Allen's descriptions of new South American birds

(1)

3§4

^Recent Literature. [October supposed species tothe rank ofgeographical racesor subspecies

may

he furthercarriedis not vet

known,

but the material

examined

by Mr.Al- lenforeshadowsstillfurther reduction. For example, "the

Cayenne

form

known

as C. guianensis," saysMr. Allen, "probably will be found to grade into C. viridis through a paler race representing the species in northeastern Brazil, ^. ^. ^. forwhich Baird's

name

ccarensis {—albiventris) would be available. In short, it seems probable that thewhole group centring about _C.Jiavipectus, including not only its several recognized subspecies but C.guianensisand C. viridis, andpossibly also C.flaviven- tristhrough itssouthern forms,*will be found,

when

ample material for the study ofthe genushasbeen gathered, to imperceptibly blend."

The

articleis supplementedby Mr. Allen's"present impressionsof the status, relationships,and distribution ofthe various forms ofCyclorkis"

concludingwith an excellentkeytothe species.

—

R. R.

Allen's Descriptions of

New

^South

American

Birds.

—

Eight

new

speciesandsubspecies,belongingtovariousfamilies,aredescribedin this paper,fas follows: (i) Thryothorus macrurus, Bogota; {-)7\ ^longipes,

Ambato.

Ecuador; ₍₃₎ Platyrhynchus bifasciatus,Chapada, MattoGrosso, Brazil; (4) P.insularis,

Tobago

; (5) Euscarthmusochropterns,Chapada, Matto Grosso; (6) Sublegatns virescens,

Chapada;

₍₇₎

Empidonax

lazv- rencei(

=

Oct//<vcaflaviventrisLawr.);(S) Thamiiopthilusdoliatusmcxica- nus

(=7-

affinis, Cab.

&

Heine, pre-occupied).

The

"remarks"

on

other species refer tothe following: (1) Thryotkorus ^"mysticalis" ofthe

Rusby

Collection,which proves to be "probablya large, very strongly colored exampleof T.genibarbis, or elsean undescribed form"

somewhat

intermediate betweenthe latterand T. mysticalis; (2) Porphyrosfiza c&rules- cens (Max.), this being the correct

name

for the birdusually called P.

cyanella (Sparrm.); ₍₃₎ Mccocercnliis uropygialis Lawr., a specimen of which, "saidtohave been collected at a point thirtymiles north of Bo- gota" isin the collection of the

American Museum

of Natural History,

"thusgreatlyextending the rangeof the speciesto thenorthward"; ₍₄₎ EuscarthmuspelzclniScl.,asecondspecimenofwhich isin thecollection, from Cuyaba, Matto Grosso; (5)

Habrura

superciliaris(Wied), beingthe speciesusuallycalled

H.

pectoralis (Cab.

&

^Heine); (6)

Habrura minima

(Gould), very generally

synonymized

with

H.

pectoralis, but restored to specificrank_J; (7) Phyllomyias incanescens (Wied),

which

is

now

first referred to itspropergenus, beingthe Muscipe/a incanescens of Wied.ot

which Pkyllomyias berlepscki Scl. isa

synonym;

(S) Ornithion cineras- ccns(Wied), beingthe birdusuallycalled O. obsoletum{Muscicapaobsolcta

* Unfortunatelyweare not informedwhat these"southernforms"of C.fiaviventris are!

fDescriptions of

New

SpeciesofSouthAmerican Birds,witli Remarks on various otherlittleknownspecies. Bull.Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.Vol.II,No._3,June, 1889,pp.

I37-I5I-

Jlna

"Note on theTypeofthe Genus Habrura Cab.

&

Heine," on p.147, this speciesisshowntobe the type, instead ofH.pectoralis, asgivenbySclater.

(2)

i8go.] Recent Literature.

3§S Temm.);

(9) Formicivora griseigula Lawr., which proves to be

"an immature

Thryothorus coraya (Gin.)"; (10) Peristera mondetouraBon., from Bogota.

—

^R.R.

Allen on Individualand SeasonalVariation in the

Genus

Elainea.*

—

While thefamilyTyrannidae has been generallyrecognized as perhaps the most difficult to study ofall the large distinctively

American

bird groups, thegenus Elaineaisadmitted to he its most perplexing genus.

Inworking upthevery extensive'SmithCollection'ofbirdsfrom Chapada, MattoGrosso, Brazil,Mr. Allen found himself confrontedbythe notvery pleasant orpromising task of

naming

aseriesof 129specimens

"from

an area ofabout five miles radius," representing several species,but

how many

only the most patient investigation could determine.

The

chief difficulty laywith specimens belongingto thepagatia-albiceps group, ot

which, fortunately, no less than 116 specimens were present; but this richness of material forawhileprovedrather an embarrassment than an aid. a large proportion of thespecimens being "referableto the true E.

pagana

of authors, anda still larger

number

towhat is

commonly

recog- nizedasE.albiceps, whilethegreatbulk of the series"was

"made

up of specimens variously intermediate between these two forms." Mr. Allen found itdesirable, "inorder to satisfactorilydetermine the relationships ofthe puzzlingbirds represented in the

Chapada

series," to bring together as

much

^materialaspossible; consequently,the Elaineas of the National

Museum

collection

(numbering

about 200specimens), the Boston Society of Natural History, and the

Museum

of Comparative Zoology in

Cam-

bridge,were borrowedfor the purpose. Afterpatient study ofthismate- rialMr. Allen was enabled toreach definite conclusions,

some

of which were probably noless surprisingtohimselfthan toothers

who

have read hisexcellent paper.

"The Chapada

series ofElaineareferable to the E.

pagana-albiceps group," says Mr. Allen "presentsa wide range of variation,notonly in sizeand coloration,but especiallyin the size and form ofthebill.

Were

therefewerspecimens, representingthe

same

range of variation,but with

most

of the 'intermediates'leftout,itwould be quite ei>v to divide the series into several apparently well-marked species, and nothard to find

names

for

them among

the so-called speciesalready described. Especiallywouldthis be thecase werethespecimensgathered froma wider geographicalarea,with the leadingforms

more

orlesslocal- ized.

As

^{the case} ^stands,^however, ^the ^specimens âreâll ^fromâ ^single

very limited locality,and thegaps between the extreme formsare

com-

pletelyfilled by specimens presenting every intermediate phaseof variation. Besides, the variationsinanyotherfeature,

—

as inthe formof the bill, in general size, the relative length of the outer primaries, or the relative length of

wing

totail,

—

^are^found^not ^tobe correlated with varia-

*RemarksonIndividualandSeasonal Variationin a large series ofElainea from Chapada, MattoGrosso, Brazil,witha Revisionof the speciesofthe restrictedGenus Elainea. Bull.

Am.

Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. II, No. _3,Article XVIII,Oct. 1889, pp.

183-208.