BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 307 



iJow^e.— Transition Life Zone of eastern North America southward 

 to Cuba and through Central America to northern South America 

 (northern Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia). (Four species 

 with many races.) 



KEY TO THE NOETH AND MIDDLE AMERICAN FORMS OF COLINUS 



a. Chin and upper throat pure white, not washed with buff. 



6. White of chin and upper throat completely surrounded by a black band 

 laterally and posteriorly. 

 c. Abdomen rufescent or chestnut, unbarred. 

 d. Abdomen uniform, unmarked, chestnut. 

 e. Black breast band very narrow, less than IS mm. broad in midventral 

 line (southern tableland of Mexico from northern Jalisco and west- 

 ern San Luis Potosi to Valley of Mexico). 



Colinus virginianus graysoni, ad. 3 (p- 333) 



ee. Black breast band broader, more than 30 mm. wide in midventral line. 



/. Abdomen paler — vinaceous-cinnamon to cinnamon (southern Puebla). 



Colinus virginianus nigripectus, ad. i (p. 334) 



//. Abdomen darker; sayal brown. 



g. Black feathers of pectoral band with concealed white shaft spots 

 (eastern base of Cordillera in Veracruz from Jalapa to Isthmus 

 of Tehuantepec) Colinus virginianus pectoralis, ad. $ (p. 335) 

 gg. Black feathers of pectoral band with no, or few and small, con- 

 cealed white shaft spots (Isthmus of Tehuantepec, eastern 



Oaxaca) Colinus virginianus thayeri, ad. $ (p. 343) 



dd. Abdomen not uniform chestnut, but abundantly streaked with black. 

 e. Black confined to breast and upper abdomen (Cuba and Isle of Pines). 

 Colinus virginianus cubanensis, ad. $ (p. 329) 

 ee. Black marks continuing down midventrally to lower portion of abdomen. 

 /. Breast and middle of abdomen nearly- to vent almost solid black, 

 chestnut largely confined to sides (lowlands of southern Veracruz). 

 Colinus virginicinus godmani, ad. 3 (p. 336) 

 //. Breast and upper abdomen chestnut, the feathers edged with blackish, 

 separating black collar from black midabdominal area (north- 

 eastern Chiapas and adjacent Tabasco). 



Colinus virginianus minor, ad. $ (p. 337) 

 cc. Abdomen not chestnut, but whitish, more or less barred with black. 



d. Scapulars, tertials, and lower back usually without conspicuous blackish 

 blotches. 

 e. Underparts extensively reddish laterally (central and southwestern 

 Tamaulipas to central-eastern San Luis Potosi). 



Colinus virginianus aridus, ad. $ (p. 332) 

 ee. Underparts not extensively reddish laterally (central and southern 

 Texas, northern and central Tamaulipas). 



Colinus virginianus texanus, ad. 3 (p. 323) 



dd. Scapulars, tertials, and lower back with conspicuous blackish blotches. 



e. A broad conspicuous cinnamomeous area just below black pectoral band 



(the area may be streaked with black or plain). 



/. Reddish color of underparts richer — chestnut (Florida Peninsula; 



introduced in Bahamas), 



