1166 MR. C. E. HELLMAYR ON THE 



(b) C. tyrannina rufiventris Lawr. Centi-al America from 

 Guatemala southwards, Western Colombia and Western Ecuador, 

 south to Chimbo. 



124. Cercomacra nigricans Scl. 



Cercomacra nigricans Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 245 (Nov. 1858. — 

 Santa Marta * (type) and Bogota-coll. , Colombia ; descr. J imm.) ; 

 Sclater & Salvin, P. Z. S. 1879, p. 526 (Remedios, Antioquia) ; 

 Berlepsch, Journ. f. Orn. 1884, p. 308 (Bucai-amanga). 



Fyriglena maculicaudis Sclater, op. cit. p. 247 (Nov. 1858. — 

 " Trinidad,'' errore ; descr. cJ ad.). 



No. 1989. cT ad. Mouth of Calima, Rio San Juan, 13.viii.08. — 

 Wing 67 ; tail 67 ; bill 18 mm. 



" Iris dark brown, feet blue, bill black." 



This bird is in the " maculicaudis " plumage, viz. glossy black 

 all over, with the campterium, a large dorsal patch, distinct edges 

 to the wing-coverts, and long apical spots to the outer rectrices 

 white, and agrees with other adult males from N.W Ecuador, 

 and several Bogotd skins. Berlepsch & Hartert have shown 

 that C. maculicaudis and C. nigricans are inei'ely different sexes 

 of the same species, and the examination of a large series of 

 sexed specimens has convinced me that this view is perfectly 

 right. It should also be borne in mind that the supposed two 

 species have exactly the same range, extending from the Isthmus 

 of Panama south to Western Ecuador. Mr. Cherrie took three 

 specimens at Altagracia, Orinoco, two of which, marked " J " by 

 the collector, are in the '■^maculicaudis" phase, while the third, 

 sexed as " 5 ," is even greyer, both above and below, than the 

 type of nigricans. The locality " Trinidad " given for P. maculi- 

 caudis is certainly erroneous. I have examined the type and 

 found it practically identical with adult males from Panama and 

 Bogota. The preparation furnishes no clue as to its origin. The 

 specimen appears to have been remade, though it looks somewhat 

 like the skins imported from Northern Colombia (Baranquilla, 

 Cartagena, etc.). 



C. carhonaria Scl. k Salv.f, from the Upper Rio Branco in 

 Northern Brazil, is quite distinct, although nearly allied. The 

 male differs in having the upper parts sooty grey ; the throat and 

 breast much duller black, shading into sooty grey on the flanks ; 

 in the shorter white tips of the rectrices, as well as in having 

 distinct, though narrow, white apical edges to the secondaries. 

 The female, too, is quite different, having the throat white freckled 

 with dusky, and the belly bright ochraceous with the middle line 

 whitish. G. carhonaria also has a much narrower and some- 

 what shorter bill. So far it has been met with only by Natterer, 



* Although not taken in recent years by any collector, C. nigricans may yet be 

 found in the Santa Marta district, for there is a specimen from Calamar, lower 

 Magdalena (August 5, 1898) in the collection of H.K.H. The Princess Therese of 

 Bavaria. 



t Nomcncl. Av. Neotrop. p. 161 (1873.— Kio Branco, N. Brazil). 



