278 TANAGEID^. 



There is little diflference to be traced in birds from different parts of Mexico and 

 Central America, and with these birds from Colombia closely agree, but in Ecuador the 

 blue of the wings is rather richer in tint. This is most strongly seen on comparing 

 an example fi'om Belize with one from the island of Puna in the Gulf of Guayaquil. 

 We are inclined, however, to include all the forms under the name of Tanagra cana. 



This title was bestowed by Swainson upon a bird which he figured in his ' Ornitholo- 

 gical Drawings,' and represents the race of the northern parts of South America. The 

 Central- American bird was described by Lesson, from specimens obtained at Eealejo 

 near the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, as Tanagra diaconus. The two birds were kept 

 separate by Mr. Sclater in his " Synopsis Avium Tanagrarum," published in the ' Pro- 

 ceedings of the Zoological Society ' for 1856. The large amount of additional materials 

 has since led us to the conclusion that the two birds are not definitely distinct, and 

 in the ' Nomenclator Avium Neotropicalium ' they were united under Swainson's title. 



As will be seen above, Tanagra cana has a wide range throughout our region, from 

 Southern Mexico to Panama. It is, as Sumichrast says, a bird of the low-lying hot 

 region, from which it ascends to a height of upwards of 3000 feet at such times as 

 certain fruits ripen in the mountains ^^. We once obtained one of these birds at Duenas 

 in Guatemala at a height of nearly 5000 feet ^^ ; but the species is seldom to be seen 

 so high- as this. 



These birds pass most of their time in fruit-trees. Salmon found them building in 

 orange-trees near Medellin in the Colombian State of Antioquia. The eggs are of a 

 rich brown, densely blotched with darker spots, especially at the larger end ®. 



2. Tanagra abbas. 



Tanagra abbas, Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 2 (c/. J. f. Orn. 1863^ p. 57") ; Scl. P.Z. S. 1856, 



pp. 235", 303'; 1859, pp. 364*, 378 = ; 1864, p. 173'; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 



i. p. 550'; Scl. & Salv. P.Z. S. 1870, p. 836 ^ Lawr. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 19 ' ; 



Salv. Cat. StricM. Coll. p. 189". 

 Tanagra {Aglaia) vicarius, Less. Cent. Zool. p. 206, t. 68 '\ 

 Tanagra vicarius, Bp. P. Z. S. 1837, p. 116 ''; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 16"; Moore, P. Z. S. 



1859, p. 59 "■; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. Ill ". 



PaUide olivascens, capite cseruleo, gutture cserulescente ; interscapulii plumis medialiter nigris, alls et cauda 

 nigris, speculo alari et seoundariis ad basin flavissimis ; tectricibus alarum majoribus olivaceis, minoribus 

 cserulescentibus ; rostro et pedibus nigro-plumbeis. Long, tota 6-8, alse 3-9, caud» 2-7, rostri a rictu 0-7, 

 tarsi 0-85. (Deser. maris ex Choctum, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 



? mari valde similis sed coloribus paulo dilutioribus, gutture minus eaerulescente. (Descr. exempl. ex Chiseo, 

 Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 



Eab. Mexico ii, valley of Mexico {White % Tierra caliente of the Atlantic coast {le 

 Strange), hot and temperate region of Vera Cruz {Sumichrast ''), Jalapa {])eppe\ 

 de Oca% Cordova {SalM^% Orizaba {Botteri^), Teotalcingo and Villa Alta 

 {Boucard% Guichicovi {Sumichrast^); British Hondukas, Belize {Leyland^\ 



