368 • EEINGILLID^. 



parte basali pallida, pedibus corylinis. Long, tota 4-0, alse 1*9, oaudee 1*7, tarsi 0-6. (Descr. maris ex 

 DueSas, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 

 5 fnsca, alis caudaque nigricantibus, dorsi colore limbatis ; subfcus multo pallidior, peetore fiisoo striate, abdo- 

 mine medio sordide albo. (Descr. femiase ex Eetalhuleu, Guatemala. Mua. nostr.) 



Hah. Mexico '', Mazatlan {Grayson ^2), Presidio (Forrer), mountains of Colima [Xantus '^^), 

 valley of Mexico (White^), Jalapa (de Oca^), hot and temperate regions of Vera 

 Cruz {Swmichrast^% Guichicovi (Sumichrast ^^), Merida in Yucatan (SchoU^\ 

 Gaumer); Guatemala {Constanda^''), Duefias, Escuintla, Retalhuleu, plain of 

 Salama, Choctum {0. S. & F. B. G.); Honduras, San Pedro {G. M. Whitely^); 

 NiCAEAGUA, Sucuya {Nutting ^i) ; Costa Rica {v. Frantzius^% San Jose (v. Frantzius ^% 

 Barranca, Qxecva. {Carmiol^^) ; Panama, David {Hicks % Chitra {ArcS^% Lion 

 Hill {M'Leannan^ % Paraiso Station {Hughes). — Colombia ^2; Venezuela; Guiana^. 



All our Mexican and Central- American males of this bird are alike in being steel-black, 

 with a few white feathers on the shoulders, the under wing-coverts and the bases of the 

 quills being black ; they agree with a male from Bartica Grove, in British Guiana, and 

 with the description of Fringilla splendens of Vieillot. Graf von Berlepsch refers speci- 

 mens from Bucaramanga in Colombia, and Puerto Cabello in Venezuela, to the same 

 bird. From Guia and Barra do Eio Negro we have two specimens, which are almost 

 entirely steel-black with hardly a trace of white on the shoulder. Examples from 

 Para have the bases of the quills and the under wing-coverts more or less white, and 

 agree with Brazilian examples, except that in the latter the white is a little more 

 extended. Specimens from the Cauca valley, Ecuador, and southwards to Bolivia have 

 less white than Brazilian birds, but still this feature is very apparent. 



Thus two races of Volatinia seem to be recognizable by the presence or absence of 

 white on the under wing-coverts and quills. Their ranges, though remarkable, are 

 tolerably definite. The northern form, which should bear the name Volatinia 

 splendens (based upon the Cayenne bird), passes from Mexico through Central America 

 and thence to the lower Magdalena valley, Venezuela, the B.io Negro (rather aberrant), 

 and the lowlands of Guiana ; the southern form stretches from Brazil, Bolivia, and 

 Peru to the lower Amazons and passes northwards to the Cauca valley : this should be 

 called V. jacarina (Linn.). These birds have usually been treated as one species, but 

 seeing that their differences are associated with a definite distribution they may well 

 bear distinct names. 



Volatinia splendens is found from the sea-level to an altitude of 5000 feet, and is 

 a common resident species in Mexico and Central America, being found in all open 

 country where low bushes are thickly distributed. The male is a conspicuous bird, 

 sitting on an outer spray of a bush, and every now and then springing into the air and 

 alighting again on the same twig from which he rose. 



Salmon took some nests of Volatinia jacarina near Medellin in Colombia. They 

 were, he says, carefully concealed very close to or on the ground amongst grass or 



