On the correct name for the red-winged blackbird of the northeastern United States

226

General Notes.

chalybeata^of

Hermann.

I

am

notable_{to satisfy}myself that F.megabalia

Hartmann,

Zeitschr. ges.

Erdkund

Berlin, 1868, III,no. _{13,p. 55,}applies toa cheetah.

The

animalissaid tolivein centralAfrica

and

toresemble the F.jubata^ofSchreber'splate.

From

an examination of the specimens ⁱⁿ the National

Museum

^it seems probable ^that

Acinonyx

soemmeringii (Fitzinger) ^will have to be recognized ^asadistinctform,butthe materialisatpresent too scanty^for conclusive results.

The two

currently recognized forms will stand as follows:

Acinonyx

jubatus (Schreber).

AFRICAN CHEETAH.

177(i. FelisjubataSchreber, DieSaugthiere,pi.cv.(Cape^of

Good

_Hope).

1855. Ci/nailurussoemmeringiiFitzixger, Sitz.-Ber. Math. nat. cl.d.K.

akad. Wiss., xvi, ^lift. 2, p.245. (Bajuda Steppe, Kordofan.) 1868. Fel'isjubata^var.africana

Hartmann,

Zeitschr. ges.

Erdkund

Ber-

lin, III,no. _{13, p.}56.

(New name

^forthe

combined

C. guttatus

and

C.soemmeringiiof Fitzinger.⁾

L869. Felis fearonis Fitzixger, ^Sitz.-Ber. Kais. Akad. _{Wiss., lix,} 1

abth.,p. 664. (Cape^of

Good

_Hope, 1. c, p. ^(567.)

1S77. Felis lanea Sclater, ^{Proc. Zool. Soc.}

London,

p. 532. (Beaufort West,

Cape

Colony.⁾

Acinonyx

^venaticus (Smith).

INDIAN

CHEETAH.

1827. Felisvenatica Smith, ^Griffith'sCuvier, V, p. 166. (India.) 1828. Acinonyx ^venator Brookes, ^Cat. Anat.

&

Zool. Mus. ^of Joshua

Brookes, p. ^16. (India.)

—

JV. Hollister.

ON THE CORRECT NAME FOR THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.

Examination

oftheseries ofbreedingRed-winged Blackbirds recently collected by ^{Messrs. E. J.}

Brown,

J. H. _Riley,

and

E. A. Mearns, in Charleston County, SouthCarolina, develops the^factthat theform resi-

denton thecoastalplain^ofSouthCarolina is identicalwith the Florida bird at present

known

asAgelaius phozniceus floridanus

Maynard,

^with whichitexactly agrees^{in size}

and

coloration; and resident SouthCaro- lina birds alsohave_{the longer}and

more

slenderbillofthe Florida form.

Linnaeus based his [Oriolus] phozniceus on _Catesby's Sturnus _niger,

alls

supeme

rubentis (Nat. ^Hist. Carolina, I, p. 13, pi. 13). Catesby's figure of anadultmale _indicates, by ^the complete nuptial

plumage and

slendernessof the_bill, thatthe form_portrayedwas the resident bird of South Carolina,

and

not a migrant ^or winter resident from the north.

The

textalso shows that theauthorwasvery familiarwith the breeding haunts

and

nesting habitsof the _bird, with relation to theocean _tides,

making

^it very probable that the individual figured was taken on the coast.

General Notes.

227

Agelaius phoeniceus floridanus

Maynard

(1896) therefore becomes a

synonym

^of Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus (Linnaeus, L766), and the northern subspecies must be

known

^as

Agelaius phoeniceus predatorius⁽Wilson).

NORTHEASTERN

RED-WING.

Sturnus predatorius Wilson,

American

Ornithology, IV, 1811, p. 30, pi.

30, figs. 1 and2.

Characters.

—

Larger thanAgelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus* with a shorter

and

stouterbill. Female_{darker,especiallybelow,}wheretheblackstripes are

much

^broader,t

Geographicaldistribution.

—

_{Thisform breeds from Fort}

_Macon,

_North

Carolina,

and

Smith's Island, Virginia, northto

Nova

_Scotia, and west- ward, wintering^{as far}south as(ieorgia

and

theGulfStates.%

Remarks.

—

Wilson's _figures, descriptions

and

measurements all rep- resent the northern subspecies; and ^his reference, in

synonymy,

^to specimens^inPeale's

Museum

^{( "}No. _L466, 14G7")

make

itprobable that his material

came

from eastern Pennsylvania, which _region ¹ therefore fixas the type locality of his Sturnuspredatorius.

— _Edgar

A. Mearns.

NOTE OX THE MEXICAN BATS OF THE GENUS DASYPTEEUS^

Mr. Geo. F.

Gaumer

has _recently presented ^to the U. S. National

Museum ^some

specimens ^of Dasypierus taken ^at Izamal

and

_Yaxcash, Yucatan, which represent two _very distinct species.

One

^is a large animalwitli skull about 18

mm.

incondylobasal length, while the other

is noticeably smaller; condylobasal length ^{of skull} about 15

mm. The

difference insize betweenthe

two

animalsisthusaboutthe

same

asthat separating the

European

Nyclcdus ^noctula

and N.

leisleri. Apparently tins is the first instanceonrecord of theoccurrenceof two

members

of the Deisypterus egagroup^at one _locality.

The

smaller animal, represented byadults only, appears ^to betheD.

egapanamensis ^of

Thomas;

unquestionably^{it isalocal} representativeof true _ega, a _species which in its various geographic forms ranges from Argentina ^to

Lower

California. It maintains a uniformly ^{small size} throughout a very extended _area, the range ^of individual variation in condylobasal length^{ofskull in}specimens from Paraguay,Brazil, Bolivia,

Yucatan and Lower

California being from 14 to 15.6

mm. The

larger species, represented by both ^adults

and young

from Yucatan,^isequally constant,^astherange^{ofvariatii>ninadultskulls}from Yucatan,Chiapas,^||

*See Ridgway'sBirds ofNorthandMiddle America,^vol.II,1902,pp.^:;:;iand333.

iThedarkest female specimens ⁱⁿ thecollectionof the United states National Museumwere collectedat PlumIsland Marsh. Kssex County. Massachusetts, by Mr.

WilliamD.Carpenter,inJune,1911.

XNumerouswinter specimens^of bothsexes, from South Carolina, in the U. ^8.

NationalMuseumcollection,areallpredatorius.

5Bypermissionof theSecretaryoftheSmithsonianInstitution.

[Adult male(skinandskull).No.133,030 (BiologicalSurveyCollection)^,San Barto- lome, Chiapas,March15,11)04,Nelsonand Goldman.