244 CCEEEBID^. 



rictal bristles are short; the tarsi and toes are stout, and the claws strong. The 

 plumage generally is rather close ; and in most of the species the males have a large 

 proportion of blue in their coloration ; in some species this is replaced by green, and in 

 D.flaviventris by yellow. 



1. Dacnis cay ana. 



Motacilla cayana, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 336 . 



Dacnis cayana, Scl. Cat. Am. B. p. 50^ Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 977 ' ; 1879, p. 496*; Salv. 

 P. Z. S. 1870, p. 185 ' J Pelz. Orn. Bras. p. 25 ". 



Cserulea ; loris, macula postooulari, gula, dorso medio, alls et cauda nigris, tectricibus alarum caeruleo limbatis, 

 rostro nigro, pedibus camels. Long, tota 4-5, alas 2*6, caudse 1-8, rostri a rictu 0-7, tarsi 0*75. (Descr. 

 maris ex CMriqui, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 



$ viridis, alls et cauda viridi limbatis, capite summo et genis cseruleis, gula fusca oseruleo lavata. (Descr. 

 feminse ex Chiriqui, Panama. Mus. nostr.) 



Hob. Panama, Mina de Chorcha (ArcS^). — South America, from Colombia * to 

 Guiana ^ ^, Amazonia ^ and Brazil ^. 



This is one of the commonest birds of South America, having a range extending over 

 the whole of the tropical portion of that continent from South Brazil and Bolivia to 

 Colombia. It is not found, however, in the Antilles. In Central America we have 

 only seen specimens from Chiriqui, which almost exactly correspond with typical Guiana 

 examples ; the throat, however, is less deeply black. Others we have belonging to this 

 form of Dacnis all have a tinge of the blue of D. ultramarina, though in some cases 

 the difference is so slight that we hardly know with which race to place them ; or, 

 indeed, if D. ultramarina is worthy of being kept distinct from D. cayana. 



It is only in this north-western corner of its range that any variation is to be seen in 

 D. cayana ; for the tint of the blue of the plumage of the male is remarkably constant 

 wherever else the bird is found. As 'another species (C. coereMcolor) occurs in the 

 adjoining district, it may be that the variation found in C. cayana is due to the infusion 

 of some C. coereMcolor blood, and that this has given rise to C. ultramarina, which is 

 certainly intermediate between the two, and this to a variable extent. 



2. Dacnis ultramarina. 



Dacnis ultramarina, Lawr. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1864, p. 106 ' ; Ann. Lye. N. Y. viii. p. 180 ^ ; ix. p. 97 ' ; 



Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 348 ^ Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 185 \ 

 Dacnis cmrebicolor, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vii. p. 291 (nee Sclater) °. 

 Dacnis cayana, Salv. Ibis, 1872, p. 315 ''. 



D. cayana simUis, sed colore maris caeruleo ultramarino lavato forsan diversa. (Descr. maris ex Panama. 

 Mus. nostr.) 



Hal. Nicaeagua, Chontales {JBeW), Greytown {Holland^ ^) ; Costa Eica, Angostura 

 {CarmioP) ; Panama, line of railway (M'Leannan^^^), Chepo (ArcS^). 



This Dacnis, from the isthmus of Panama, was separated from D. coereMcolor of 



