A new turnagra from Stephens' Island, New Zealand

Vol. XXVIII, pp. 121-124

May

^{27, 1915}

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW TURNAGRA FROM STEPHENS' _ISLAND, NEW

ZEALAND.

BY

J.

H. FLEMING.

The _Turnagra from _Stephens'

_Island,

New Zealand, appears

to differsubspecifically

from

the

South Island Thrush and may- be known

as

Turnagra

capensis

minor

subsp. nov.

Like Turnagra capensis capensis, but _smaller; back brownish olive, not

raw umber

as in capensis; concealed basesofthe feathersofthe back lighter.

Sparrnian's

name

_capensishas been _revived,

and

I think _rightly,

by

IMathews

and

_Iredale,*

who

fix the type locality at

Dusky

Sound,!

SouthIsland.

The

_type ^of Tanagracapensis figured

by Sparrman*

^isa

young

bird similar tothe last three birdsin

my

^{table of}measurements.

Gmehn's

Turduscrassirostris_^ is based

on

a male

and

female

"Thick-

billed

Thrush"

^described _by

Latham

;|| one of the _types, the male,^is

still at

Vienna

;]r

and

Dr. Sharpe's statement that the type ^{is in the} British

Museum

^**is erroneous.

He

_probably

had

in

mind

Forster's drawing, plate 145, in the

museum

library,

which

is

marked

^"

Dusky

Bay,

Queen

Charlotte's Sound, April 4, 1773."ft

Sparrman was

^Fors-

ter's assistant on Cook's Second Voyage,

and Latham

described birds theninthe Leverian

Museum

from Cook's Voyage,^{itistherefore}proba- blethatthe types are^ofthe

same

_originifnot the

same

birds.

The

_typeof Tanagra macularia^of

Quoy and Gaimardtt

was_{taken, the} authorsstate, §§

on

theSouthIslandinthe thick

woods

of the heights^of

*Ibis,1913, p. 445.

tIbis. 1913, p. 202.

iMus.Carlson.,1787, pi.XLV.

$Sygt.Nat.I.p.815, 1789.

IIGen. Synop.II, pt.I,p.U.pi.XXXVII,^1783.

ITIbis, 1873, p. 26.

** Hist, oftheCollections inthe BritishMuseum,Birds,p. 492, 190o.

ftHist,oftheCollections intheBritishMuseum,Birds,p. 194, 1906.

ttVoy. deI'Astrol.,Zool. I,1830, p. 186, pi.7,fig. 1.

5$Voy. deI'Astrol.,Zool.I,1830, p. 187.

22—Pkoc.Biol. Soc. Wash.,Vol.XXVIII,1915. (121)

122

Proceedings of the Biological Society of

Washington.

theFrench Pass.

They

^donotappear^tohave landed

on

D'Urville Island,

and

the nearest anchorage ^{of the}

"Astrolabe"

in

Tasman's Bay was

CroisellesHarbor. D'Urville Island thus separates the type locality of macularia

from

minor.

Stephens' Island ^{is in} Cook's Strait

and

is thus described by^Buller:

"

Lying two^{miles to the} north-eastward of the northern extremity^of D'Urville Island,

and

rising abruptlyfrom the seatoa height^ofathou- sand feet,^is Stephens' Island, only about a square mile in extent,

and more

or less

wooded

on^itssides."* Stephens' Island ^is

known

toorni- thologists asthe placewhereTravcrsia_lyalliwas found

and

exterminated.

Bullergives the following measurementsin inchesofeggsⁱⁿ the Nelson

Museum:

SouthIsland, ^1.3x1.05 1

and

1.6x.95; Stephens' Island, ^1.25 x.75.t

Notes on the plumage

of Turnagracapensiscapensis.

Ihave

examined

forthe purposes^{of this} paper, twenty-three skins ^of Turnagra, ^seveninthe British

Museum,

^{five inthe} Carnegie

Museum,

^§ threein theU. S. National

Museum, and

eightⁱⁿ

my ^own

collection; of these only elevenhavelocalitiesonthe labels,

and

the sex

marks

are, of course, unreliable,but

enough

^{material has been}

compared

^to separate the_ages,

which

doesnot appear^tohave been

done

clearly before.

Adults.—

_Large birds, distinguished

by

sooty black upper

and

lower mandibles (in dried _skins), tarsus not quite ^so dark, back

raw umber becoming

^brighter

on

the rump.

The

breast feathers are dark citrine, with_largewhitecentres,producing a regularly streaked^efiect; themid- dle

and

greater coverts onlyslightlyedged with^chestnut,whichisabsent in

more worn

plumage.

Immature.— Upper

^mandiblelighterthan inthe _adult,lower mandible Brussels brown, ^{the tarsus}

raw umber

in dried skins; back_{sepia, in} adults

and immature

^{birds a} gray^cast appears ⁱⁿ

worn plumage

^{on the}

head and

hind neck but does not reach the back; breast feathers pale olivebuflfinthecentres,chestnut edgings^of the greater

and

lessercoverts greatly increased. Thisisthe

plumage

figuredby^Buller,||

who

gives the irides asyellow.

Foim^.—

^Smallerbirds, distinguished

by

^beak

and

tarsusbeingwholly Brussels

brown

indried_skins, breast_lighter

owing

^tothe grayer edgings tothe feathers,

many

^{of the throat and neck} feathers tipped oredged withchestnut, exposed parts^of the greater

and

lesser coverts chestnut, producing^{asolidchestnut}patch on^{the wing.}

A

skinfrom theJardine Collection^is

marked

"Irides gray."

•Ibis,1895, p. 236.

tBirdsof

New

Zealand, 2ded., 1888, p. 32.

JBirdsof

New

Zealand, Suppl.1905, p. 136.

$Ihave compared^thesewith

my

^series through the kindness ofMr.W.E. Clyde Todd.

11Birdsof

New

Zealand, 2ded.,1888, pi.V.

Fleming — _A

_Neiv

Tnrnagra from New

Zealand.

123 Table

of

Measurkmknts

(in millimeters).

Collection.

Carnegie Mus. 24,753 Fleming^{Coll. *3915} Brit.Mas.1903. 12. 10.2 Carnegie Mus. 24,754

Si

Xc«

c?ad.

c?ad.

9^ad.

9ad.

Turnagracapensia minor.

Stephens' Island, N.Z. 1894 Stephens' Island," N.

Z

1895