PROCEEDINGS

Vol.

XXIV,

pp. 57-60 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

NOTES ON SOME BIRDS FROM THE ISLAND OF GRENADA.

BY

T.

BARBOUR.

During

part^of

August and September

^of the past

summer, Dr. Glover M. Allen and Mr.

C. T.

Brues

visited

Grenada

for the

purpose

^of

studying

^{the fauna.}

Their

collectionsare

now

all in the

Museum

^of

Comparative

Zoology.

The

ornithological collection

from Grenada already

^{in the}

Museum was

so

complete

that

no _attempt was made

to preserve ^{series of} the

common

birds. Special ^{efforts to}secure

some

of the

more

interesting

forms were rewarded by

^the

examples upon ^which

these notes are based.

Hybris*

nigrescens noctividus subsp. nov.

Type,from St. George's,Grenada, No.53,586,

Museum

ofComparative Zoology, adult male. Collectedby Glover

M.

Allen,September15, 1910.

Characters.

—

SizetbatofAluco_nigrescens(Lawrence)^ofDominica, ^but differing as follows: tarsus

somewhat

longer; under _parts darker in color,

and much more

heavily spotted with dusky; upperparts darker, and

more

_profusely

marked

with_largerwhite spotsthan inthe owlfrom

Dominica.

Measurements.

—

_Wing, 230

mm.

; tail, 100

mm.

; tarsus, 110

mm.

; cul-

men,

³⁰

mm.

Remarks.

— Thanks

to the courtesy ^of Dr. Charles

W. Richmond we

have been enabled ^to

compare

the type ^of Lawrence's A. nigrescens, a male from Dominica (U. S. X.

M.

No. 77,843), aswell asanotherfrom the

same

_locality (U. S. N.

M.

No. _80,017), withan adult female also from this island (Bang's^Coll.

M.

C. Z. No. _13,614). These three birds are all pale ochraceous below,

somewhat mixed

with whitish; while the duskyspotsareconfinedalmost wholly ^tothebelly.

* Hybris ^isused instead of Tyto, which Matthewssuggests (of. Matthews, Nor.

Zool., XVII, 1910, p. 500), because Tyto, the name for an owl, is preoccupied by Tyta Billberg, the name ^for an owlet moth. The two names have the same derivationfromtheGreekword_tvtu}, meaning anowl.

15—Peoc.Biol. Soc.Wash., Vol.XXIV,^{1911. (.57)}

58 Barbour —

Notes

on some

Birds

from

^{the Island} of

Grenada.

Our Grenada

^material consists of the type already mentioned, and seven others, of which three are loaned hy ^the United States National

Museum;

^the

Museum

^of Comparative Zoology having specimens from Bequia^intheGrenadineIslands, as well as^St. Vincent. All the hirds from thesesouthernislands oftheLesser

Ant

illeanchain aresimilar; and have the underparts tawny,

somewhat

darker than Ridgway's ^coloron plate^5.

Planesticus nigrirostris

personus

subsp. nov.

Type, fromthe

Grand

Etang,2,000^feetaltitude,Grenada. No._53,59S,

Museum

of ComparativeZoology, adult male. Collected by Glover

M.

Allen, September6, 1910.

Characters.

—

SimilartoP. nigrirostris (Lawrence) ^{of St.} Vincent, but differinginthat theupper parts^are

much more

_darkly olivaceous, ^less reddish olive; thelower parts

more

_grayish,lessrufescent; andtheunder-

wing

covers rather_paler.

Remarks.

—

Mr. Ridgway,^{inBirds of} North

and

Middle America, has already^calledattentiontothese differences.

The

characters being con- stant, asacomparison shows, these birds

may

be considered separate subspecies, ^ashe suggestedpossible.

Among

the birds credited to

Grenada

was one described from _{a single}

young

specimenⁱⁿ very bad preservation, the only oneever

known,

and calledBlacicusflaviventrisLawrence.

Wells,

known

for so

many

years ^asacollector ofGrenadianbirds, tried in vainto find otherspecimens^{of this}extremely ^rareTyrant^{bird. Dr.}

Allen

was

_especiallycautionedtowatch forit, and by^raregood ^fortune secured an adult maleinthedeep ^forestnearthe

Grand

Etang, ^{a lakein} thecentralpart^ofthe islandatanaltitude ofabout_2,000feet. This_speci-

men

was _{the only}onewhich hesaw, in spite ofa long

and

carefulsearch It wasobviousatonce that thebird was_very different from any ^other Blacicus;

and

Mr. Ridgway,

when

he

saw

it, decided _definitely that it

was

_reallyan

Empidonax;

^{althoughthere}

was

no doubtas tothe_identity of thisspecimenwith theremainsof the _type,

now

in the United States National

'Museum. As

the _specific

name

flaviventris ^is preoccupied, ^it becomes necessary to give this bird a

new

name.

A

note regarding^its relationships,

and

a description^follow.

Empidonax

johnstonei

nom.

nov.

Described from an adult male,No. _53,591,

Museum

^of Comparative Zoology; from the

Grand

Etang, Granada, ^B.

W.

I., 5 Sept., 1910, col- lectedby Glover

M.

Allen.

This Tyrant bird apparently has been derived from

Empidonax

^law-

renciAllen, ^ofTrinidad,butithas

become

differentiated byisolation toa considerable extent. I have been enabled to

make

direct comparison with afinemaleofE. lawrencei(American

Museum

^of Natural History No. 50,067) thankstothe courtesy^ofMr. Dewitt A. Miller.

Characters.

—

SimilartoK. lawrencei but smaller; with a narrower_bill;

Barboui

—

Notes

on some

Birds

from

^{the Island} of

Grenada.

.^9 colorpattern very similar but theupperpartsa verydark _{greenisholive,} thecap and ^cheeksdusky; ^instead of dull olivegreen with thecap ^hut

littledarker.

Wing

^bars narrower and darker, being

tawny

^ochraceous

instead ofochraceousbuff. Throat

more

purely white, underparts other- wise thesame.

Measurements.

— M.

C.Z.No. 53,591, d?^: Wing, 60; tail, 54; tarsus, L4.5; exposed culmen, ^{12. A.}

M.

N.

H.

No. 59,0(i7, c?^: Princestown, Trinidad,

March

1(1, L893, F.

M. _Chapman,

collector.

Wing,

64; tail, 58; tarsus, 13.5; exposed culmen, ^13.

The new

specific

name

of this rare bird, whichisespeciallyinteresting asbeing the only Antilleanspecies of^itsgenus, ^is givenⁱⁿhonorof His

Honor

RobertS. Johnstone, Chief^{Justice of}

Grenada and

dependencies,

who

hasoftenaided the

members

ofexpeditionsfromthis

Museum

_byhis kindhospitality

and

in

many

other ways.