The relationships and geographical distribution of the species and races belonging to the genus Rhynchocyclus

Vol. 32, pp. 31,

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

THE RELATIONSHIPS AND GEOGRAPHICAL ^DISTRI- BUTION OF THE SPECIES AND RACES BELONGING

TO THE GENUS RHYNCHOCYCLUS.

BY CHARLES

^B.

^CORY.

The

_following ^brief

synopsis

^of

the

_species

and

_subspecies of

the genus Rhynchocyclus

^is

the

result of

an examination

of

ma-

terial in

the

Field

Museum

of

Natural

_History,

supplemented by specimens borrowed from other museums

in this

country, and

_represents

the

writer's

present views on the

valid

forms

of this

group.

Genus

Rhynchocyclus Cabanis

&

Heine.

RhynchocyclusCabanis

&

Heine,

Mus.

Hein.,ii, 1859, p.56 (Type

Mus-

cipetaflaviventrisWiedj.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens sulphurescens (Spix).

Platyrhynchus sulphurescensSpix, Aves.Bras.,ii, 1825, p. 10, pi. 12,fig.

Imale.¹

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescenspallescensHartert

&

Goodson, ^Novit. Zool.,

XXIV,

1917, p.414(Santa Cruz, Bolivia).²

Range: Southern^Brazil(MinasGeraes;Riode Janeiro;Parana;^S.Paulo;

southern and southwestern

Matto

_Grosso; Santa Catharina); Paraguay (Sapucay; Puerto San Juan); Bolivia (Mapiri; Yacniba; Rio Tapacani;

Monte

de_Basilio,Dep. SantaCruz)^;Argentina (Prov.Jujuy

and

_Misiones).

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens assimilis (Pelzeln).

Rhynchocyclusassimilis Pelzeln, Orn. _Bras., 1869,pp. 110, 181 (Borba, Rio Madeiratypelocality).³

iBut notfig.2 female,whichissupposedto representCraspedoprionolivaceus olivaceus

Temm.(c/.Hellmayr, Abhandl. Ak.Wiss.Miinchen,XXII,^1906,p.643).

21can notdistinguishspecimens from Santa Cruz,Bolivia(pallescensHartert

&

Good- son)fromthosefrom Sao Paulo and SantaCatharina,Brazil,although oneBolivianexample

issomewhatpaler.

3According^toHellmayr(cf.Chapman,^Bull.Amer.Mus. Nat.Hist.,

XXXVI,

1917, p.435).

45—

Pboc. Biol.Soc.Wash., Vol.32,1919. (217)

Rhynchocyclus ^scotius Oberholser, Proc. U. S. Nat. _Mus.,

XXV,

1902, p. 63 (Brazil).

Range: ^Brazil (Borba^toRio Madeira; Manaos, Rio Negro;

Upper

^Rio Rooseveltand

Amazonian

_region;Itacoatiara;Rio_Tocantins;Rio_Tapajoz,

etc., to Para);¹ southernVenezuela (Caura River and near Mt. Duida);

British

Guiana

(Mazaruni River); ^S. E. Colombia (Florencia

and Buena

Vista);² Ecuador (Sarayacu andBalzar Mts.); eastern Peru (Zeberasand

Chami

euros)^.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens berlepschi Hartert

&

^Goodson.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescensberlepschiHartert

&

Goodson,Novit. ZooL,

XXIV,

^1917,p.415(Caparo, TrinidadI.,

W.

I.).

Range: Trinidad; coast^ofnortheasternVenezuela?³

Very

^{close toR.s.assimilis, butallTrinidad}specimens ^Ihave_{seen ap-} pear^tohavethe crown

more

olivaceous, ^lessgrayish, thanin assimilis.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens ^cherriei Hartert

&

^Goodson.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens ^cherriei Hartert

&

Goodson, Novit. _Zool.,

XXIV,

1917,p. 414_(Cayenne).

Range: French Guiana;

Dutch

Guiana.

