Todd-Carriker : Birds of Santa Marta Region, Colombia. 201 



or olive grayish edgings, and the under surface also much darker and 

 more uniform green, with little or no brownish or vinaceous tinge. 

 Messrs. Brabourne and Chubb (Birds of South America, I, 1912, 91 ) 

 have suggested that Venezuela be considered the type-locality of P- 

 sordidus; if this be accepted, a new subspecific appellation is required 

 for the Santa Marta bird, which is readily separable by the characters 

 already pointed out, which hold good in the series examined. Females 

 are rather duller and paler than males. 



Apparently this parrot is essentially Subtropical in its faunal affini- 

 ties. It ranges over the whole of this region between 2,000 and 6,003 

 feet, but is not commonly seen below 4,000 feet on the San Lorenzo, 

 although regularly present as low as 2,500 feet in the Sierra Nevada. 



127. Pionus menstruus (Linnaeus). 



Pionus menstruus Sclatee, Proc. Z06I. Soc. London, 1857, 19 (" Santa 

 Marta"). — Bancs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XII, 1898, 132 ("Santa 

 Marta "). — Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 132 (Bonda). — 

 RiDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, VII, 1916, 2i0' (Gaira, Don Diego, 

 Santa Marta, Bonda, and Mamatoco, in range; meas. ; references). 



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



Santa Marta specimens of this species average smaller than three 

 skins from the Caura region of Venezuela, besides being noticeably 

 paler and duller, both above and below, the blue not being nearly so in- 

 tense. As, however, both Mr. Ridgway (I.e.) and Mr. Hellmayr (Pro- 

 ceedings Zoological Society of London, 1911, 1202), who have examined 

 a much larger amount of material from various sections, are of the 

 opinion that these differences are without geographical significance, 

 we follow them in this case. Some Panama skins examined are also 

 very richly colored, with red throats, while others are pale, with little 

 red. 



A Tropical Zone species, fairly abundant in the lowlands all around 

 the Sierra Nevada, at least froni Dibulla to Fundacion, but perhaps 

 most common at the edge of the foothills back of Santa Marta, around 

 Mamatoco and Bonda. It was recorded from this region many years 

 ago on the strength of a specimen received by Sclater through Ver- 

 reaux, and both Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith secured a few additional 

 specimens. It proved to be a common species at Valencia, in the Rio 

 Cesar Valley, in August, 1920, and was detected also at Arroya de 

 Arenas, on the edge of the Goajira country. 



