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L IPAUG US RU F E SC EN S .
LIPAUGUS RUFESCENS.
(SPECKLED MOLENEK).
Lipa ug us rufescens . Sc la ter, P.Z.S . 1857, p. 276.
. Sclater, P.Z.S , 1861, p. 211.
. S c le tS a lv . I b i8 ,1 8 5 9 ,p . 124.
Scl, e t Salv, P.Z.S. 1864. p . 361.
’’ . . . Lawreuce, Aim. Lye. N .T . vii. p . 330.
L . r e f . » . n t i - b ™ . . « b t u , c . » o r , mo p y g io e t coepore . « b t „ 1 « ”
s m m s s s m s s s s L
e t fasciis te ctricum a larum te rm m alib u s carens. , -.r , /
S a l . in le tbm o P m m e n s i : Ol.epo, ppoe. P m .m e n ., (ArcS) , V o r .g n . {Arae).
The speeimeii o f this bird in the Derby Musenm. originally described b y Mr Sclater. was
said to have been obtained at Coban in Gnatemala, but, as has been already stated m onr notes
on Mr. Mcaeannan's Panama eolleotions,* w e have now grave doubts as to the eorreetness o f the
locality assigned to it. Certain it is, that among the thousands o f Guatemalan skins ^ ^ v e
come under onr observation, we have never seen an example o f tins species, nor could Mr.
Salvin obtain any Information as to its existence in Vera Paz. Veragna is fo e most noi them
locality we can record with certainty for this species, examples o f it in the collection o f Messrs
Salvin and Godman, from one ot which the figure o f the male is taken, having been obtained
near Santiago de Veraguas in that provinee b y Enrique Arc6 m 1865. Furthei south,
Mr. MoCleaimaii has colleoted specimens in the vicinity o f Lion-bill Station on the Panama
Eailway and Aroi met with the same bird dui'ing his cxem-siou to Chepo, about 40 miles south
o f the town o t Panama, bi 1804. The figure o f the female is &om a specimen obtained on this
occasion, which is now in Mv. Sclater’s collection.
It is to Arc6 that we are mainly indebted for our knowledge o f the diversity o f the sexes
in this bird and its southern allies, which appears to have hitherto escaped observation.
According to this indefatigable collector’s marked specimens, it'is only tlic male o f this species
which possesses the in-egularly placed round black spots on the lower surface, and the n a iTOW
black purplish-sliining edgings o f the upper wing-coverts. The lateral pectoral tuft is likewise
less developed in the female. On carefoily examining the southern congeners o f this bird we
find indications o f the existence o f con-esponding differences. In L . hjpopyrrhus o f Brazil
the belly o f the male shows a number o f rufous feathers interspersed among the gray plumage,
each o f wliich hears a round terminal black spot. In what we consider to h e tlie female o f tliis
species, tlie coloured feathers with their terminal spots are entirely absent. In L . lateralis,
whicli Mr. G. R. Gray, as it appears to us, has incon-ectly re-united to L . hjpopyrrhus., we
believe that somewhat siniRar differences will he found to occur, altliough the specimens before
us do not suffice to show them very evidently.
Leavmg to future observers the authentication o f these observations, we subjoin to our
account o f this bird, a list o f the ten species o f the genus knoivn to us, amended from Mr. Sclater’s
previously published list in the Zoological Society’s “ Proceedings” for 18C1, (p. 210, et seq.)
* P.Z.S . 1864, p. 361,