I

am

doubtfulastothevalidity of thisform. Ihave notseenspecimens from Cayenne, but ^Hartert

& Goodson

recorditalsofromBritishGuiana

and Caura

River, Venezuela. ^I

am

unableto distinguish birdsfromBritish

Guiana and Caura

River, Venezuela,from examples fromItacoatiara, mid- dle

Amazon

River,andUtinga, near Para,

and

_{am,therefore,}forcedeither to notrecognize the formasseparable from R. s. assimilis orrestrict its

rangeprovisionally^toFrenchGuiana and

Dutch

Guiana.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens exortivus Bangs.

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens ^exortivus Bangs, Proc. ^{Biol. Soc.} Wash.,

XXI,

1908, p. 163 (La Concepcion, ^Sierra

Nevada

de Santa Marta, N. Colombia).

Range: Northern and northeastern Colombia _(Santa

Marta

_region

and

lower

Magdalena

River); northernVenezuela _{(Colon,Tachira;} Orope

and

Encontrados,Zulia;Caracas).

R.s. exortivusBangs^differs fromR. s.assimilis inhaving^theback de- cidedly brighter (more greenish); crown

more

olivaceous

and

throat

and

breast decidedly

more

_{yellowish. (Typeexamined.)}

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescens flavo-olivaceus (Lawrence).

Rhynchocyclusflavo-olivaceusLawrence, Ann.Lye.Nat.Hist.N.Y.,VIII, 1863, p.8 (LionHill,Panama).

Range:

Panama.

iRecordedbySnethlage, Bol.Mus. Goeldi, VIII, 1914,o. 394. Ihaveexamined a specimen fromUtinga, near Para,ⁱⁿtheAmericanMuseumofNatural_History.

2Nottypical(c/.Chapman,^Bull.Amer.Mus.Nat.Hist.,

XXXVI,

1917,p.435).

3CumanaandPuertoCabello, Venezuela,wereincludedby^Hartert

&

Goodsoninthe rangeof thisform. ^Ihave notseenspecimens fromCumana,but examples fromthe region ofPuerto Cabelloare certainly nearerexortivus.

Cory — The Genus Rhynchocylus. 219

Rhynchocyclus cinereiceps cinereiceps (Sclater).

Cyclorhynchuscinereiceps Sclater,Ibis,1859,p.443_(Oaxaca,S. Mexico).

Range: Southern Mexico ^{(in states of} Vera _Cruz; Oaxaca; Yucatan;

Quintana

Roo and

_Chiapas);Guatemala;Honduras; Nicaragua; Costa Rica

and Panama.

Rhynchocyclus cinereiceps

asemus

(Bangs).¹

Rhynchocyclus sulphurescensasemusBangs, Proc.^Biol.Soc.

Wash

,

XXII,

1910,p. 73 (Pavas,

W.

Colombia).

Range: Western Colombia(Pavas;Dabeiba; PuertoValdivia;Rio_Frio;

Miraflores;Cali

and

_Jimimez).

Rhynchocyclus peruvianus peruvianus Taczanowski.²

Rhynchocyclus peruvianus Taczanowski, ^{P. Z. S.} Lond., 1874, p. 537

(Ropaybamba,

C. Peru).

Range: ^Central

and

northern Peru (except ⁱⁿ extreme northwestern part).

Rhynchocyclus peruvianus aequatorialis Berlepsch

&

Taczanowski.³ Rhynchocyclus peruvianus subsp.aequatorialisBerlepsch

&

Taczanowski,

P. Z.S. Lond.,1883, p.556

(Chimbo and

Guayaquil,

W.

_Ecuador).

Range

^: Western Ecuador

and

extreme northwestern_{Peru, near}boundary

line (Lechugal).

Rhynchocyclus marginatus marginatus Lawrence.

Rhynchocyclus marginatusLawrence, ^Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1868 (1869), p.429 _(LionHill,Panama).

