On a new subspecies of <I>Ammodramus sandwichensis</I> from Mexico

20A. Bi7TLERo// a NezvAminodfamus. [J^'y

tory in

New

York.

My

friend. Prof. _J.

A.

Allen, theCurator of the zoological department of the

Museum,

havingplaced the

Hummingbirds

contained inthe collectionin

my

handsforiden- tification, Ihave great pleasure in giving his

name

to thisap- parently

new

bird.

The

only

known

species with

which

this one can be

compared

seemstobethe

Thanmatias

cceruleiceps^

Gould,P.Z. S. (i860), p. 240, from Bogota,

now

I suppose contained in the British

Museum

collection,butit diflersfrom that birdin

some

seemingly important particulars.

The

green- ishblue of thehead isnot shining,but ratherdull,and doesnot extend onto the back of the neck.

The

tailofshiningbronze instead ofhaving

"a

faintindication ofazone of

brown

across theouter feathersnear thetip," has alltherectricestippedwith palegray,very conspicuousontheoutermostfeathers,gradually diminishinginextenttothe centralpair,

which

have but an in- dicationofgrayatthetip.

The

undertail-covertsinsteadof be- inggray with

brown

centres, are pale

brown

with whiteedges.

In size the

two

species

seem

to be about equal, except that thetailoi cceruleicepsisstatedtobe but half

an

inchinlength, while that of

A.

alleni is i7-16 inch. Itis possible that there

may

beatypographicalerrorinthefiguresgivenof thelength of tail in Mr. Gould'sspecies. ProfessorAllenwill lateron pub- lish alistof the speciescontainedinDr.Rusby'scollection.

ON A NEW SUBSPECIES OF AMMO D RAMUS ^SAND- WICHENSIS FROM MEXICO.

BY AMOS W. BUTLER.

Certain

peculiaritiesin

some Savanna Sparrows

takenby

me

inthewinter of 1S79-80,within theValleyof Mexico, induced

me

toundertakeacomparison withtheformsgenerallyrecognized as

Mexican

and withtheUnitedStatesform

which

mightpossibly extendtoward the

Mexican

plateau inwinter. In

my

^studiesI

have,throughthekindness of

Mr.

Robert

Ridgway

and

Mr.

_J.

A.

Allen, beenpermittedto

examine

theseriesof

Western

and

Mex-

iS88.] Butler on a Nc-v Aiinnodramus. 26c;

the

American Museum

ofNatural History. Icollected at least six

Sparrows

ofthisgenusinthedistrictmentioned,fiveof

which

I

now

havebeforeme, one of

them

being kindlyloaned by

Mr.

F. S.Wright,of

Auburn,

N.

Y.

The

specimensdiffer

much

from

A.

saudivichcrtsisalaudi7itis^

bothinproportionsandinbeingdarker. Inthisthey

somewhat

approach

A.

s.bryanti^buttheirlargebillsandbrighter coloring, together with the noticeable difference inthe pattern of colora- tion,renderiteasytodistinguishthem.

Ammodramus sandwichensis brunnescens,

subsp.nov.

Plateau Sparrow.

Subsp. Char.

—

Darkas inA.s.^/-j'aw//butmuchbrowner. Billlarger than in anyof the subspecific forms, being only exceeded bjthatofA.

sandiuichcushitself.

Male. Abovegrayishshaded withlightbrown;top ofhead and back heavily spotted with blackwhichisedgedwith brightbrown;secondaries, tertials, upper tail-coverts,and sometimestheprimariesand outer tail- feathers,edgedwithbrownvaryingfromcinnamon to chestnut; median stripe buff,superciliarystripecreamytopaleyellow;sidesofheadgrayish brownspottedwithblack,sometimesaverydistinctmalarstripeofwhite or palebuff,belowwhich the black spots arearrangedina stripe;chin andgular region white or light buft"almost free from spots; jugulum, breast,and along the sidesheavily streaked withdark brownand black andgenerally tingedwithsomeshadeofbuff.

Female. Slightly lighter than the male; the brown edgings of the black spotsontheback borderedwithgray; streaksonthe breastandsides smaller,the tingeof buffpaler.

Wing,2.60-2.S5;average,2.746. Tail, 1.95-2.10;average,2.03. Tarsus, .75-.So; average,.7S6. Culmen, .42-.44; average.424. Depth, ^.21-.22;

average,.212.

$

^(No.3, author's coll.) Valley ofMexico,Nov. 20, 1S79.

$

^{(No.29, " " ) Valley of}Mexico, Dec. 8, 1S79.

$ ^(No.58, " " ₎ Valley of Mexico, Dec. 22, 1879.

$ ^{(No.30, " " ) Valley of} Mexico, Dec. 8, 1S79.

$

^(No.792, F.S.Wright ^" )Valleyof Mexico, Dec. 18, 1S79.

Hab. —

^{InwintertheValleyofMexico.}

There

are

two

otherspecimensbesides thefivementionedthat appeartobereferableto thisform.

One

of these,afemalefrom the valley ofMexico, withoutdate,is

now

inthe

American Mu-

seum

ofNaturalHistory,

New

York. It fulfilsallof the require- ments except it has a peculiarly light

brown

tail, whilein the

266

Cory on a Nc-v Myiarchus. [J"'y

types thetailsare black.

Another

(No.78,124U.S.Nat.Mus., 9 ^ad., Guanajuato, Mexico,

A.

Dug6s), is very

much worn

and badlydiscolored.

The

speciesisfoundinconsiderable

num-

bers

among

thebushes andgrassesalongthedrainagecanalsand aboutthe lake shores.

A

^{fullseriesof the}

Savanna Sparrows

is greatlyneeded from

all parts of

Mexico

and Central

America,

andit seemsnot im- probablethatoneor

two

otherformswillhavetobecharacterized beforetliespecimenswillbeginto fit gracefully into the places

assignedtothem.

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW MTIARCHUS FROM THE WEST INDIES.

BY CHARLES

B. CORY.

Myiarchus

berlepschii, sp. nov.

Sp.Char. (Type, No. 12,535^Coll.C. B. Cory.) Topof thehead dark brown;back andrump^{distinctlydarkolive,}shading intorufous on the tipsof theuppertail-coverts. Throatpaleashy,somewhatdarkeronthe upperbreast; restof underparts pale yellow. Primariesandsecondaries darkbrownedged withdull rufous, the rufous color wanting on the ter- minal portion of the four outer primaries. The primaries show pale rufousonthe basal portion of the inner webs. All thesecondaries and tertialsarebroadlyedged withpalerufousontheinnerwebs. Tail dark brown; allthetail-feathers,excepting thetwo middleones,have nearly the entire innerwebsbright rufous, a narrow line ofbrown separating the rufousfromthe shaftof thefeather. Bill dark brown. The feetare black.

Length,7; wing,3.50; ^tail,3.25; tarsus, .95;bill,.65.

Habitat.

Island ofSt. Kitts,

West

Indies.

The

underparts ofthis species are similar in

marking

and general colorationto

M.

oberi,but the throatis

more

ashy and lighter, and the yellow of the belly is paler.

The

back and headoi

M.

berlepschii are darker,andthe birdissmaller.

DedicatedtoGrafHansvonBerlepsch ofGermany.