Todd-Carrikee : Birds of Santa Marta Region, Colombia. 395 



in another connection) tliat D. alhovittatus, described from Bolivia, is 

 a form entirely distinct from D. atricapiUus, which will permit the 

 use of the name brachypterus for the northern and western form, the 

 characters of which have been fully indicated by Dr. Chapman. Com- 

 pared with a Brazilian specimen in fine fresh plumage (No. 39,423, 

 Collection American Museum of Natural History), the present bird is 

 less huffy below; the upper parts are not so dark, and there is no 

 buffy wash on the rump. In juvenal dress, represented by several skins 

 taken between September 20 and October 15, the pileum is brown, 

 somewhat darker than the back, and there is a broad buffy white 

 superciliary stripe. None of the adult birds show any trace of this 

 stripe. 



This interesting bird was found only in the fresh-water marshes 

 and in the rank growth of grasses and aquatic plants in the alluvial 

 plain surrounding the Cienaga Grande. It was abundant along the 

 inundated shores of the Aracataca River near its mouth, as well as in 

 the marshes near Fundacion. It is not at all shy, and when disturbed 

 in its retreats will emerge from the thick growth of water plants to 

 perch in a conspicuous position and scold at the intruder. It is always 

 seen in pairs or families. No nests were ever located. 



Family TURDIDyE. Thrushes. 



361. Platycichia fiavipes venezuelensis (Sharpe). 



Platycichla flavipes carbonaria Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XIII, 



1899, 108 (Chirua, La Concepcion, and San Miguel). — Allen, Bull. Am. 



Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, igoo, 181 (Bangs' reference). 



Seven specimens: Las Vegas, Pueblo Viejo, and Chirua. 



Even in this small series there is considerable variation affecting the 

 amount of black on the under parts in the male. In two specimens 

 this color covers all of the under surface except the flanks and upper 

 tail-coverts, these examples thus agreeing well with the description of 

 Platycichla venezuelensis atra Cory {Field Museum Ornithological 

 Series, I, 1909, 251). Others can be matched very closely by skins 

 from Trinidad, Venezuela, etc. It seems very unlikely, judging from 

 the available series studied in this connection, that there is more than 

 one form in northern South America — a conclusion already reached 

 by Mr. Hellmayr {Journal fUr Ornithologie, L, 1902, 66). 



This bird is apparently found only on the north slopes of the Sierra 



