Sporophila frontalis (Verreaux)

Callirhynchus frontalis Verreaux, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., 5, Bull., p. 15, pl. 1, fig. 1, 1869 (Cayenne, error= Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Specimens examined. — BRAZIL: ♂, 3 ♀, locality unspecified. “ CAYENNE ": ♂, o.

Measurements.— ♂ ♂ wing 68 mm., tail 49-51 mm., culmen 10- 10.5 mm.; ♀ ♀ Wing 64.5 -68 mm., tail 44-47 mm., culmen 10- 10.5 mm.; o Wing 67, tail 48.5, culmen 10.5 mm.

Description of female. — The largest species of Sporophila. Distinguishable by its shallow maxilla, olive back and double Wing bar, either white or buff.

Range.— Extreme northeastern Argentina (Misiones), southeastern Paraguay and southeastern Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul.

* Worn plumage.

Remarks.— One male ("Cayenne "), fully adult, has the forehead, a spot on the middle of the crown, streak above and behind the eye, mustachial streak and throat white. The median wing coverts are white-tipped, the greater ones tipped buffy white. Another male, less mature, lacks the white forehead, crown spot and eyebrow, and the wing coverts are tipped pale buff. In the more adult specimen there is a grayish band across the chest, but in the younger example this is not present. One bird, marked ♀, has the margins of some of the inner primaries edged white forming a speculum. Our specimens are old and faded, the olive and yellow tints, shown in fresh specimens (Zoological Garden) in the American Museum, being replaced on the under surface with gray and white.