PYEANGA. 295 



B. Alee hifasciatoe. 



9. Pyranga erythromelsena. 



Tanaffra erythromelas, lAcht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 2; J. f. Orn. 1863, p. 57'; Scl. P. Z. S. 



1856, pp. 126 ^ 303 ' ; 1859, p. 364*; 1864, p. 173 ' ; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 15 '; Salv. 



Ibis, 1861, p. 147'; P.Z.S. 1870, p. 187/; Cat. Strictl. Coll. p. 192 ^ Lawr. Ann. Lye. 



N. Y. ix. p. 99"; v. Frantzius, J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 299"; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. 



N. H. i. p. 549 ^\ 

 Pyranga leucoptera, Tradeau, Journ. Ac. Phil. viii. p. 160 ". 

 Pyranga bivittata, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1 842, p. 70 ". 

 Phcenicosoma bivittata, Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 24 ". 



f, Coccinea, dorso obscurior ; fronte, capitis lateribus, mento summo, alis et eauda nigris ; alis albo bivittatis, sub- 

 alaribus albis ; rostro et pedibus corneis. Long, tota 5'o, alae 2-8, caudse 2-4, rostri a rictu 0-6, tarsi 0-75. 

 (Deser. maris ex Jalapa, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 

 $ flaTO-oIivacea, capite summo et corpore subtus flavescentibus, alis fusco-nigris albo bivittatis, scapularibus 

 griseis; cauda fusco-nigra, extus olivaceo limbata. (Descr. feminae ex Vera Paz, Guatemala. Mus. 

 nostr.) 



Ilab. Mexico ^^, Lagunas (Bep^S ^ ^), valley of Mexico ( White ^), temperate region of 

 Vera Cruz (Sumichrast ^^), Orizaba {Botteri ^), Cordova {SalU % Jalapa ^^ {de 

 Oca *) ; Beitish Honduras, Belize [Blancaneaux) ; Guatemala (Constancia ^), 

 Chisec, mountains of Kasche ^, Santa Lucia Cosamalguapa ^, Escuintla, Retalhuleu, 

 Volcan de Agua above San Diego, forests of the Volcan de Atitlan (0. S. & 

 F. B. G.) ; Costa Rica {v. Frantzius ^^), Tucurriqui {Arc6), Barranca, Dota Moun- 

 tains (Carmiol'^% Navarro {Cooper '^^) ; Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui s, Calobre, 

 Calovevora ® (ArcS). 



Mexican specimens of this species agree with those of Western Guatemala in 

 having the red of the upper surface, especially of the back, of a rather duller hue than 

 is the case in birds from Eastern Guatemala, Costa Eica, and Panama ; the former, too, 

 are usually larger, but this is not always the case. Subject to this slight variation P ery- 

 thromelmna ranges almost uninterruptedly from Southern Mexico to the State of Panama. 

 In South America an allied species occurs, P. ardens, the range of which extends 

 from Colombia, Venezuela, and Guiana to Ecuador and Peru. In this southern bird 

 the lores alone are black, whereas in its more northern representative, not only the 

 lores but the forehead, the region round the eyes, and also the chin are black, but to 

 a slightly variable extent as regards the amount on the forehead. 



Though found in comparatively low ground as at Escuintla, Eetalhuleu, &c., P. 

 erythromelcena belongs properly to the forest-region of the mountain-slopes of between 

 2000 and 4000 feet elevation, and we obtained it in dense forest at Rasche in Vera 

 Paz. It keeps to the branches of forest trees, often so high as to be almost out 

 of shot. 



Of its nest and eggs nothing is known. 



