540 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



another. Collectively they represent a form which may readily he 

 distinguished frona E. h. hicolor of the Bahamas by decidedly shorter 

 wing and tail and brighter olive or olive-greenish upper parts, and 

 from E. }}. marchii of Jamaica, Barbados, and Grenada bv having, in the 

 adult male, the black of the chest extending over the breast (sometimes 

 over the belly also) and without abrupt posterior outline. 



When a sufficient number of specimens from each island shall have 

 been brought together and carefully compared, it is almost certain 

 that several local forms will have to be recognized. The existence of 

 these is clearly indicated )iy the meager series before me, specimens 

 from different islands, notably those from Santa Lucia and St. Thomas, 

 being uniformlj' peculiar in certain features of coloration. Thus the 

 three adult males from Santa Lucia are browner than those from 

 other islands, the black on anterior under parts very restricted (but 

 of quite different form from that of E. h. marchii^ the remaining under 

 parts being peculiarlj^ dark and brownish. The four adult males from 

 St. Thomas have the "solid" portion of the black chest as restricted 

 as in E. h. marchii, but it merges into the lighter-colored posterior area 

 bj^ intervening blackish feathers with pale margins, thus producing a 

 somewhat streaked appearance. Were it certain that the specimens 

 examined are really fully adult bii'ds, I would not hesitate to separate 

 the birds from Santa Lucia and St. Thomas, respectively, as local 

 forms; but there is a possibilitj" thej^ may not yet have acquired the ' 

 perfect plumage of the adult male. 



"\Mth four adult males from Venezuela, I am unable to distinguish 

 any peculiarities, as compared with Antillean specimens, except that 

 the tail averages decidedlj' shorter. In coloration they appear to be 

 quite identical with specimens from Porto Rico and some other Carib- 

 bean islands. 



An adult, or nearly adult, male from Bogota, Colombia, in the col- 

 lection of the American Museum of Natural History (No. 41327) is 

 scarce!}' to be distinguished from E. h. marchii in color, the black of the 

 anterior under parts extending no farther back than the chest and 

 ending quite abruptly. Dr. Sharpe, however, describes an adult male 

 from Colombia as having "the black extending down the center of 

 the abdomen, but not reaching to the vent," and therefore I am dis- 

 posed to regard the specimen mentioned above as not in full plumage. 

 A good series of specimens, however, will be necessary to establish 

 the relationship of the Colombian bird. The American Museum speci- 

 men measures as follows: Wing, 55.88; tail, 38.86; exposed culmen, 

 9.40; depth of bill at base, 7.37; tarsus, 18.03; middle toe, 13.46. 



Tiaris omissa Jaedine, Ann. Nat. Hist., xx, 1847, 332 (Tobago). 



Pho}i!paraomis.ia Sclateh, Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 106 (Antilles; Tobago). — Taylok, 

 Ibis, 1864, 107 (Martinique; Dominica; Porto Rico). — Sclatbe and Salvin, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1868, 167 (Carupano and Caracas, Venezuela) . 



