CALLISTE. 269 



3. Calliste icterocephala. 



Calliste icterocephala, Bp. Compt. Rend, xxxii. p. 76'; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 251 *; 1860, p. 87 '; 

 Scl. Mon. Call. p. 37, t. 17*; Cat. Am. B. p. 65 =; Salv. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 138^'; 1870,' 

 p. 186 '; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. p. 98*; v. Prantz. J. f. O. 1869, p. 298 ' ; Scl. & Salv. 

 P. Z. S. 1879, p. 498 ". 



Callispiza {Chrysothraupis) frantsii, Cab. J. f, Om. 1861, p. 87". 



Flavus, interscapulio et tectricibus alarum superioribus nigro variegatis, loris et stria infra ooulos nigris ; alis 

 caudaque nigris auresoenti-viridi extus limbatis ; gutture et torque cervicali postica pallida viridescenti- 

 argenteis ; rostro nigro, pedibus plumbeis. Long, tota 5-5, alee 2-9, caudse 2-0, rostri a rictu 5-5, tarsi 0-7. 

 (Descr. maris ex Dota, Costa Eica. Smiths. Inst. No. 54238. Mus. nostr.) 



5 mari similis, sed supra viridescenti-aurea et coloribus omnibus obsourioribus. (Descr. femin^ ex Sante Fe', 

 Panama. Mus. nostr.) 



Eah. Costa Eica i^, Candelaria mountains ^, Dota * ^ [v. Frantzius), valleys of Turrialba 

 [v. Frantzius^, Cooper^, Arce), Barranca {v. Frantzius^, Carmiol^), San Jose {Car- 

 miol ^) ; Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui '^, Vivala, Boquete de Chitra '^, Cordillera del 

 Chucu^, Cordillera de Tole^, Calovevora ^, Santa Fe^ Calobre (ArcS). — South 

 Amebica, Colombia i", Ecuador i ^ 3 4 5_ 



When Mr. Sclater wrote his ' Monograph of the Genus Calliste' in 1857, only two 

 specimens of this species were known to him, both of which were brought by Bourcier 

 from Punta Playa, a valley of the Andes near Quito in Ecuador *. A few years after- 

 wards, Fraser found it at Nanegal in the same country ^, and it would appear to be not 

 uncommon in Western Ecuador, as specimens are generally to be found in collections 

 forwarded thence. Tracing its range northwards, we have an example from the 

 vicinity of Pasto, and again from Eemedios in Colombia, where Salmon found it ^^ 

 We are not aware, however, that it ever occurs in the trade collections sent from 

 Bogota. From the isthmus of Panama itself it is absent, at least from all the lowlying 

 land yet investigated ; but throughout the country situated between Calobre and the 

 volcano of Chiriqui it is perhaps commoner than at any other point of its range. 

 In Costa Eica, too, beyond which point it has not yet been traced, it is by no means a 

 rare bird. Dr. Cabanis was the first to receive specimens from the latter country; 

 these he described as Callispiza fmntzii ^^ It has since been proved that he founded 



his description upon female birds ; and the receipt of a good series of both sexes shows 



that no real difference exists between Costa-Eican birds and typical ones from Ecuador. 



If anything, adult males of the northern bird are a shade more golden in their upper 



plumage ; but the difference is quite trivial. 



Little has been recorded of Calliste icterocephala. Fraser remarks :— " Irides hazel ; 



bill black ; legs and feet blue ; food green minute-seeded fruit." 



Calliste icterocephala has no very near allies in the genus ; but it belongs to the 



same group or section containing C. aurulenta, of which there are five species, all found 



in the Andes between Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, Of these, it is the 



only one which extends its range into our region. 