Range: Eastern Costa Rica (Carrillo; ElHogar);

Panama;

^westernCo- lombia(Puerto Valdivia;Barbacoas;

Buena

_{Vista;Narino).}

1R.^c.asemus^{issimilar to}R.c.cinereiceps^ofCentral America, butdiffersinhavingthe chestmore_tingedwithyellowishandinitslargersize (averagemeasurementsofwing

—

asemus about 67mm.,cinereiceps64}^mm.). It differsfrom R.s.exortivusoftheSanta Martaregion,etc., initsdarkerandgrayer cap;back darkerolive green; throatandchest grayer. Thewing averagessomewhatlonger. (Type examined.) This_{form, to}

my

^mind,

isclearlyarepresentative^ofcinereicepsand notcloselyalliedto sulphurescens. Thetype specimen^isby^farthe largestofany specimens examined (wing 70 mm.), but two examples from Jiminez havethewing 67mm.and68mm. Dr. Chapman,^Bull.Amer.Mus.Nat.

Hist.,

XXXVI,

^1917,p.434,callsattention to thesmallersize ofspecimens examined from Dabeiba,Cali,RioFrioandMiraflores,inwhichthewing measurements averaged66.5mm.

2R.p.peruvianusTaczanowski approaches R.^c.cinereiceps,butsizedecidedly larger;

backbright^olivegreen;ablackish auricular spot. Type

—

_wing60;bill18mm. Ihave notseenthisform.

3.ft.p. cequatorialis^issimilar toR.p.peruvianusfromcentral Peru,butdecidedly smaller anddiffers inhavingthebackandedges^ofremigesbrighter olive green; yellow area oflower bellymoreextensive. Type

—

_wing65;tail60;bill18. Hartert

&

Goodson,Novit.Zool.,

XXIV,1917,p.415,saythey examined aspecimen from western Ecuador and^itdifferedfrom R.c.cinereicepsonly^initsslightlydarker gray head and^lessextended graythroat,and that aPeruvianskin (nodefinite localitygiven) labelled R.s.peruvianus did notappeartodiffer fromtheEcuadorianspecimen. ^Ihave notseena specimen^{of this}form,but judging from the original description^Isuspect wquatorialis^willbefoundtobe arepresentativeof cinerei- cepsandclosetoasemus. ,

Rhynchocyclus marginal us flavotectus (Hartert).¹

Rhynchocyclusmegacephalaflavotecta Hartert, Novit. ^Zool., IX, 1902, p.

608(.SanJavier typelocality,

and

Paramba, N.

W.

_Ecuador).

Range: Western Ecuador(SanJavier;

Paramba;

Esmeraldas;Guayaquil, etc.).

Rhynchocyclus megacephalus (Swainson).

Tyrannulamegacephala Swainson, Bds.^Brazil

&

_{Mexico, 1841,p. 47,}

no

localitygiven (Prov.SaoPaulo,S.Brazil).²

Range: Southern ^Brazil (Sao Paulo; Parana); southeastern Paraguay (Puerto Bertoni); extreme northeastern Argentina (Rio Siguendo; Alto Parana, Misiones).

Characters.

— _"Upper

_{partsvery dusky}dull olive green, the feathers of sides ofcrown with darkcenters, asaresult ofwhich twodistinctblackish-

brown

stripes areformed, extending fromthe foreheadtoback of crown.

Lores and narrowsuperciliary stripe olive-yellowish; sides of head olive- greenish, linedwith_yellowish. Lesserwing^covertsolivegreen; themiddle andgreater covertsdark

brown

with broadreddish yellowends,which form twodistinct crossbands. Remiges dark brown;the primarieswithreddish yellow outer borders ^{(the color}

somewhat

_palerthan the_{tips of} thewing coverts). Rectrices dark brown, with olive-yellow-green outer ^borders.

Throat and^fore-neck dull olive-yellowish green;^{rest of} under _partsolive yellow. ^Billdark horn brown;^lowermandible withexception of tipwhit- ish.

Wing

65;^tail60;^bill15

mm."

"Another specimen from

Matto

Dendro, SaoPaulo,^is

somewhat

_lighter

olivegreen above; the under parts brighter ^olive yellow; the fore-breast scarcely

washed

witholive-greenish, andsizedecidedly^smaller.

