PTEEHTJEA.— BOLBOEHTNCHUS. 579 



Eab. Costa Rica^ Aguas Calientes {Hoffmann^ ^, JBoucard"^), Candelaria Mts. 

 {v. Frantzius% Boucard% Navarro (Cooper ^^), Dota Mts., Angostura, Frailes 

 (Carmiol^); Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui, Veraguas (Arce^). 



Pyrrhura hoffmanni belongs to a small section of the genus which, having no brown 

 patch of feathers on the lower back, has no distinct bars on the underside but red 

 ear-coverts ; the tail above is olive, but beneath reddish brown, and the base of the 

 quills yellow. These characters taken together distinguish it from P. hcematotis and 

 P. rhodocephala, which are, perhaps, its nearest allies. 



This Parrot was discovered by Dr. Hoffmann, and was described by Dr. Cabanis in 

 1861 1, when the collections sent by the former to Berlin first revealed the richness of 

 the ornithological fauna of Costa Rica. The specimens were obtained at Aguas 

 Calientes, near Cartago, where M. Boucard also found the species, as well as at the 

 foot of the Candelaria Mountains^. He says that the conspicuous colour of the wings, 

 alluding no doubt to the yellow bases of the primaries, renders a flock of these birds a 

 beautiful object when flying. 



In the State of Panama P. hoffmanni is not uncommon on the Volcan de Chiriqui, 

 and it is found further to the eastward, but is not known to occur on the Isthmus or 

 any point south of it. 



BOLBOEHYNCHUS. 



Bolborhynchus, Bonaparte, Compt. Eend. xliv. p. 596 (1857) ; Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xx. 

 p. 233. 



In Bolborhynchus and in the two following wedge-shaped tailed Parrots the orbital 

 ring, according to Count Salvadori, is incomplete, the opposite being the case in the 

 genera just discussed. Bolborhynchus itself may be distinguished from Brotogerys by 

 its more swollen bill, the maxilla being more rounded; the cere is tumid, with a 

 few short inconspicuous isolated bristles, the nostrils being fully exposed. The tail is 

 of moderate length, bluntly cuneate, each rectrix acute. The tomia of the maxilla 

 undulating but scarcely toothed. There is a tufted oil-gland and complete furcula 

 (Salvadori) ; but no diff'erence in the plumage of the sexes. 



Seven species are known of the genus. These are distributed over nearly the whole 

 of Tropical America from Southern Mexico to Argentina. Only one species, and that 

 a well-marked one, occurs within our limits. This, is probably peculiar to the 

 mountainous parts, but it is said to occur also in Venezuela. 



1. BolTborhynchus lineolatus, 



Psittacula lineola, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Phil. vi. p. 372 ' ; Joum. Ac. Phil. iii. p. 154, t. 14. f. 1 ". 



Comrus lineola, Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 177 ^ 



Myiopsitta lineola, Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Eica, 1887, p. 124*. 



Psittacula lineolata, Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 306 ^ 



