RiDGWAY 071 the Genus Psittaciila.

J.6o

RiDGWAY

⁰⁷¹ the Genus Psittaciila. [October

The

under surfaceof the

body

in S. coryi is

much

lighter

thanin^6".fuligitiosa^beingwhitishonthethroatandthemiddle

of the

abdomen,

and brownish gray on the breastand sidesof thebody, whileinS.fuliginosa^nearlyalltheundersurfaceof the

body

isof auniform, dark cinereous, and thechinnever

shows

anyrufoussuffusion, asisthe casein ^6".coryi.

The

outer aspect of the

wing

in S. coryi is rather darker rufous

brown,

andtheunder wing-coverts and innermarginsof the quillsai^eauniform

cinnamon

rufous,being grayish with a slightadmixtureof rufousinS.fuliginosa.

The

billin S. coryiisslightlylongerandthebase of theunder mandibleis yellowto a

much

greater extent.

The wings

andthetailare

much

shorterthaninS. fuligifiosa.

SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE GENUS PSITTACULA BRISSON.

BY ROBERT RIDGWAY.

In acollection of birds from Bahiarecently received at the National

Museum

are eight specimens of Psittactilapasser- inavivida^ forthefirsttime described in

my

recentlypublished review of this genus.*

There

are five adult males and three adult females, and all exhibit the distinctive characters of the

new

race as

compared

with the true P. passeriita (Linn.), fromthe

more

northern provincesof Brazil.

Some

of themales show,

more

orlessstrongly, abluish tinge across thehind-neck, this inoneof

them

intensified just behindand above the auricu- larsintoaratherdistinctbluishspot.

The

fifthspecimenlacks the bluish tingeonthe hindneckandis

somewhat

lightercolored throughout,thusapproachingtrueP. passerina.

Since the above specimens were received. Dr. Sclater has kindly called

my

attention toan important paper on speciesof thisgenus by Dr. Hartlaubt

which

Ihad entirelyoverlooked in

*

A

ReviewoftheGenus PsittaculaBrisson. ProcU. S.Nat.Mus.Vol. X,_1887, PP- 529-548.

fOn

anewSpecies of Parrot of theGenus Psittacula. ByDr. G. Hartlaub, F.M, Z. S. Proc. Zool. Soc.London,1885,pp. 613-615,pi. 38,figs,i,2.

RiDGWAY0)1the GenusPsittaciila.

461

thepreparation of

my

'Review'

—

anoversight

much

tobere- grettedbutunavoidable, sinceatthattime nocopyot"tlievolun.e containing thepaperinquestion

was

accessibleto me.

The two

species particularly treated by Dr. Hartlaubare his

new

P. spenffeli (misspelled spengleri on the plate), fiom Baranquilla, Columbia, and P. cyanochlora (Natt.,

MS.),

from the

Rio

Branco (a northern tributaryof the

Lower Amazon).

The

formerisprobably the

same

as

my

P. exqiiisita^from Car- tagena,and thelatter

may

bethe

same

as

my

P.deliciosa^from

Santarem and

Diamantina, although there are points in Dr.

Hartlaub's descriptions

which

render thematteruncertainuntil type-specimens can beactuallycompared.

For

example,regard- ing P. spengell hesays that the bill is''•much laiger,"than in

P.cyanopyga^ whereas inthe type ofP. exquisita it israther smallerthan inthat species;the inner

webs

of theprimaries are said to be black in P. spengell^whereas in P. exquisita they aredullgreen,butlittle darker than theouter

webs

; the

upper

tail-covertsare saidtobeturquoise-blue,whereasinP. exquisita they areallpurelightyellowish green, likethetail.*

The

hab-

itatsof the

two

birds are so close togetlier,

however

(bothbeing

in the delta of the

Mugdalena

River) that there isvery little likelihoodof the

two

birdsprovingdistinct,notwithstandingthese apparent differences,

which may

be found to disappear

when

specimensarecompared.

The

bird described by Dr. Hartlaub as P. cyanochlora {ex Natterer,

MS.),

seems to be very closely allied to

my

P.

dciiciosa^Aud possibly the

same

;but several discrepancies indicate itsprobal)le distinctness,atleastas asubspecies.

These

discrep- ancies areasfollows:

Sides ofhead

Uppertail-coveit>

Size

InP. cyanochlora, dilute 3'ellowish green, like underparts.

fine emerald green, like rump.

"altogetheralargerbird, with a much smaller beak"(as comparedAvith P.spengeW).

vivid Pari forehead.

clearyellowish green,like tail.

slightlysmaller,with the billhardlysmallerthough somewhat narrower (as comparedwith type ofP.

exquisita).

* In the ratherpoorfigure(pi.38,fig.i),however,they arecolored green, while the lowertail-covertsarecoloredpure yellow instrong contrast

!

In^/•*.(feliciosa, een, like

^62 ^RiDGWAY

^{o» the Genus}Psittacida. [October

A

specimen mentioned by Dr. Hartlaub under P. cyanochlora as asupposed

young

maleof P. passerina^ from Caracas, isan adultmale ofP.guianensis Swains. Thisspecies agreeswith P. cyanochlorainnearlyeverything exceptthe coloration of the underwing-coverts,

which

islike that ofP. spcngeli inthere- stricted area of dark blue feathers, P. cyanocJilora (like P.

deliciosa^ if distinct),having not onlythe entire under wing- coverts(except

narrow

outermargin)but also the

whole

of the axillarsuniformlyof this richdarkbluecolor. Inotherwords, the ^diwXi\r\?i\.&o^P.

guianen

sis

combines

the bicoloredwing- liningof P. spcngeli withthe emerald-green

rump

of P. cyati- ochlora.

Granting^{that the} nearnessof the

two

localitiesrepresentedre- spectively by/*,spengeli and P. exquisita(Baranquillaand Car- tagena)precludethe probability oftheirbeingseparableasraces even,butgiving due weighttothecomparatively

wide

separation of P. cyattochloraand P.deliciosa (thebroad

Amazon

river,and

more

than four

hundred

milesofterritoryintervening) together with apparentdifferences ofsizeandcolorationnotedabove,

we would

haveforthe region

between

the

Lower Amazon

and the

Magdalena

delta four definable forms, forming a gradedseries as follows:

Rump

turquoise-blue;under wing-covertsbicolored(greenish turquoise-

blue with dark,blue spot) i. V.spengeli

(Magdalenadelta).

Rump

emerald-green.

Under wing-coverts bicolored (as in P. spengeli); sides of head

yellowishgreen ^2. .P. guianensis

(Venezuelaand Guiana).

Underwing-coverts unicolored(whollyrichdarkblue).

Sides ofheadyellowishgreenasinP. guianensis.3.P.cyanochlora (Rio Branco).

Sides ofheadvivid Paris-green 4. P.deliciosa

(LowerAmazon).