, W. Ecuador). 



Anabazenops subalaris Sclater, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xv, p. 108 

 (part. : a-c, Pallatanga ; d, Quito). 



No. — . S ad. Loma Hermosa, R. Jamaraya, 4150 ft., 

 19.X.09.— Wing 91 ; tail 84 ; bill 19 mm. 



" Iris dark grey, feet grey-green, maxilla black, mandible 

 yellow." 



This bird is somevvhat difficult to place. In coloration, notably 

 in the dark brown ground-colour of the pileum and back, it agrees 

 with topotypical West Ecuadorian specimens ; but it is fully as 

 large as the Central American form, X. s. lineatus Lawr. J, 

 which, however, has the head above and the back of a distinctly 

 paler, more olivaceous brown tinge. Until more specimens from 

 Western Colombia come to hand its identification can be regarded 

 only as provisional. 



X. s, subalaris inhabits the elevated districts oi the Western 

 Cordillera in Ecuador and Colombia, extending down the slope to 

 about 2000 feet. 



X. mentalis Tacz. & Berl. §, united by Dr. Sclater to X. s. 

 siobalaris, is a very distinct species, though it may eventually 

 prove to be the Eastern representative. It differs particularly in 

 the following characters : the top of the head is much darker, 

 blackish, and covered with broad, buff shaft-stripes, while in 

 X. s. subalaris there are but a few narrow hair-like streaks to be 

 seen ; the upper back also shows much broader as well as more 

 numerous buff stripes; the whole under surface, posterior to 

 foreneck, is likewise broadly striped all over with yellowish 



* PMlydor vivffattis Lawrence, Ann. Lye. N. H. N.Y. viii. p. 468 (1867. — Ango- 

 stura. Costa Rica). 



t Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. xxii. p. 72 (1909. — Type : FJiUi/dor virgatus Lawr.). 



X Anabasenops lineatus Lawrence, Ann. Lj'c. N. H. N.Y. viii. p. 127 (1865.— 

 Aii2;ostura, Costa Rica). 



§ Anahazenofs mentalis Taczanowski & Berlepscli, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 96 (1885. — 

 Maclia^', Eastern Ecuador). 