Wing

59;

tail53;^bill15. Itisprobablya female." (Freetranslationfrom Hellmayr, Verh.^{zool.-bot. Gesell.} Wien,liii, 1903,p. 206.)

The

_specimens described above, ^collected

by

Natterer, are preserved ⁱⁿ theVienna

Museum. They

are believed

by

both Hellmayr

and

_Berlepsch

tobetheformthatSwainson's_plateisintendedtoportray.

Rhynchocyclus poliocephalus poliocephalus Taczanowski.³

Rhynchocyclus -poliocephalus Taczanowski, Orn. Perou, ii, 1884, p. 285 (Nauta,N.E. Peru).

1R.m.flavotectus(Hartert)^issimilartoR.m.marginatus,butdiffers initsplaingray crown;moreyellow throatandbreast (throat grayishonchin only);edgingsofwingcoverts narrower. Ihave notseenthisform,but havefollowedChapman(Bull.Amer. Mus.Nat.

Hist.,

XXXVI,

1917,p.436,in text) inconsidering^itaraceofmarginatus. ^Itisgivenas aformofmegacephalusby Hartert

&

Goodson andofsulphurescensbyBerlepsch(Proc.IV

Int.Orn.Congr. London, 1905(1907),p.482).

2TypelocalityProv.Sao Paulo proposedbyHellmayr(Verh.^zool.-bot.Gesell.Wien,

liii,1903,p.206).

sCharacters.

—

_Capslaty, mixed witholive green; backbrighter green; underparts nearlyuniformolive-yellow,somewhatpalerandslightlytingedwith_greenishonthe throat andfore-neck. Wing^52-55mm.;tail42-45mm.

This_{group, R.}p.poliocephalus, R.p. sclateriandR.p. klagesi,may^bereadilydistinguished fromrepresentativesofsulphurescensby^theirsmallersize(wingalwayslessthan_60). I have notseenspecimensoftypical poliocephalus poliocephalus.

Cory — The Genus Rhynchocylus. 221

Range: Northeastern Peru (Ucayali; Exberos; Pebas, Nauta;

Upper

Ucayali; Yurimaguas); southeastern Peru (Cosnipata); eastern Ecuador (Napo);northwesternBrazil (Teffe,upperAmazon).

Rhynchocyclus poliocephalus ^sclateri Hellmayr.

Rhynchocyclus poliocephalus ^sclateri Hellmayr, ^Verh. zool.-bot. Gesell.

Wien, ^liii, 1906,p. 207 _{(Barra de}Rio_Negro, N.BrazilManaos).

Rhynchocycluspoliocephalus (nom.nud.) Pelzeln,Orn.Bras., 1869, p.110 (BarradeRio Negro; Maribitanas

and

Bahia).

Rhynchocyclus megacephalus (nee Tyrannula megacephala Swainson) Sclater, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus.,

XIV,

1888, p. 170 (Para, Brazil;

De-

merara,

Merume

^Mts.

and

_Carimang, BritishGuiana).

Range: Northern^Brazil (RioNegro

and

RioMadeira and eastwardin

Amazon

_region;Rio Tapajoz; RioTocantins;Rio Jamunda,etc.,toPara);

eastern Brazil (Bahia);¹ eastern Venezuela (Lower Orinoco and

Caura

River);^2BritishGuiana; French Guiana;

Dutch

Guiana.

This formis similar to R._p.poliocephalus from _Peru, butdiffers inits larger^sizeand

somewhat

smaller_bill;

by

^itswhitishgray,insteadof olive yellowishthroat;grayish fore-neck (onlyslightly

washed

witholiveyellow- ish),andpaler yellowishunder_parts.

Wing

(type^ex.

by

Hellmayr)573^;

tail53

mm

^.

^The

averagewing measurements^of4males

amd

5femalesfrom

Oyapoc and Nana

River,Cayenne,ⁱⁿthe Carnegie

Museum,

^males

—

_wing

55;females

—

_wing54

mm.

