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FiiJ P Y R G IS O M A C A B A N I S I .
_ K IEN E R I.
P l a t e LXV. (Pig. 1.)
PYRGISOMA CABANISI.
(CABANIS’ GEOUND-FINCH).
Melozone lia reu a ta
Pyrgisoma k ieneri .
Pyrgisoma hiarcuatum efc P . kieneri
Pyrgisoma cabanisi
Cab. J . f. 0 , 1860, p. 412,
Cassin, Proc. Acad . P b il. 1865, p.
An n . L . N . T . viii. p. 481.
Lawr. An n . L . N , T . is , p . 103.
Sel. e t Salv. P . Z. S. 1868, p . 324.
Supra fuscum, p ileo e t p lumis auricu la rib u a c astaneis : fro n te n ig râ , lo ris e t reg io n e o cu lari a lb is : su b tu s c iu ereum ,
med ialite r album, s trig a u trin q u e rictali e t plag à pecto rali media n ig ris ; su b a larib u s albis ; ro s tro nig ro , p edibus
corylinis : long, to ta 5 '5 , alæ 2-8, caudæ 2 3, ro s tri a r ie tu O'O, ta rs i I'O.
H a b . in Costa E lc â (Ho ffma n n ).
Altliougk several eminent Naturalists Rave met witli specimens o f this Ground-Finch they
have in every case identified it wrongly. These en-ors have been mainly caused by the confusion
which has hitherto prevailed concerning the bird characterized in Bonaparte’s “ Conspectus ’
under the name Pyrgisoma kieneri. This vexata quæstio we have already attempted to solve
in a lately published article in the “ Proceedings o f the Zoological Society o f London,” and
we hope to set all doubts upon the subject completely at rest on the present occasion.
Dr. Cabanis, the first describer o f this species, called It Melozone Uarcuata, believing it to be
the same as the common Guatemalan Pyrgisoma hiarcuatum to which we liave already alluded.
From this bird, however, it is easily distinguishable by its wholly red car-coverts and distinct
pectoral spot. Our American friends Messrs. Cassin and Lawrence liave both wrongly refei-red
this Pyrgisoma to the succeeding species P . kieneri, from which we shall point out its distinctions
below. Under these circumstances we have proposed for it the new name cabanisi, aftei- the
well-known Editor o f the “ Journal für Ornithologie.”
As far as we know tlie range o f this Ground-Finch is restricted to the highlands o f Costa
Eica, whence the original specimens were sent to the Berlin Museum b y Drs. Hoffmann and
Ellendorf. These were collected in the -vdcinity o f San José, where the bird is stated to be
not uncommon. Other examples have since been obtained in the same neighbourhood hy tlie
Messrs. Carmiol, as recorded by Mr. Lawi-ence in his recently published catalogue o f the bird.?
found in Costa Rica. There is likewise a single stuffed specimen o f this species in the gallery
o f the Paris Museum, but no locality is attached to it.
Our figure o f this bird is taken from one o f Dr. Hoffmann’s skins, now In Sclater’s collection,
wliich was received in exchange from the Berlin Museum.
D ecembee, 1868,