PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 247 



DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVERAL. NEW SPECIES ANI> GEOGRAPHICAL, 

 RACES OF BIRDS CONTAINED IN THE COLLECTION OF THE 

 UNITED STATES NATIONAL, MUSEUM. 



By ROBERT RIDGWAY. 



EHODINOCICHLA ROSEA. 



Specimens of this species from Western Mexico, while agreeing with 

 Central American ones in the color of the throat, breast, etc., differ very 

 conspicuously in their upper plumage, which is a clear slate-color, the 

 flanks almost cinereous instead of dusky black. This difference is 

 entirely constant in the four specimens before me, compared with five of 

 the typical form. The Northern form being unnamed, it may be char- 

 acterized as follows : — 



Rhodinocichla rosea, scliistacea (Ridgw. MS.). 



Ch. — Above clear slate-color, the wings darker, with paler, nearly 

 cinereous edges to the feathers ; lores and auriculars dark slate ; entire 

 sides clear slate, becoming more ashy on the flanks. Adult male : A con- 

 tinuous superciliary stripe, the anterior half of which is intense rose- 

 red, the posterior half rosy- white ; chin, throat, malar region, middle 

 of the jugulum, breast, and abdomen, and the whole crissum, pure, 

 beautiful rose-red, most intense on the jugulum, narrower and paler on 

 the abdomen ; edge of the wing and anterior lesser coverts also pure 

 rose-red; lining of the wing partly grayish- white. Adult female: Simi- 

 lar, but the red replaced by rich, tawny rufous, the middle of the abdo- 

 men whitish. Bill horn-yellowish, the maxilla mostly dusky ; iris red 

 (Xantus, MS.) or brown (Grayson, MS.) ; feet dark horn-color. Length, 

 8.25; wing, 3.45-3.60; tail, 3.75-3.90 ; bill, from nostril, .60-.65 ; tarsus, 

 1.00; middle toe, .70-.75. Hob. — Western Mexico (Sierra Madre of 

 Colima, Xantus; Eio Mazatlan, Grayson). 



The distinctive characters of the two forms may be contrasted as 

 follows : — 



a. rosea. — Upper parts, sides, and flanks sooty-black, the flanks scarcely paler. Wing, 

 3.25-3.45; tail, 3.40-3.80 ; bill, from nostril, .52-60 ; tarsus, 1.00-1.10; middle toe, 

 .70-.80. Hab. — Central America (Panama ; Veragua). 



/3. schi8tacea. — Upper parts, sides, and flanks clear slate-color, the flanks almost cinere- 

 ous. Wing, 3.45-3.60; tail, 3.75-3.90 ; bill, from nostril, .60-65; tarsus, 1.00; mid- 

 dle toe, .70-75. Hab. — Western Mexico. 



In R. scliistacea, the red is very slightly paler than in B. rosea, but the 

 difference can be appreciated only on close comparison ; the rufous in 

 the female, however, is equally deep. The number of tail-feathers is 

 occasionally 13, this being the number possessed by specimen 30,160. 

 A note on the label of Colonel Grayson's male specimen is to the effect 

 that the species is "a superb singer". 



