DIVES.— QTJISCALUS. 481 



being slightly incurved ; the nostrils are at the end of the nasal fossa, and have but a 

 slight membrane along their upper edge, the tomia of the maxilla is slightly undulating 

 and somewhat incurved ; the legs and toes are rather strong ; the wing is short and 

 rounded, the fifth primary being the longest, the first slightly longer than the ninth, 

 the longest secondaries reach to the end of the seventh primary. The tail is rounded, 

 each feather being rounded at its tip. 



1. Dives sumlchrasti. 



Icterus dives, Licht. Preis-Verz. mex. Vog. p. 1 j J. f. Orn. 1863, p. 56 \ 



Lamprospar dives, Boucard, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 446 ^ 



Scolecophagus dives, Cass. Pr. Ac. Phil. 1866, p. 413 ^ 



Quiscalus sumichrasti, de Sauss. Rev. Zool. 1859, p. 119 ^ t. 3. f. 2-4; Scl. P. Z. S. 1859, pp. 365% 



381 '; 1864, p. 175'; Scl. & Salv. IMs, 1860, p. 398 ^ Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H, 



1. p. 553 \ 

 Dives sumichrasti, Scl. Ibis, 1884, p. 153"; Scl. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xi. p. 392". 

 Dives dives, Perez, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1886, p. 152 ". 

 Quiscalus, sp.?, Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 300". 



Sericeo-niger, unicolor; rostro et pedibus nigris. Long, tota 9-5, alse 4-6, caudse rect. med. 4-1, rect. lat. 3'6,. 



rostri a riotu 1-1, tarsi 1-4. (Descr. feminse ex Coban, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 

 cJ omnino similis, sed paullo major. 



Hab. Mexico ^^ {Beppe ^), Chiltepec, Cosamaloapam, Valle Real {Beppe, in Mus. Berol.), 

 valley of Mexico ( White ''), tierra caliente of the Atlantic slope (le Strange), hot 

 and temperate regions of Vera Cruz {Sumichrast ®), Plan del Rio (Perez i^), Jalapa 

 (de Oca ^, Edge ^^), Orizaba (Botteri ^^), Playa Vicente (Boucard % Merida in 

 YvLceLtan (Gaumer^, Bevis^^); British Honduras, Belize (Blancaneaux ^^) ; Gua 

 TEMALA, Choctum n, Achil, Coban «, Tactic 8 (0. S. & F. B. 6.). 



This species has a somewhat restricted range, being confined to the eastern slope of 

 the mountains of Southern Mexico, Yucatan, and thence southwards to the highlands of 

 Vera Paz. Sumichrast says it is very common in the hot and temperate zones of the 

 Department of Vera Cruz up to an elevation of about 4000 feet; he adds it is a bird of 

 the woods and less sociable than the rest of its tribe. In Yucatan Mr. Gaumer speaks 

 of it as one of the commonest birds, that it is abundant in all the towns as well as in 

 the forests, that he has seen it in the busiest streets of Merida, even entering houses in 

 search of food. In Guatemala its range is very restricted, and it is first met with near 

 the village of Tactic (that is, near the border of the most rainy district of Alta Vera Paz) ; 

 and it is quite common in Coban, where it frequents the fruit and other trees so freely 

 distributed about the town. 



QUISCALUS. 



Quiscalus, Vieillot, Anal. p. 36 (1816) ; Scl. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xi. p. 393. 



The species of Quiscalus with which we are chiefly concerned belong to the section 

 BIOL. CENTR.-AMEE., Aves, Vol. I., April 1887. 61 



