Carriker : List of the Birds of Costa Rica. 627 



Costa Rica. Apparently there are no specimens of it in Europe, while 

 in this country there are but two or three skins in the U. S. National 

 Museum, one in Mr. Bangs' collection, and three in the Carnegie 

 Museum. I have seen the bird near Jimenez, back in the hills, but did 

 not secure it, while Underwood has taken at least two specimens at 

 Carrillo, making the range of the bird fairly continuous over the 

 whole length of the Caribbean foothill region. It is not found in the 

 lowlands, only from the beginning of the foothills up to about 2,500 

 feet. The alarm note of this species is loud and harsh, of a very 

 peculiar tone, and when once heard can never be forgotten or confused 

 with anything else. It is very shy, and not entirely terrestrial, as I 

 have seen it perched on low limbs at least six feet from the ground. 



363. Grallaria guatemalensis princeps (Sclater and Salvin). 



Grallaria princeps Sclater and Salvin, P. Z. S., 1869, 418 (Veragua [Arce]). — 

 Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. de C. R., I, 1887, 115 (Turrialba, one specimen). — 

 Sclater, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., XV, 1890, 314 (Irazu district [Rogers]). — 

 Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., Aves, II, 1892, 241 (Costa Rican 

 references). 



U. S. Nat. Museum: Faldas de Barba (Alfaro), Turrialba (Zeledon), 



Irazu (collector unknown). 

 Bangs Collection: Escazii, cT and $ ; Tenorio, 9 (Underwood). 

 Fleming Collection : Irazii, 9 (Underwood). 



Carnegie Museum: Juan Vinas, c? (Carriker); Carrillo, cT (Under- 

 wood). 



I have carefully compared a series of seven specimens of Grallaria 

 princeps from Chiriqui and Costa Rica with the Guatemalan bird, G. 

 guatemalensis, and find that the differences between the two are very 

 slight, that of size being the principal distinction. The southern birds 

 are a little smaller (the wing being 8 mm; shorter) and are darker 

 above, the back being richer olive-green, with the edgings of the 

 feathers decidedly black, instead of sooty-brown as in guatemalensis ; 

 while the crown and nape are more slate-gray than ashy as in the 

 northern bird. 



As for the Mexican bird, two specimens of which I have examined, 

 it seems to be nothing more than a subspecies of guatemalensis, being 

 a small race, colored about the same as guatemalensis, perhaps a little 

 darker, and should be denominated Grallaria guatemalensis mexicana 

 (Sclater). 



This is a very rare bird in Costa Rica and little or nothing is known 