Rhynchocyclus poliocephalus klagesi (Ridgway).

Rhynchocyclus^klagesi Ridgway, ^{Proc. Biol. Soc.} Wash.,

XIX,

1906, p.

115 (Maripa, Venezuela).

Range:

Upper

^OrinocoRiver,Venezuela (Maripa and^{foot of}Mt. Duida);

S.E.Colombia (La^Morelia

and

Florencia).³

This formis obviouslyclosely related to R.p. sclateri, butdiffersinits brighter yellowishbelly

and

initsyellowish-olivetinged breast

and

throat.

SizeaboutthatofR.p. sclateri.

The

singlespecimen fromthefoot of

Mt.

Duida, S. Venezuela, has thecrown

much

darker (duskyslate color) than any specimen^Ihaveseenof eithersclaterior_klagesi,butotherwise agrees withklagesi.

Rhynchocyclus grisescens

Chubb.

RhynchocyclusgrisescensChubb, Ibis, 1910, p.588 _(Sapucay,Paraguay).

Range: Southeastern Paraguay (Sapucay).

1Hellmayr(Novit.Zool.,XVII, 1910,p.298, footnote)hasexaminedthespecimenⁱⁿ the BritishMuseum recordedbySclater,Cat. Bds.Brit.Mus.XIV,1888,p. 170,as speci- mens "a""Brazil"undermegacephalus,andlearned thatitcamefrom Bahiaandthatit proves^tobethisform.

2According^toHellmayr(Novit.Zool.,XVII,1910,p.298, footnote)specimens recorded byBerlepsch

&

HartertfromLaPricion,CauraRiver,Venezuela, as^thisform,prove^tobe a formofsulphurescrns. If so,theyareprobablyaasimilis,whichalsooccursinthat region.

3SpecimensⁱⁿAmericanMuseumofNatural_History.

"AlliedtoR. sulphurescens,but differsinbeing^olivegrey aboveinstead of green; the head

somewhat

darker and inclining to lead-colour; tail- featherspalebrown, edged withwhitish;quills also palebrown, margined with olive-grey.

The

two bars on the _wings, formed

by

^the margins ^of the

median

andgreatercoverts, arewhite insteadofyellow; the throatand chestolive-grey, notyellow; themiddleof the

abdomen

whitish, in place of yellow; the under tail-coverts buff towards the ends; the under wing- coverts white instead _{of yellow.} Bill black above, greyish white below;

tarsi andfeetbluish slate coloured;^iris brown. Total length 5.2 inches;

culmen0.6;wing2.55; tarsus 0.8."

(Chubb

^I.c.orig.descr.) In the

same

paper

Chubb

records R. sulphurescens sulphurescens from the

same

lo- cality.

Rhynchocyclus flaviventris flaviventris (Wied).

Muscipetaflaviventris Wied. Beitr. Naturg. ^Bras. (3), ii, 1831, p. 929 (Rivers

Mucuri and

Alcobaca, southern Bahia, Brazil).

RhynchocyclusflaviventrisaurulentusTodd,^{Proc.Biol.Soc.}Wash.,

XXVI,

1913, p. 171(Momotoco, Santa Marta, Colombia).

Range: Northern

and

easternColombia_(SantaMarta;

Lower Magdalena

region; Cucuta;

"Bogota"

region); Venezuela (Puerto Cabello; Tocuyo;

Cumana;

^RioAurare; Caicaraand_{along the} middle Orinoco_{River, etc.);}

Trinidad;Tobago;^BritishGuiana;^northern

and

easternBrazil(Amazonian region from about ^the Rio _Branco, eastward to Rio _Tocantins; Rio Ja-

munda;

Para; Jua

and

Quixada, Ceara,

and

southward toRio Araguaya,

Goyaz

and Rio Mucuri,Bahia).

