138 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



and devoid of white spotting. No. 42,597, an adult, is grayer below 

 and under the wings than is usual, with the remiges and rectrices 

 darker also, thus suggesting N. tayasu-guira. 



A few were noted at Rio Hacha in July, 1920, in the mangroves 

 along the river. 



15. Nyctanassa violacea violacea (Linnaeus). 



Seven specimens : Bonda, Mamatoco, Don Diego, and Gaira. 



Three adults and four young birds are included, the latter bearing 

 dates in January, April, and May. A fine adult was shot by the junior 

 author September 11, 1913, in a marshy tract near the village of 

 Gaira; the remaining birds were all taken by Mr. Smith's collectors. 

 The species is known from the coast of Venezuela, Guiana, and Brazil, 

 as well as ,from Panama and Peru, but this appears to be the first 

 record for Colombia. Surinam specimens have lately been separated 

 by Messrs. Bangs and Penard (Bulletin Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, LXII, 1918, 31) under the subspecific name cayennensis of 

 Gmelin, on the ground of smaller size and darker coloration, but we 

 can find no reason for referring our series to this supposed form, al- 

 though there is, to be sure, considerable variation in color, the same as 

 in North American specimens. 



16. Cochlearius cochlearius Linnaeus. 



Cancroma cochlearia Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 124 

 (Minca and Bonda). 



Six specimens : Mamatoco and Trojas de Cataca. 



Variation in this species affects the length of the crest, the color of 

 the lower mandible (which may be black or yellow), the color of the 

 flanks (which runs from black to a decided bluish shade), and the 

 color of the mantle, which in some individuals is much darker gray, 

 than in others. We are not prepared to accept the subdivision of this 

 species recently proposed by Messrs. Bangs and Penard {Bulletin 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology, LXII, 1918, 31), however, for the 

 reason that some of our Colombian specimens are nearly up to the 

 measurements of the Rio Janeiro example referred to by these authors. 



A few were found in the marsh near Mamatoco, in company with 

 Black-crowiied and White-crowned Night Herons. Mr. Smith re- 

 ported the species from Minca, which is a most unusual record, as it 

 is rarely found so far above sea-level. It is found sparingly along the 



