468 ICTEEID^. 



Dr. Duges includes this species in his list of Guanajuato birds ^ ; but it is more than 

 probable that a wrong identification has been made, for there are no other records of its 

 occurrence in Mexico, the bird being, so far as our knowledge goes, strictly confined to 

 the forest-clad slopes of the mountains trending towards the Pacific coast of Guatemala. 

 In this district most of our specimens were obtained at various points at elevations 

 ranging between 1500 and 3500 feet above the sea, but we sometimes met with it at 

 higher elevations in the Volcan de Fuego. Cassin states that the original specimen in 

 the Academy of Philadelphia is labelled as coming from Coban in Vera Paz ; but this 

 locality we think more than doubtful, since Coban, being the headquarters of the bird- 

 collectors of Vera Paz, has been thoroughly explored ; and we have examined hundreds 

 of specimens obtained in that district, but Icterus maculi-alatus was never amongst 

 them. The species is very like Icterus wagleri and Icterus prosthemelas, but may at 

 once be recognized by the less extent of the black on the throat and the conspicuous 

 white markings on the wings. 



9. Icterus melanocephalns. 



Psarocolius melanocephalns, Wagl. Isis, 1829^ p. 756'. 



Icterus melanocephalus, Hahn, in Kiister, Vog. aus Asien^ Lief. vi. p. 2^ t. 3 ^ ; Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 



1848, p. 90'; 1867, p. 53 *; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 301 =; 1858, p. 97 '; 1859, p. 365 ' ; 



Ibis, 1883, p. 365 " ; Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xi. p. 375 " ; Sixmichrast, Mem. Boat. Soc. N. H. i. 



p. 553'°; Lawr. Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 23". 

 Icterus melanocephalus, var. auduboni, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B, ii. p. 186 '^ 

 Icterus auduboni, Giraud, B. Texas, p. 1'*; Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. ii. Zool., Birds, p. 19"; Scl. 



P. Z. S. 1859, p. 381"; 1864, p. 175"; Ibis, 1883, p. 366"; Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1867, 



p. 53 '' ; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p. 553 " ; Sennett, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. iv. 



p. 26=°; V. p. 399=' ; Perez, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1886, p. 150==. 

 Icterus graduacauda, Less. Rev. Zool. 1839, p. 105 =\ 



Oleagiueo-flavus ; capite toto undique, alia efc cauda nigris, tectrioibus alarum minoribus, abdomine toto 

 subtus et subalaribus flavis, gutture toto ad medium pectus nigro ; rostro nigro, mandibute basi et pedibus 

 plumbeis. Long, tota 7-5, alse 3-7, caudse 3-8, rostri a rictu 0-9, tarsi 1-1. (Descr. exempl. ex Jalapa. 

 Mus. nostr.) 



5 mari similis, sed supra pauUo olivascentior. 



Hob. NoETH Ameeioa, Rio Grande valley 20 21.— Mexico 1 22 23 (^^^116 s), Charco Escon- 

 dido,Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon (Couch^^ is), valley of Mexico (White i^), temperate 

 region of Vera Cruz, Orizaba (Sumichrast 1° ^^), Jalapa (Pease ^, Perez 22, de Oca '') 

 Mirador (Sartorius% Orizaba (le Strange), Juquila (Boucard^% Guichicovi 

 (Sumichrast "). 



Two forms of this bird have generally been recognized, under the names of Icterus 

 melanocephalus and Icterus auduboni, the former being distinguished from the latter by 

 its smaller, stouter, and more curved bill and the absence of any white on the wing. 

 These characters, however, do not seem to be constant, and the ranges of the two 

 forms coincide. The valley of the Eio Grande is its extreme northern limit, and here 



