CONUEUS. 



573 



only species, besides that mentioned, at all closely allied to the present bird is 

 C. brevipes. 



a leucopMhalmus (MiiU.), commonly called C.pavm (Bodd.) or P. guianends (Gm.), 

 has a general resemblance, but may at once be distinguished by its yellow greater 

 under wing-coverts. 



Deppe seems to have been the first collector to send specimens of C. holochlorus to 

 Europe ; but his specimens were ascribed to G. guianensis ", and it was not until 1859 

 that Mr. Sclater separated it under the name it now bears ^. 



This Parrot is common in Eastern Mexico from the States of Nuevo Leon and 

 Tamaulipas southwards through Vera Cruz, but we have no record of it in Western 

 Mexico, nor even on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. In Guatemala it is abundant all 

 over the central plateau and the mountain-slopes towards the Pacific, ranging from an 

 altitude of 6000 or 7000 feet down to less than 1000 feet above the sea-level. At the 

 ripening of the crops of maize or Indian corn large flocks assemble and do great 

 damage by eating the grain before it is gathered. It is said to breed in the ravines 

 intersecting the mountains between Chimaltenango and Panajachel, and one of them 



is called El Barranco de Los Chocoyos from the number of these birds frequenting it 



" Chocoyo " being its familiar name. Southward of Guatemala we trace it to Salvador 

 and Nicaragua, where, on the island of Omotepe, Mr. Nutting says « that the number 

 of these Parrots to be seen around the lagoons is something almost incredible, and the 

 air seems fairly to tremble with their cries. He could recall no other species of bird 

 swarming in such numbers. In Costa Eica we have no tidings of it, its place being 

 taken by C.finscM. 



3. Conurus rubritorquis. 



Conurus rubritorquis, Scl. P. Z. S. 1886, p. 538, t. 56 ' ; Salv. & Godm. Ibis, 1892, p. 328 ' ; Salvad. 

 Ibis, 1893, p. 122'. 



0. Tioloehloro similis, sed minor, rosfcro minore ; gutture toto plumis coecineis notato. Long, tota circa 11*0 

 alae 5'7, caudae rectr. med. 4-8, rectr. lat. 2-5, rostri culminis 1*1, tarsi 0'65. (Descr. exempl. typ. ex 

 patria ignota. Mus. Brit.) 



Hah. Salvador, Volcan de San Miguel ( W. B. Richardson) ; Nicaragua, Matagalpa 

 ( W. B. Eichardson ^). 



This Conurus was described by Mr. Sclater from a specimen living in the Gardens 

 of the Zoological Society. ' It had been obtained from a Liverpool dealer, but from 

 what part of America was unknown. Mr. Sclater says nothing as to its affinity to the 

 known species, merely comparing it in size with G. euops of Cuba. Count Salvadori 

 examined the type in 1891 when compiling his catalogue of Psittacidse, and came to 

 the conclusion that it was an abnormal individual of G. holochlorus, in which an unusual 

 number of red feathers had been developed on the throat. The following year we 



