278 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
atronitens , Volatinia jacarini splendens , Merida gymnophthalma , 
Sporophila gutter alls, Elaenea martinica flavogastra , Tyrannus 
melancholias satrapa , and a few others have done. 
Mr. Cory (’92, p. 145) writes that his specimens of this bird from 
St. Vincent have light-colored bills, while those from the other 
islands are dark-billed. All the examples (17) which I procured on 
St. Vincent had dark bills; but I have seen old skins from that 
island (collected by Richardson) and others from St. Lucia (collected 
by Semper) in which the beak was light horn color. It appears to 
be due entirely to fading, as I never met with a bird in the flesh, nor 
handled a fresh skin with other than a dark-colored beak. 
M. t. oberi from Dominica appears to be hardly worth more than 
subspeciflc rank. Newly moulted specimens of this form differ 
from newly moulted examples of M. t. tyrannulas in having only 
the wing bars dull grayish buff (instead of white) inclining to 
rufous, and having the brown on the tail occupying the entire 
outer half of the rectrices instead of only about the outer third, as 
in the case of the typical form. 
The seven specimens from St. Lucia are intermediate between 
those from Dominica and those from the more southern islands. 
Fading produces a great change in the colors of this bird. The 
feathers of the back on their first appearance are dark olive green¬ 
ish, and the new feathers contrasting strongly with the worn ones, 
give the bird a spotted look. Dominica, in the localities inhabited by 
M. t. oberi , is very damp with a comparatively large rainfall, and 
the bleaching glare of the tropical sun is tempered by cloudy condi¬ 
tions, so that the birds retain their greenish cast until the beginning 
of a new moult. The color of the underparts also does not fade to 
an appreciable extent; but on the Grenadines, which are dry and 
hot, with practically no cover, the new feathers lose the greenish 
color and begin to turn brown even before the moult is complete. 
When the fresh plumage has been wholly assumed, therefore, the 
bird is of an olive brown color, quite different from fresh examples 
from Dominica, although the feathers on their first appearance were 
of exactly the same shade. As the fading increases the brown 
slowly becomes a brownish gray, and the underparts become lighter 
yellow. On Grenada, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia, the birds do not 
fade so much as on the more exposed Grenadines, but are neverthe¬ 
less browner than those from Dominica. 
