200 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Bangs, Auk, XVI, 1899, 137, in text ("Santa Marta Mountains"; range). 

 — Bangs, Proc. New England Z06I. Club, I, 1899, 75 (San Sebastian). — 

 Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist, XIII, 1900, 132 (Valparaiso). 

 Pionus sordidus saturaius Todd, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XXVIII, 1915, 

 81 (Cincinnati; orig. descr. ; type in coll. Carnegie Mus.). — Apolinar 

 M.MiiA, Bol. Soc. Cien. Nat. Inst. La Salle, III, 1915, 88 (ref. orig. descr.). 

 — RiDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, VII, 1916, 503 (ref. orig. descr.). 

 — Cory, Field Mus. Z06I. Series, XIII, 1918, 92 (ref. orig. descr.; range). 



Additional records: La Concepcion, Chirua (Brown). 



Eight specimens: Cincinnati, Minca, Pueblo Viejo, Las Vegas, 

 Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (8,000 feet), and Heights of Chirua. 



Psittacus sordidus of Linnseus {Systema Natures, Ed. 10, I, 1758, 99) 

 was based on the " Dusky Parrot " of Edwards (Natural History of 

 Birds, IV, 1751, 167, pi. 167), the habitat of which was incorrectly 

 given as " Mexico." Its true habitat, however, was presently dis- 

 covered to be Venezuela, beyond the limits of which country it was 

 apparently unknown until brought to light in the Santa Marta region 

 of Colombia through the activities of Messrs. Brown and Smith. It 

 would appear to be a rare bird, only nine specimens in all having been 

 taken by these collectors, while Count Salvadori had before him but 

 three skins when he wrote Volume XX of the Catalogue of the Birds 

 in the British Museum. Only one of these was an authentic specimen, 

 the exact origin of which was known : this was specimen " c," evi- 

 dently the example which he says " has been kept distinct by Mr. 

 Sclater on account of ' the whole back, nape, and wing-coverts being of 

 a sordid yellowish olive-colour, with the edgings of the feathers 

 lighter ' ; but it appears to me to have the plumage faded and worn 

 out.'' However, the single Venezuelan skin before us (No. 35,080, 

 La Cumbre de Valencia, October 10, 1910), in fresh plumage, corres- 

 ponds very well with this description, while the under parts are buffy 

 olive, each 'feather subterminally pinkish vinaceous, this color being 

 very prominent on the breast, next the blue area — a character which is 

 barely indicated in two of the Colombian skins. That the peculiarities 

 of this particular specimen are due to immaturity it is difficult to be- 

 lieve. On the other hand. Count Salvadori's description, based on a 

 specimen in the Massena Collection, corresponds very closely with the 

 Colombian examples before us, which differ from the Venezuelan bird 

 in their much 3arker, greener coloration, both above and below, the 

 feathers of the upper parts being without conspicuous paler olive brown 



