Carriker : List of the Birds of Costa Rica. 797 



headquarters while collecting in the surrounding region, he placed the 



locality name of San Jose on everything, regardless of the fact that it 



might have been collected 3,000 feet or more higher up. 



This handsome Basileiiterus is confined to the higher portion of the 



plateau and the high mountains above it, ranging from about 6,000 feet 



nearly if not quite up to timber-line on the high volcanoes. I found it 



rather rare on the Volcanoes de Irazii and Turrialba, but very abundant in 



the higher portions of the Talamanca Cordillera above Ujurras. The birds 



go about in small bands of from six to ten or more, flitting from branch to 



branch in the low trees and underbrush of the heavy forest. They are 



very tame, allowing one to approach them quite closely before flying away, 



in fact they will fly and alight so close to a person that it is impossible to 



shoot them without retreating a few steps. They have a low musical 



chirp, which is frequently uttered as they fly about in their restless search 



for food. 



592. Basileiiterus rufifrons mesochrysus (Sclater). 



Basileuterus mesochrysus Sclater, P. Z. S., i860, 251 (Bogota, Colombia; coll. 



P. L. Sclater). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., I, 1881, 176, part 



(no reference to localities occupied by this subspecies). 

 [Basileuterus delattrii] subsp. a. Basileuterus mesochrysus Sharpe, Cat. Birds 



Brit. Mus., X, 1885, 396, part. 

 Basileuterus delattrii mesochrysus Cherrie, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XIV, 1801, 



342, in text (crit.). 

 Basileuterus delattrii Cherrie, Expl. Zool. en C. R., 1891-2, 1893, 14 (Boruca 



and Buenos Aires). 

 Basileuterus rufifrons mesochrysus Ridgway, Birds N. and Mid. Amer., II, 1902, 



750 (Colombia, Panama, and Chiriqui). — Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 



XXII, 1909, 36 (Buenos Aires and El General [Underwood]; crit.). 

 Basileuterus rufifrons delattrii Bangs, Auk, XXIV, 1907, 306 (Boruca and Paso 



Real [Underwood]). 



Bangs Collection: Boruca, Paso Real, El General and Buenos Aires de 



Terraba (Underwood). 

 Carnegie Museum: Buenos Aires, Boruca (Carriker). Six skins. 



Mr. Bangs has given the correct distribution for the two races of B. 

 rufifrons in Costa Rica (Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., XXII, 1909, 36), cor- 

 recting his previous error in the determination of the birds from Boruca. 

 When the series of skins from the Terraba Valley is compared with others 

 from Chiriqui, Panama, and Colombia, no differences can be found, 

 while all specimens from other parts of Costa Rica are decidedly refer- 

 able to the northern race. 



It is in Costa Rica confined to the southwestern Pacific coast region, 



