Description of a new Quail Dove from the West Indies

Vol. XVI, ^pp. 13-14

February

21, 1903

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW QUAIL-DOVE FROM THE WEST INDIES.

BY

J. H.

RILEY.

[Bypel-mission^ofthe Secretaryof theSmithsonianInstitution.]

While examining some ^doves

^labeled

Geotrygon mystacea

^I

was

struck

by

the variations exhibited

by specimens from

the differentparts of ^itsrange.

My

^material

^{has not been}

^sufficient

to

work

^{these out} satisfactorily,

but

the

following

species ^is so

very

distinct thatI takethis

opportunity

^of

describing

^it.

My ^thanks

^are

^due

^to

^Dr.

^J.

^A.

^{Allen, of the}

^American Museum

of

Natural

_History,

Mr. Charles B. Cory,

of the Field

Columbian Museum, ^and

^to

^Mr. Outram _Bangs,

of the

Museum

of

Comparative Zoology,

^{fortheloan of}

specimens.

Geotrygon sabs,

^sp.

now

Type—

^{Adultfemale,No.80,982,U.S. National}

^Museum,

^SabaIsland.

W.

I., collectedby^F. A. Ober.

Characters.

—

Differs from Geotrygon mystacea ⁱⁿbeing darker above, inhavingthe breastlighthazel passing^intovinaceous-rufous (vinaceous-

cinnamon

inmystacea), the belly cinnamon-rufous, the lining ^of the wingsdarker, andthetaildarker and

more

stronglyedged with^adarker shadeofbrown.

Measurements.—

Wing,

170; tail, 89: exposed culmen,²¹

mm.

6-Pboc. Biol. Soc. Wash. Vol. XVI, ^1903. (13)

14

Riley — New _{Quail-Dove from}

the

West

Indies.

Remarks.

—

Schlegel (Mus. Pays-Bas, Columbse, 1873, 164) gives the type ^of

Temminck's

Columba _mystaeea as

coming

^{from the Island of} Hayti. ^I

know

ofnorecent recordof the bird fromthat island.

Tem-

minck's_{platerepresents}abirdwithoutthedark rictal stripe

and

with lighter underparts than any specimen ^I have been able to examine.

The

U. S. National

Museum

possesses ^a specimen from Culebra ^Island (reported fromhere for the first time) that

comes

nearer the plate of mystaeeathan any^otherspecimen ^{intheseries before} me. I take it to represent truemystaeea

and

have

compared

^{theSababirdwithit.}

The

type^ofsaba, though^afemale, ^issovery^differentfrom any^{of theother} specimens^before

me

that I

am

unable to explain these differences on accountof sex.

The

darkcolor of the breast servestodistinguish ^{it at} aglance frommystaeea.