Descriptions of three new birds from the Merida region of Venezuela

VOL. _XVIII, PP.

219-222 OCTOBER

17,

1905

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTIONS OF THREE NEW BIRDS FROM THE MERIDA REGION OF VENEZUELA.

BY

J. H.

RILEY.

Bypermission^ofthe Secretary of the SmithsonianInstitution.

The U.

S.

National Museum

recently

purchased a small

^col lection of bird skins

from

the

well-known

zoological ^collectors

Salomon Briceno Gabaldon

e hijos

from

the

Merida

_{region of}

Venezuela. Coming ^{from a}

locality

from which most

of

the European museums and

collectors

have

received so

much mate

rial, principally

from the above

source

and the

exertions of

A. Goering,

^it

was not

to

be expected

^that

the

collection

would contain many

^novelties.

^The

three following birds

appear

^to be

new, however, and

are

herewith

described.

Leptasthenura montivagans

sp.nov.

Type from San _Antonio, Venezuela, 3000 meters. No. _190,383, U. S.

National

Museum,

cT adult. July20, 1903.

Specific characters. SimilartoLeptasthenura andicola Sclater,but_grayer, theback

more

prominently^streakedwithwhite, the shaft streaks

on

the top of theheadlighter,thewings^shorterandthetailfeathers

more

_pointed.

Description.

Top

^{ofheadblackwith}

cinnamon

shaftstreaks; cervix

and

interscapular region clove

brown

with ratherbroad white shaftstreaks;

lower _back, rump,

and

_upper tail-coverts broccoli

brown

with obsolete

dusky

streaks,these streaks

more

_pronounced

and

_lighter on the

rump

^;

chin

and

narrowsuperciliarystreak white_; belowhair

brown

with white shaft streaks,these streaks

more

pronounced on ^thejugulum

and

_chest, fading

and becoming

^{obsolete on}the belly; flanks

washed

with Isabella

43 PROC. BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XVIII, ^1905. (219)

220

_Riley Descriptions ^ofThree

New Birds from

^Venezuela.

color; undertail-coverts

dusky

^with whitish edgings; wingsblackish,the coverts prominentlyedged withbistre,the inner primaries

and

secondaries lightrufous near the _base,the rufous divided

by

^{a blackline} along the shaftinthe primaries; the under wingblackish, the inner primaries

and

secondaries edged with vinaceous-cinnamon; under wing-coverts vina- ceous-cinnamon,^whitish along ^the

bend

of the wing; ^tail blackish, the three outer feathers margined on ^{the outer}

web

with white

and

rather broadly-tipped diagonally with hair

brown

with

some

obscure black mottlings,the

two

central feathers narrowly margined with ^hair brown.

Bill

and

_{feet (in}skin) ^black.

AVing,65.5; tail,95; culmen,^10.5; tarsus,20; middle_toe, 12.5

mm. A

femalecollected atthe

same

_localityissimilar tothemale

and

measures^: Wing,64; tail,89; culmen, 10; tarsus, 19; middle _toe,12.5

mm.

Three unsexed specimensof Leptasthenura andicolafromEcuador_average: Wing, 68.8; tail,81.3; culmen, ¹⁰; tarsus,20.3; middle_{toe, 13.2}

mm.

Haplospiza montosa

sp.nov.

Type from

San

_{Antonio, Venezuela,} 3,000 meters. No. _190,413, U. S.

National

Museum,

c? ad. August15,1903.

Specific characters. SimilartoHaplospiza nivariaBangs,but with a longer

bill,darker both above

and

_below,

and

with thefeet

and

tarsi horncolor not black.

Description.

Above

blackish_slate,darkeronthe interscapular region

and

lighter

on

the

rump

^; pileum

showing

indistinct striations; the forehead

and

lores

washed

with _palegray^; belowslate color, whitish on the anal region^; undertail-covertswhitish withdarkcenters_; tailblackish; wings blackish,^allthe feathersedged with^thecolorof the back. Bill (inskin) blackish,lighter along the center oflower mandible; ^tarsi

and

feet horn color.

Wing,

^{80.5; tail,61;} culmen, ¹²; tarsus,23

; middle_{toe, 15.5}

mm.

Female

^similarabovetothatof Haplospiza nivaria but

much more

_heavily streaked below withblack, the streaks heavier

on

thechest. Wing, 73.5;

tail,55.5_; culmen,¹¹; tarsus, 21; middle_toe, 14

mm.

Remarks.

While

the male does not differ greatlyfrom //.nivaria,the female is quite another bird. It is heavily streaked below with broad black streaks

and

_thoughthese are heavieronthe chestit isnot_{as lightly} streaked on the lower breast

and

_bellyas

H.

nivaria. Besides the type there are

two immature

malesinthe

plumage

of the female,

and

oneadult female,^allcollected atthe

same

_locality

and on

the

same

_day.

Pheucticus

uropygialis meridensis subsp. nov.

Type from Pedregora,Venezuela, 2,500 meters. No. _190,410, U.S.

Na

tional

Museum,

c? ad. April29, 1903.

Subspecific characters. SimilartoPheucticusuropygialisSclaterandSalvin, but

rump ^more

extensively yellow, the interscapular region mottledwith yellow, the breastdeeperyellow,

and

the flankswithoutblack_spotting.

Description. Head, chin, throat,

and

_jugulum black; feathers of the interscapular region gray^atthebase,thena small whitespot followed

by

a small

lemon

yellow spot

on

one or both webs

and

_tippedwith black;

Riley Descriptions of Three

New

Birds

from

^Venezuela.

221

feathers of

rump

gray^{at the} base,followed

by

^{a small white} spot,then broadly

by lemon

yellow,

and

_{narrowly tipped} with black; upper ^tail- coverts blackwitha

lemon

_{yellow or}whitespot nearthetip

and

_grayat thebase; breast,

abdomen, and

^undertail-coverts deep

lemon

yellow, the feathersgray^{atthe base}with a whitespot nexttothe yellow^{; tail}black, the three outerfeathers ratherbroadly tipped with white,succeeded

by

^a tiny black dot ^at the_tip,the white

much

reduced

on

the third feather

and

notreaching ^{the outer}web,the fourth featherwith _{three tiny}white dots at the _tip; wings black, the lesser coverts deep

lemon

yellow, the greater coverts with _largewhite _{spots at} the tip forming a conspicuous wing patch, the eight outer primaries white at the _base, thewhite not reaching the outer

web

onthe outermost,forming^awing speculum^{; tertials}

and

secondarieswith awhite_spot onthe outer

web

near thetip; under wing-covertsdeep

lemon

_yellow; thighs black, tippedwith

lemon

_yellow;

upper mandible ⁽ⁱⁿ skin) black, lower bluish slate color; ^tarsi black.

Wing,

^104.5; tail,86; culmen,²²; tarsus, 23.5; middle_toe,18

mm.

Remarks.

Though

^{thisformisdescribed froma}singlespecimen^thedif ferences,taken inconnection with thefact that the Merida_region seems tobe_faunallydistinctfromthe country^totheeast

and

west of_it,are great

enough

^{towarrantitsseparationasa}geographical race^atleast.