GEOTHLrriS TRICHAS TO THE AMERICAN

Hasbrouck

on Geot/ilypis trickas roscoe. 1

67

RESTORATION OF AN AUDUBONIAN FORM OF GEOTHLrriS TRICHAS TO THE AMERICAN

AVIFAUNA.

BY

E. M.

HASBROUCK.

More

than ayear ago while

comparing

specimens ofthegenus Geothlypis^ one in particular arrested

my

attention as being materially differentfrom anyin

my

collection,

and from

anyI

had

seen. It is

numbered

_{443 and}

was

taken

by

myself at

Big Lake

George, Florida,

March

18, 1SS6. I carried it to

Mr. Ridgway who,

after

comparing

it with the series in the Smithsonian, declared itdifferent

from

anything he

had

seen,

and

probablya

new

race, but advised

me

to say nothing concerning it until I secured

more

of the

same

variety. In accordance withhis counsel

Ivisited Florida in

December

of the pastyearforthe purpose of securingas

many

as possible,

and

although unable to reach the scene of the firstcapture,I

was

successfulinfinding the birdabun- dantin

Putnam County

in thevicinity of Palatka,

and was

fortu- nate in obtainingseven

more

; three males and fourfemales, all of

which

(the males)

were

nearly exact counterparts of the type 'with the exception of one

immature male

referredto later.

On

reaching

Washington

I submitted the entire seriesof eight to

Mr.

Ridgway,

and with the assistance of Dr. Stejneger,

compared them

asecond time;

we

found

them

differing considerably from the true trichasin possessing the larger size

and more

extended yellow beneathoi occidentalism togetherwith an extremely

narrow

andpalerashy

band

behindthemask,

and

fromoccidentalis

by

the paleryellowthroat andless orangeof trichas.

Audubon

(Orn.

Biog.,Vol.I,iS33,p. 134,pi.34) describesan/»2»2a/z/trespecimen oftheYellow-throat taken in Mississippi, to

which

he gives the

name

Sylviaroscoe^

and

afterwardsrefersittotrichas:the descrip- tiontalliesalmostexactlywith

mine

above mentioned, while speci-

mens

in the Smithsonian collection

from

the

Gulf

States and MississippiValleyagree closelywith mine,thus leavinglittle

room

fordoubt that itisa valid race

between

Geothlypistrichas

and

Geothlypistrichas occidentalis. Itherefore have thepleasure of restoring alongneglected

form

tothe

American

fauna,givingto it

the

name

Geothlypistrichas roscoe (Aud.),

1

68

^Recent Literature. ^[April

Geothlypis trichasroscoe.

—

Maleadult:above, includingtail,darkolive- greentingedwitha richdarkyellow, feathersin highly coloredspecimens beingtippedwithlightbrown;frontalshieldof blackreachingwellup onto crown, coveringentire face,with narrowstripeover eyeand reachingfar

down

onthe neck; ashystripeexceedinglynarrowandpale. Underparts richgambogeyellow, tingedwithbrowninwinterspecimens,and reaching well

down

to and including vent and under tail-coverts, but becoming

lighternear medianline; flanksofa rich chocolatebrownvaryingin in- tensitywithage. Female differingfromtrickashoihinsizeandintensity of color. Lengthof wing (skin), 2.13; tail, .244; ^bill, .50; tarsus,.75 inch. Upperand lower mandibleblack^;iris brown;tarsusandfeetflesh color. Intermediatein habitatandcharactersbetweentrichasandocciden- talis,butcombinationof characters peculiarandconstantoveraverywide area.

Habitat

^: in

summer

Mississippi Valley, north toWisconsin, Minnesota, etc. ; in winter

Gulf

States including Florida.

The

single 'chip'ofthisbird,utteredatintervals,while partaking of the general characters is louder and harsher,whilethesongs of those heard in

March were

unmistakablyclearer

and

stronger than anyyet ascribedto trichas.

RECENT LITERATURE.

SupplementtotheA. O. U. Codeof Nomenclature andCheck-List of North American Birds.*

—

The Supplement to theA. O. U.Check-List of North American Birds, mentionedinthelast numberof'The Auk' (Vol.

VI, p.81) as inpreparation, has

now

been completed and issued,forming anoctavo pamphletof₂₃ pages,uniforminstyleand typographywith the 'Code andCheck-List.' Asexplained in the Preface, it consists "ofthe tenable speciesandsubspecies,genera andsubgenera,addedsincethe pub- licationof the Check-List, together with any necessary eliminations and validchangesin nomenclaturemade sincethe Check-Listwasissued ....

The Supplementhere presented records the ruling of the Committeeon about one hundreddistinctquestions, involving additions to the Check.

Listorchanges inits nomenclature. Besides this, the Committee con-

*Supplement|to the |CodeofNomenclatureandCheck-List|of| NorthAmerican BirdsI

adoptedbytheAmerican Ornithologists'Union| Prepared by|a Committee of theUnion^I

—

I NewYork|AmericanOrnithologists'Union |1889.—8vo, pp.23.