Part 13 (1/2)
Sir Walter Buller (Suppl. B.N.Z. II, p. 125) has confounded _M. traversi_ and _dannefaerdi_, and the figure he gave on his plate looks so black, that I do not doubt it represents rather the latter than the former. Of course _M. dannefaerdi_ alone occurs on the Snares, and Buller's _traversi_ from the Snares were all dannefaerdi. Dr. Finsch's statement (Ibis 1888, p. 308) that Reischek's specimen from the Snares ”agreed in every respect with specimens from the Chatham Islands” is entirely wrong, for, even if {16} one prefers unscientifically to lump allied forms, one cannot say that a _Miro_ from the Chathams agrees in every respect with one from the Snares.
Buller's doubts about the distinctness of the latter might easily have been removed, if he had taken the trouble to compare them, for it does not require any genius to see the differences. I admit that with my present views on geographical forms I would regard the two _Miro_ as sub-species, and call them _M. traversi traversi_ and _M. traversi dannefaerdi_, but most ornithologists would still consider them to be ”good species.”
I may add that Buller, l.c., p. 125, has not quoted my description correctly, for in his rendering are several disturbing misprints, and in the fourth line from the bottom occurs a ”not” which ought not to be there, and which makes the sentence incomprehensible. Also the name itself is spelt incorrectly.
I have a series from Mangare and Little Mangare, taken by Henry Palmer in 1890. The egg seems to be unknown.
Habitat: Chatham Islands.
{17}
t.u.r.dUS TERRESTRIS KITTL.
_t.u.r.dus terrestris_ Kittlitz, Mem. Acad. Sc. Petersburg I p. 245, pl.
17 (1830--Boninsima).
_Geocichla terrestris_ Bonaparte, Consp. Av. I, p. 268 (1850); Seebohm, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. V, p. 183 (1881); Hartert, Kat. Vogels. Senckenb, p.
6 (1891); Sharpe, Monograph t.u.r.didae, I p. 107, pl. 33 (1902).
_Cichlopa.s.ser terrestris_ Bonaparte, C.R. x.x.xVIII, p. 6 (1854).
The following is Dr. Sharpe's description from a specimen in the Leyden Museum: ”General colour of the upper parts olive-brown, shading into chestnut-brown on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail; the inside web of each feather much darker, approaching black on the back; lores dark brown; eye-stripe very obscure; lesser wing-coverts brown, darkest on the inside web; median coverts dark brown, with large olive-brown tips; greater coverts nearly black, broadly tipped, and narrowly margined towards the base with olive-brown; primary coverts black, with a broad olive-brown patch on the outer webs; tertials dark brown on the inner web, and olive-brown on the outer web; secondaries brown, margined with olive-brown on the outer webs; primaries brown, with the basal half of the outer webs, and a spot where the emargination begins, olive-brown; tail-feathers chestnut-brown; ear-coverts brown; underparts olive-brown, shading into white on the chin, throat, and centre of belly; under tail-coverts dark brown, with irregular diamond-shaped white tips; axillaries brown; under wing-coverts brown. Geocichline markings on inner webs of quills dirty white. Wing 3.8 inches, tail 2.6, culmen 0.85, tarsus 1.07, b.a.s.t.a.r.d primary 0.8.”
The only person who ever collected this short-tailed Ground-Thrush was Kittlitz, who obtained four specimens, one of which is in St. Petersburg, one in Frankfurt, one in Vienna, and one in Leyden. Neither Holst, nor Alan Owston's j.a.panese collectors obtained specimens, though their special attention was called to it. Therefore, unless these recent collectors left unvisited the most important island of the group, we must suppose that it became extinct.
Habitat: Bonin Islands, south-east of j.a.pan.
{19}
PHAEORNIS OAHENSIS WILSON & EVANS.
_Phaeornis oahensis_ Wilson & Evans, Aves Hawaiienses, Introd. p. XIII (1899--Based on _t.u.r.dus sandwichensis_ var. Bloxam, Voy. ”Blonde” App.
p. 250 (1826--Oahu) and _t.u.r.dus woahensis_ Bloxam M.S.)
Nothing is known about this evidently extinct bird, which formerly existed on the island of Oahu, except Bloxam's short description, which is as follows:--”Length 7-1/2 inches; upper parts olive-brown, extremities of the feathers much lighter colour; tail and wings brown; bill bristled at the base.”
The corresponding description of _Phaeornis obscura_ in Bloxam's M.S. notes is:--”Length 8 inches; belly light ash; back, tail and wings an ash-brown; bill slender, 3/4-in. long, bristled at the base. A beautiful songster.”
It is thus evident that Bloxam considered both forms to be distinct, and Messrs. Wilson and Evans were perfectly justified in naming the extinct Oahu form.
We are not aware of any specimens being preserved in any Museum, though Bloxam obtained a skin. Messrs. Wilson and Evans (l.c.) write:--”All the specimens obtained by Mr. Andrew Bloxam, properly prepared and labelled, were placed at the disposal of the Lords of the Admiralty, as shewn by a copy of the letter he wrote to their Secretary, and probably all were sent, as some certainly were, to the British Museum; but no other trace of this unique specimen of a vanished species, which may be properly called _Phaeornis oahensis_, is now forthcoming.”
{21}
BOWDLERIA RUFESCENS (BULLER).