Bulletin - United States National Museum - si-pddr - Smithsonian ...

312 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
identical, so that without advantage of comparative material my
notes are given herewith under the typical subspecies. Doctor
Chapman's decision ®° that ockendeni of Hartert from Peru should
rank as a subspecies of keterogyna^ which he considers specifically
distinct from aterrimus, in my opinion, after examination of five
specimens (including a male from Carabaya, the type locality) is
erroneous. Though ockendeni, in addition to smaller size, and
darker coloration in the female, has a somewhat heavier bill, it
appears that it is a form of aterrimus.
The male of the present species is distinguished from K. cyanirostris
by the broad white band across the underside of the wing,
while the female is plain brown, unstreaked. An adult male of
aterrimus in the United States National Museum, collected at
Chilecito, La Kioja, Argentina, an abnormal specimen, has scattered
white feathers on the sides and abdomen.
This form was encountered first at General Roca, Rio Negro,,
where the birds were fairly common from November 25 to December
2, 1920. An adult male was shot here on November 29, and females
on November 25 and 29. Part of the birds observed frequented
willow thickets along the Rio Negro, where they were probably
on their breeding grounds, while others were found in the open,
brush through the arid, gravelly hills to the north of Roca. The
number of these last varied from day to day, and it was my opinion
that the individuals in these areas were still in migration. The
birds rested on low perches, flirting the tail constantly, at intervals
darting out after small insects, or dropping down to run along for
a few feet on the ground. The flash of white from the wings of the
somberly clad males, as they took flight, was almost startling, while
the reddish brown color in the tail and rump of females in the glar-
ing desert sun appeared almost red. Their only note was a faint.
tseet.
Later, at Tapia, Tucuman, the species was recorded from April T
to 12, 1921, and two specimens were secured, a male April 12 and
a female April 11. Here the birds were encountered along deep
barrancas in the ojDen forests, apparently in fall migration. The
male taken at Tapia is in full plumage, while the female is just
completing a fall moult. The two appear identical with specimens
from Rio Negro.
In an adult male, taken November 29, the tip of the bill was black;,
base glaucous gray; iris Rood's brown; tarsus and toes black. A
female shot on the same date had the tip of the bill blackish; base
all around glaucous gra}', much duller on the maxilla; iris Rood's
brown ; tarsus and toes black.
8» U. S. Nat. Mus., Bull. 117, 1921, p. 89.