FAMILY FRINGILLIDAE 



569 



SPOROPHILA AMERICANA HOFFMANNI Cabanis 



Sporophila hoffmanni Cabanis, 1861, Journ. Orn. 9, p. 6. (Costa Rica.) 

 Spermophila collaris Lawrence, 1865, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N.Y., 8, p. 177. 

 (David, Chiriqui, Panama.) 



Characters. — Similar to hicksii, but adult males with throat black, 

 with varying amounts of white, either as a narrow collar, or as dis- 

 continuous patches on either side of the neck. 



A female taken March 1, 1965, at El Volcan, Chiriqui, had the iris 

 dark brown; line of culmen dull black, shading into fuscous-black on 

 rest of maxilla; extreme base of gonys dull brownish white; rest of 

 mandible dusky neutral gray; tarsus and toes fuscous-brown; claws 

 fuscous-black. 



Measurements. — Males (10 from Chiriqui and Veraguas), wing 

 52.0-55.0 (53.3), tail 41.5-46.5 (44.1), culmen from base 9.8-11.3 

 (10.4), tarsus 13.1-15.4 (14.3) mm. 



Females (10 from Chiriqui and Veraguas), wing 49.0-53.0 (51.5), 

 tail 40.1-45.3 (41.8), culmen from base 9.4-10.8 (10.1), tarsus 13.2- 

 15.3 (14.1) mm. 



Resident. Common in grasslands on the Pacific slope of Chiriqui 

 and on Isla Coiba, Veraguas. It also occurs in Costa Rica. 



When I visited Coiba in January and February of 1956, I found a 

 few of these seedeaters in the open edge of mangrove swamps, par- 

 ticularly near the beaches, which must have been their original range, 

 as they do not penetrate heavy stands of woodland. The birds were 

 commoner at the borders of pastures and cultivated areas. On January 

 18, 1 observed them mating. 



SPOROPHILA AMERICANA HICKSII (Lawrence) 



Spermophila hicksii Lawrence, 1865, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N.Y., 8, p. 172. ("Pana- 

 ma," probably = Buenaventura, Colombia.) 



Spermophila aurita chocoana Meyer de Schauensee, 1950, Proc. Acd. Nat. Sci. 

 Philadelphia, 52, p. 138. (Nuqui, Choco, Colombia.) 



Characters. — Adult males with throat, side of neck, lower breast and 

 abdomen, rump, undertail coverts, and speculum white; pectoral band 

 and variable amounts of chin black. 



A male taken February 17, 1963, at Puerto Obaldia, San Bias, had 

 the iris dark brown; bill black except base of mandible and commisure 

 which has a line of dull honey yellow; tarsus and toes dark neutral gray; 

 claws black. 



