532 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



entirely. It is inclined to be shy, hiding away very cleverly, and not 

 a few individuals were shot by mistake, under the impression that they 

 were some other species, skulking in the grass or little bushes. When 

 undisturbed the male will often perch on the tip of a shrub or bush and 

 sing his queer little unmusical song. One nest was noted on the San 

 Lorenzo on December 20, placed on the ground at the base of a small 

 bush on an open ridge. (For a further account of the nesting habits 

 of this species see Carriker, Annals Carnegie Museum, VI, 1910, 

 906.) 



The extraordinary thing about the range of this bird is that a closely 

 related form, Brachyspiza capensis insularis, occurs on the island of 

 Curaqao practically at sea-level. An explanation of this circumstance 

 has already been given (see page 94). 



510. Myospiza humeralis meridana Todd. 



Myospisa manim.be (not Fringilla manimbe Lichtenstein) Bangs, Proc. Biol. 



Soc. Washington, XIII, 1899, 103 (Paramo de Macotama). — Allen, Bull. 



Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 164 (Bonda). 

 Myospiza manimbe columbiana Chapman, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXXI. 



1912, 162, part (?" Santa Marta " ; crit.). 



One specimen: Taquina. 



For the common and widely distributed South American sparrow 

 long known as Myospiza manimbe (Lichtenstein) an earlier name, 

 Tanagra humeralis of Bosc {Choix de Memoires, II, 1792, 179, pi. 34, 

 fig. 4), has lately been made known by Mr. Charles Chubb {Bulletin 

 British Ornithologists' Club, XXXI, 1913, 39). It appears to be 

 divisible into several fairly well-marked geographic races, as intimated 

 by Dr. Chapman, who has separated the bird of western Colombia 

 under the subspecific name columbiana, Santa Marta examples being 

 considered intermediates. The latter, however, agree much better with 

 the series examined from northern Venezuela, recently discriminated 

 by the present writer as a distinct race, meridana {Proceedings Bio- 

 logical Society of Washington, XXX, 1917, 127), characterized by its 

 generally darker, browner coloration as compared with true humeralis, 

 while in columbiana black is the prevailing tone of the upper parts. 

 Care must of course be used to compare series in fresh plumage, as 

 wear produces great changes in the appearance of the feathers. The 

 ■Taquina specimen above recorded (dated April 9), while somewhat 

 worn, still shows the characters of meridana at their extreme, as also 

 does the specimen secured by Mr. Brown, which is in fresh plumage. 



