Note on a specimen of <I>Pithecophaga jefferyi</I> Ogilvie-Grant

76 General

Notes.

Loxiacristata J.R. _Forster,Ihdische_Zoologie, 1781, p. 41.

LoxiabutanensisJ.R. _Forster,FaunulaIndica,1795,p. 8.

LoxiarubraSuckow, _Anfangsgr. Naturgesch. Thiere,II,2, 1801,p.832.

LoxiacrislataFoi-ster,1781,being^theoldest

name

forthe species(assuming Seba's plate^tobe recognizable),Mr.Hartert

would

_{probablyadopt}it,but asit istwice preoccupied (Linnaeus1758, Miiller 1776),thecorrect

name

;

according^tothe

American

Ornithologists'

Union

"Code," would be Hsema- ospiza indica(Gmelin). ^Chas. W. Richmond.

NEW GENERIC NAME FOR THE GIANT FULMAR.

The

_generic

name

_{Ossifraga,given}

_by Hombron and

_Jacquinot(

Comptes

Rendus,

XVIII,

1844,p. 356)^toProcellariagigantea Gmelin,^is antedated

by

OssifragaN.

Wood

(Analyst,II,1835,p.305; VI,1837,p.244),applied toa_verydifferentgroup^ofbirds. As the Giant

Fulmar

isthusbereft of

itsgenericname,^{that of}Macronectes

may

^besuggested^as

an

equivalent.

Chas. W. Richmond.

NOTE ON A SPECIMEN OF PITHECOPHAGA JEFFERYI OGILVIE-GRANT.

The

United States National

Museum

has recently received from Mr.

'Fletcher L. Keller,a hemp-planter ^ofDavao, Mindanao,

and

an_energetic

member

ofthe Philippine^ScientificAssociation, a^fineskin of the Philip pine Monkey-eating Forest-Eagle,

which

Mr.

W.

R. Ogilvie-Grant

made known

as Pithecophagajefferyi,a

new

_genus

and

_species, describedinthe Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, Vol.VI, ^No.

XL,

p.

XVII,

1896,

and

subsequentlyfigured

and

describedingreater ^{detail in} theIbis for1897 _(pp.214-220,pi.V,

and

text_figures1-4

)^.

He

_speaksofitas"

per haps^themost remarkable bird

which

hasbeen discovered inthe Philip pines." Mr._Ogilvie-Grant'sspecimen

came

fromthe island ofSamar.

He

remarks:

"

The

Discovery of^this

mighty

^{bird of}prey^iswithoutdoubtthe most remarkableofMr. Whitehead's achievements in the Philippine ^Is lands.

That

_{so large} a Raptor should have remained

unknown

till the presenttime only

shows how

_easilythese great Forest-Eagles

may

^beover

looked." Respecting ^{th*e size} of this specimen,

which was

a _male,Mr.

Ogilvie-Grant ^states:

"Mr. Whitehead

_{says that}itweighed between¹⁶

and

20Ibs."

The

billofthis species^ischaracterized

by

extreme narrow^T- ness

and

_verygreatdepth;

and

the high ^{vaultednarial}opening^isalsoa peculiar^character.

The naked

tarsi

and

feetresemblethose of the

Harpy

Eagle although considerably weaker.

The

_wings are short

and

thetail verylong, w^hich is just the reverse of the

common

_Eagleof the Islands (Pontoaetusleucogaster). Mr.Ogilvie-Grant says^{: "}Strange^asit

may

seem,

"we

have

littledoubtthatthe

Harpy

^isthe nearest

known

_allyofthe present species." In _Sharpe's

"Hand-List

of the

Genera and

Species of Birds^"

(Vol. I, page 265), this bird is given a _position between the Short-toed Eagles(Circa'etus)

and

the Serpent-Eagles (Spilornis).

General Notes.

77

Pithecophagajrfferyi^isstill

among

^{therarestbirdsin}

museum

collections.

Mr.Keller'sisthesecond specimen^toreachAmerica,

and makes

thefirst authentic record for the island of Mindanao. I

saw

onein the

Menage

collection, atthe Public Library,ⁱⁿMinneapolis,

and

oneinManila,

and know

ofbutfivepreserved specimens. Mr.Keller'sisamale_(No.192,382, U.S.National

Museum),

^takennearDavao, Mindanao,^P.I.,Septembers, 1904. It closely resembles the type; but broader shaft-stripes to the feathersgive thehead a darkercolorthanthat ofthemale described

and

figured

by

^Mr.Ogilvie-Grant(Ibis for 1897, plateV).

From

theskinItook the following measurements: Length, ⁹⁸⁰

mm.;

wing, 600_; tail, 465;

chordofculmen,65; chordof

culmen and

cere, taken_{together,78; cere,} 21; depth ^ofbill,51; depth ^of culmen,⁴¹; greatest widthofculmen,²¹;

tarsus, length,22; tarsus,circumference, 60; inner claw_(chord),49;

mid

dle _claw,39; outer claw,30; hind _{claw, 52;} hind _toe, without _claw,51_; widthofmiddletail-feather,98; length of longest occipital feather, 90.

Edgar

^{A. Mearns,}

A NEW NAME FOR THE PEROMYSCUS NEBRACENSIS OF CERTAIN AUTHORS.

The name

Ilenperumyssonoriensisva.r.nebracensiswas usedfirstbyBaird,

who

mentioneditwithoutdescriptionⁱⁿtext underhisHesperomys^leuco- pus

(Mamm.

^N.Am.,p.462, 1857). Itappears nextin 1877,

when

Coues quotes the

name

in

synonymy

under Hesperomysleucopussonoriensis. It remained a

nomen nudum

until 1890,

when Mearns

usedit inconnection with afulldescription

and

_designateda specimen which he^{called his}"type of diagnosis," No. 1200

Am.

Mus. Nat. _Hist.,N. _Y., from Calf Creek,

Montana

_(See Bull.

Am.

Mus.Nat.Hist. II, pp.285-287, Feb. 21, 1890).

The name

nebracensis willthereforedatefrom Mearns,^not from Baird,

and

the type ofMearns'_diagnosiswillbethetype^infact. Authors subsequent to

Mearns

have_frequentlyusedthe

name

nebracensis fora_{very small}

and

bright colored

mouse

foundinWestern Nebraska

and

_{adjacentregions.} It is awell

known

_{form,specimens}of

which

are contained inmost ofour large

museums, and

^{doubtlessistheformthatBairdintendedtoname. It}

is

however

_verydifferentfromthe nebracensisof Mearns,

which

^is

much

larger

and

darker

and more

closely related totheformlater called subarc- ticus

by

^Allen.

The

small bright coloredformthereforeneedsa

new name and may

^becalled

Peromyscus

^luteus.

The

_typeisNo._iffff BiologicalSur vey Coll., U.S.National

Museum,

^collected April 23, 1890, at

Kennedy,

Nebraska,

by Vernon

Bailey. Measurementsof type: Total length, 152;

tailvertebrae,62; hind_foot,20. Color:Upperparts bright ochraceous buff very lightly

mixed

with

dusky

; subauricular spotspurewhite,large,

and

conspicuous; underpartspupe^white. WilfredH. _Osgood.