M;
IH
CONURUS HOFFMANN!
CONURUS IIOFFMANNI.
aiOPFMMÌiPS CONUBE).
Comirus h o fm a n n i . . Cab. Sitz. Ges. N a t. Freu ac le z. Be rlin , 13 N ot. IS C l e t J , f.
O ra. 18G2, p. 335.
” « . . . F in sch , Pap ag eicn , I . p. 553.
» !' . . . Lawrence, Ann. Lye. N . T . ix. p. 131.
V iridis ; maculâ au rieu la ri r a b râ ; c ap itis e t g u ttu r is plumis au reo limbatis : se cu ndariorum plumia ad basLu
a u re is ; c audâ su b tu s ru b ric a n te ; ro s tro paUidiasimè co rn eo ; pedibus obscurè carueis ; irid e flav a ; long, to tâ 0 0 ,
alæ 5 2, caudæ 4'5.
Ha b . in Costà Eie â.
The tract o f land bounded on tbe north by the depression occupied by the Lakes o f
Nicaragua and Managua and on tlie south by the Isthmus o f Panama contains a very well-
marked sub-division o f the Central-American Fauna. This state o f things, as has been pointed
out by Salvin in bis recently published article on the birds o f Veragua,* evidently originated
in a previous geological epoch, in which this portion o f the Isthmus was isolated from both
Continents by channels connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. No better illusti-ation o f
this well-established fact o f Zoological geogi-aphy can he given than is afforded by the numerous
striking forms lately brought to light by the various collectors who have recently investigated
the Ornithology o f Costa Eica. Amongst the foremost and most energetic o f these were
Messrs. von Frantzius, Hoffman, and Ellendoi-f,—Prussian scientific travellers, for some time
resident at San José and its neighbourhood. To the exertions o f these gentlemen tlie Royal
Museum o f Berlin owes the valuable series o f Costa-Rican bmds, which contained the original
example o f the present species.
Hoffman’s Conure, which has been deservedly dedicated to the memory o f one o f the
Naturalists by whom it was discovered, is so well marked a species as hardly to need comparison
witli any other o f the gi-oup known to us. It belongs to a very well-defined section o f the
genus (PyrrhuraJ in wliich the under-surface o f the tail feathers is more or less o f a purple-red,
aud is the only member o f this section found north o f the Isthmus o f Panama.
The specimens o f this Pan-ot upon which Dr. Cabanis founded the species were obtained
» P.Z.S. 18C7, p. 120.
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