Description of a new species of Plover from the east coast of Madagascar

Vol. X, pp. 53-54

March

14, 1896

PROCEEDINGS

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTION OF A NP]\V 8PECIES OF PLOVER Vium THE EAST COAST OF MADAGASCAR.

BY CHARLES

^\V.

KICH.MOND.

The

appareiitl}^

new

species of})lover

here

described is repre-

sented

in the

United

States

National Museum

series

by Hve specimens, Three

of these

were

ina collection of birds lately received

from

Dr.

W.

L. Aljbott;

the other two were obtained by exchange some years ago from

the Paris

Museum.

.Sigialitis thoracica sp. no\^

Type No. 151,174, IT.S.National ?i[u:^eum,

9

^{adult,Loholoka,}eastcoast ofMadagascar, June:), 1895. Dr. \V. L.Abbott, collector.

Crown,

back, scapulars, tertials,

and

wing-coverts hair brown, the feathersedged withpale or deep buff, those ofthe greater wing-coverts edged

and

tipped with white; primaries, secondaries, rump,

median

upper tail-coverts,

and

middle rectrices dark clove

brown

; shafts of primaries (including the third) with white on terminal half; primary coverts brownish black, tipped with white; lateral upper tail-coverts white; inner primaries narrowly bordered oninner

web and

tipped with white; baseofouter

webs

white; secondaries tipped withwhite,

which become

broadertowardtheinnermost. Foi-eliead, lores, cheeks, throat, axillars,underwing-coverts, sidesof body,

and

flankswhite; alinefrom upper mandible to lower anterior border of e5'e, continuedposteriorly through

ami

including ear-coverts black, connecting with a narrower black

band

extendingacrosslower borderof nape,

and

withabroadblack pectoralband,thelatter

more

extensiveonsidesof chest;

an

interocular crescent-shaped black

band

borders thewhiteforehead

and

separatesit

fromawhitelineovereyes,ear-coverts,

and

passing acrossnapeasa con- spicuous ruchal

band

(leavingthe black

crown

patch entirelysurrounded

by

awhite

band and

thelatterisolated from otherwhite markings); a white

band

belowthe blackpectciral

band

passes abruptlyinto

cinnamon

buffonthe

abdomen and

undertail-coverts,that ofthe

abdomen

extends

up

onsidesof

body

tothe black

band

acrossbreast,intercejitingthe white.

Three outer tail feathers white, with

more

or less

dusky

markings,

8—Biol. SoC.Wash,, Vol.X, ISiiti (53)

54 BicJimond — _{A New}

kSpecies of

Plover from Madagascar.

especially

on

the

two

innerones; nextinner pair(4th)dusky, with white tips; 5th pair hair brown,

becoming

black subterminally, with a deep bufftip. Bill,leo;s,

and

feetblackindriedskin.

Wing,

4.00; tail, 1.72;

tarsus, l."20;

culmen

(exposed), .69inches.

In another female (No. 1-51,169) the

wing

measures 4.20 inches; the other

measurements

ofthefivespecimensarevery

much

thesame.

Thisspeciesseemstobe mostnearlyrelated to.J'j/l((Iitlsvnriu (Vieillot) ofAfrica,

and

alsofound inMadagascar, butdiffersfromitmainlyin the presenceofthe black pectoral

band and

the absence ofawhollyblack shaftinthe thirdprimary; thewhitelineposteriortothe black crescent betweeneyes^is

more

pronounced

and

thelesserwing-coverts

and

primary coverts arenotdecidedly blackish. There is also a slight differencein size, particularly noticeable inthel)ills.

The two

specimensreceivedfromthe Paris iSluseum aresexedasmales,

and

are precisely similar tothose collected

by

Dr.Abbott.

They

were collected

by M.

Lantz,in 1882,onthe southeast coast ofINIadagascar. In additionto thisinformationthelabelsl:)earthe

names

^'C}ia radri ustoiellus,' and, in alaterhandwriting, ^'pecuariu-i'

[=

varia].

From

an examinationofthespecimensintheNational

^Museum and

a carefulcomparisonof descriptions,^itappearsthat

no

describedplumages of eitherJ^Ajialitls lenellaor.E. variapossess black pectoralbands.

Iwasrather lothtoconsiderthespecies

unnamed

after

examining

the

two

specimens fromthe Paris

Museum,

asthe bird

must

bewell

known

tothe

French

authors, particularly

Milne-Edwards and

Grandidier,

whose

great

work on

^Madagascar birds I have

had no

opportunitytoconsult.

Thinking

theremight be

some

referencetotlieblack pectoral

band

inthe account oi.E. varin in this work,Iwrote to Mr.

Witmer

Stone, of the Philadelphia

Academy, who

hasaccessto it,

and

he has very kindly^fur- nished

me

withthe following extract*underC'li/(radriu.'<pfCHdrins

Temm.

(astheyi)refertowriteit)

:

"

Ce

Pluvierafricain setrouveaussi a INIadagascar, surlescotesdeTest

comme

sur celles deI'ouest. II est endessus d'un brun roussutre clair avec une couronne blanche autour de^latetequ'un

diademe

noiratresepare

du

front,quiestegalementblancainsiquelesjoues; lagorge,lapoitrine, quetraverse,chezlesadultes,unelarge

bande

noire, etlessous-caudales, sontblanches^; leventreestroussiitre. Cette

bande

noirequi traversela poitrine chezles adultes n'a pas encore ete signalee chez les individus Africains."

Itis veryi-emarkable that the black pectoral

band

should bepresent in adults from Madagascar

and

absent in those fromAfrica,

where

the speciesissaidtobe

common

in

many

])laces

and

breeds

and

from

whence

it

was

^{originallydescribed.}

The two

species, varid

and

thoracica, areapparently foundtogether

on

the east coast of Madagascar,

where

Dr. Abbott collectedaspecimen of each at

Loholoka on June

3. It

was

j^robablythis associationof the species thatledtheauthorsof theabove-mentioned

work

toconsider

them

adult

and young

^{(jfonespecies.}

*_Hist.Phys.Nat.et Polit.de Madagascar, XII,Ois.

tome

^I,pp. 511-512.