Inthisgroup ^R.f. viridiceps

and

R.f. borboeappear ^tobewell

marked

races,butI

am

unabletoseparate theSanta

Marta

bird (aurulentus

Todd)

from^the typicalform. Thereisapparently considerable individual vari- tion (eitherseasonal ordue to difference in age) in the coloration of the under_parts

and

borders ofwingcoverts, andtoa

somewhat

lesserdegree the

same may

^{besaid ofthe}coloration of theupperparts.

The

_brightest examples ^arefromCeara, although ^I cannotdistinguish

them

from

some

specimens from Santa Marta, and from both ^{of these localities a}few se- lected specimens are unquestionably brighter than

any

examples ^I have seenfromBahia.

Most

^oftheBahia specimens^{areold skins}andthe_single fresh skin is as brightly colored ^as most of the Santa

Marta

_specimens.

From

the material before

me

^thedifferencesare slightand_apparentlynot constant.

Two

specimens from ^the Rio Branco

show

a _slight tendency towardsR.f.borbce,butare

much

nearer R._f.flaviventris.

Ihave examined⁶¹specimens^{of this}form fromthe followinglocalities:

Colombia(Santa

Marta

_region,

Momotoco,

Bonda,etc.,18;

Lower Magda-

lenaRiver

and

Cucuta_5);Venezuela _(RioAurare _2;

Cumana

1;Suapure,

Maripa

^and

La Union

9);Trinidad6;

Tobago

3; Brazil(Bahia7;RioBranco region5;Quixada and^Jua,Ceara_5).

Rhynchocyclus flaviventris viridiceps (Sclater

&

_Salvin).

Rhynchocyclusviridiceps Sclater

&

Salvin, P. Z. S. Lond., 1873, p. 280 (Pebas,N._{E. Peru).}

Cory — _{The Genus} Rhynchocylus. 223

Range: Northeastern Peru ^{(Pebas);? central} Peru¹ (La Merced;

Chan-

chamayo); ^easternEcuador (Rio Napo); ^southernColombia (Florencia).² Thiswell

marked

racediffersfrom R._f.flaviventrisin having^the upper parts decidedly darker (more^olive green andless yellowish green); lores yellowish^olive(without rustytinge)^;lesserand median wingcoverts green- ish like the back; throatandbreast yellowishgreen, ^likethe_sides,becom- ing^cleareryellowon middleof belly.

Wing

56;^tail48

mm.

³

ThisformisclosetoR.f.borboeandresemblesitincolorationof lores

and

wing coverts, butit differs inits slightly

more

greenish upper parts

and

decidedly

more

greenish throat and chest (not clear olive yellow ^{as in} borboe).

Rhynchocyclus flaviventris borbae Hellmayr.

Rhynchocyclusflaviventer borboeHellmayr, ^{Verh. zool.-bot. Gesell.} Wien,

liii, 1903, p.208 _(Borba,Rio Madeira,Brazil).

Range: Northwestern ^Brazil (Lower Rio Madeira; Borba; Marmellos⁴ and

Monte

_Verde,RioPurus).⁵

Thisformissimilar toR._f.viridicepsfromnortheastern Peru,butdiffers initsclear oliveyellowish throat

and

chest (notlightyellowish green^{as in} viridiceps)^.

lAccording toHellmayr (Novit.Zool., XVII, 1910, p. 296) twospecimens fromLa Merced,^centralPeru(preservedⁱⁿtheBranickiMuseum)arelarger,andmayprove^tobe a differentform. Wing60

H

^;tail49}^ and wing⁶³V£^;tail53mm.

2Chapman ^Bull.Amer.Mus.Nat.Hist.,

XXXVI,

^1917,p.436.

3Measurementsfrom specimen fromFlorenciaintheAmerican MuseumofNatural History. Themeasurementsofthe type, asgivenby^Sclater

&

Salvin(I.c.)arewing^2.2 in.; tail 1.7in. Ihavenot seen aspecimen from Ecuador^orPeru.

4Hellmayr,Novit.Zool.,XVII,1910,p.295.

sSnethlage, Bol.Mus.Goeldi,VIII, 1914,p.369.