PICUMISUS. 453 



Picumnus granadensis, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1847^ p. 78 ' ; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vii. p. 333 " ; Hargitt, 



Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xviii. p. 549 \ 

 Picumnus flavotinctus, Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xi. p, 543". 



Supra saturate olivaceus, secundariis extus pallidiore flavo-olivaceo limbatis, capite summo nigro, nuchsB plumis 

 albo pilei antici aurantio terminatis : subtus sordide olivaceus, gula pallidiore, plumis singulis stricte nigro 

 limbatis, abdomine sordide flavido olivaceo flammulato ; alis nigricanti-brunneis, remigibus ad basin et 

 subalaribus albidis ; Cauda nigra, longitudinaliter flavido-albido tristriata ; rostro et pedibus plumbeis. 

 Long, tota circa 3-5, alse 2-1, caudse 14, tarsi 0-47, dig. med. absque ungue 0-4, dig. ext. 0-4. 



$ mari similis, pileo toto albo punctate. (Deser. maris et feminse ex Bugaba, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 



Hal. Honduras, Julian and San Pedro ( G. M. Whitely ^ 5) ; Costa Eica, Pozo Azul 

 {Zeledon ^^) ; Panama, Mina de Chorcha, Bugaba (ArcS ^), Lion Hill {M'Leannan ^), 

 Obispo {0. S.). — Colombia, Bogota i, Cali^; Ecuador^. 



In his Catalogue Hargitt admitted the birds described by Lafresnaye in 1845 as 

 Picumnus olivaceus ^ and in 1847 as P. granadensis '' as subspecies, basing their difference 

 upon the colour of the spots on the anterior part of the crown — these in P- olivaceus 

 being described as " orange-scarlet" and m P . granadensis as "golden-yellow." As the 

 distribution of the two supposed forms, he gives Honduras and the neighbourhood of 

 Bogota for the former, and the intermediate country of Panama, the northern portion 

 of Colombia, and Western Ecuador for the latter. The assignment of the specimens to 

 these disconnected areas is evidently extremely unlikely to be correct. On examining 

 the specimens there is no doubt in the most marked individuals a perceptible diflFerence 

 of colour in the spots of the crown ; moreover, on an average, in the Bogota specimens 

 these spots seem the reddest and in the Panama birds the yellowest ; but the differences 

 are so blended by intermediate forms that we consider the evidence in favour of their 

 being more than one species very insufficient, and more likely than not the difference 

 is due to the age of the feathers themselves or to the age of the birds. 



In 1874 Salvin examined the type of Lafresnaye's P. granadensis at Boston, and he 

 then believed it to be only a young example of P. olivaceus, and this has been our 

 opinion since. 



In 1888 Mr. Ridgway described a Costa Eica Picumnus as P. flavotinctus, and 

 with it he placed the Panama form, suggesting, however, that the bird might be a 

 geoo'raphical race of P. olivaceus. No comparison is made with P. granadensis, the 

 bird most nearly allied if distinct at all. 



P. olivaceus is the only species of Picumnus which has the upper plumage olive, the 

 chest plain olive, and the abdomen striped and not barred. Its range extends from 

 North-eastern Honduras to the United States of Colombia, and thence southwards to 

 Western Ecuador. Skins of it are by no means uncommon in the trade collections 

 made in the neighbourhood of Bogota. 



When staying at Obispo Station on the Panama Eailway in 1873, Salvin had oppor- 

 tunities of watching birds of this species. They perch on trees like an ordinary 

 insessorial bird, and never climb after the manner of Woodpeckers. 



