Chapter II: Part 2

The authors state that this genus was very closely allied to _Fregilupus_, and, besides some minor differences, give as the principal difference the shorter and less curved bill.

NECROPSAR RODERICANUS GÜNTH. & NEWT.

(PLATE 2, FIG. 2.)

_Necropsar rodericanus_ Günther & Newton, Phil. Trans. vol. 168, p.
427, pl. XLII, figs. A-G (1879).

The original description given by the anonymous author of the "Relation de l'Ile Rodrigue" is as follows:--"These birds are a little larger than a blackbird, and have white plumage, part of the wings and the tail black, the beak and the legs yellow, and make a wonderful warbling." Our author also says they inhabited the Islet au Mât, and fed on seabirds' eggs and dead turtle.

The bird evidently became extinct on Rodriguez before 1730, and lingered a little longer on the outlying islets. Only known from bones, mostly collected by the Rev. H. H. Slater, and the above description.

Habitat: Rodriguez and neighbouring islets.

There is one tibia in the Tring Museum.

The figure is coloured according to the description, while the shape of the bird is evident from its bones and relation. {6}

NECROPSAR LEGUATI FORBES.

(PLATE 2, FIG. 3.)

_Necropsar leguati_ Forbes, Bull. Liverp. Mus. I, p. 34, pl.
_Sturnidae_ I (1897-1898).

Dr. Forbes' description is as follows:--"General colour white everywhere, except on the outer webs of distal half of the primaries and secondaries and the outer webs of the newly moulted and both webs of the unmoulted rectrices, which are marked with lighter or darker ferruginous."

Dr. Forbes then gives an exhaustive description of the structure, to which I refer my readers, and the following measurements:--

Culmen 32 mm.
Wing 109 "
Tail 98 "
Tarsus 31.5 "

I should have been inclined to consider this bird an albinistic specimen of the bird described in "Relation de l'Ile Rodrigue," but for the fact that the tibia of _Necropsar rodericanus_ is 52-59 mm. in length, while this is only 46 mm. in length, while the metatarsus measures 31.5 mm. as opposed to 36-41 mm. in _N. rodericanus_. I cannot accept the theory that this is the Islet au Mât bird, and therefore different from _N. rodericanus_, as the islet is too close to Rodriguez to have had a different starling. I therefore believe this bird to have been an albinistic specimen of the Mauritius species of _Necropsar_, for there can be little doubt that it is albinistic, as the ferruginous colour is much stronger on one wing than on the other; and I conclude that the colour in the wings and tail in normal specimens was black like the Rodriguez bird, and that _N. leguati_ was a close ally of _N. rodericanus_, from which it differed principally in its much smaller size.

Habitat doubtful.--The type specimen bears Lord Derby's Museum number, 1792, and a label of Verreaux giving Madagascar as the habitat, which is certainly erroneous.

{7}

FOUDIA BRUANTE (P.L.S. MÜLL.)

(PLATE 2, FIG. 1.)

_Bruant de l'isle de Bourbon_ Daubenton, Pl. Enl. 321.

_Le Mordoré_, Montbeillard, Hist. Nat. Ois., Quarto Edition IV., p. 366
(1778--Bourbon).

_Fringilla bruante_ P.L.S. Müll., Natursyst., Suppl. p. 164, No. 51
(1776--ex Daubenton Pl. enl).

_Emberiza fuscofulva_ Boddaert, Table Pl. Enl. p. 20 (1783--based on
Pl. Enl. 321 and Montbeillard's "Morderé").

_Emberiza borbonica_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I p. 886 (1788--ex Daubenton
and Montbeillard).

_Foudia bruante_ Newton, Trans. Norf. and Norw. Nat. Soc. IV., pp. 543
and 548 (1889).

_Nesacanthis fusco-fulvus_ Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XIII p. 484
(1890).

We know absolutely nothing about this bird, except Daubenton's figure and the description by Montbeillard. In the plate the whole body, including the back, is uniform red, about the same red as in other species of _Foudia_, while the wings and tail are dark brown with yellowish-brown borders. In the description the body plumage is described as rufous ("morderé") and the wings, wing-coverts and tail as more or less bright rufous ("d'un mordoré plus ou moins clair"). The size is said to be about that of a Bunting, but the tail shorter and the wings longer.

According to Dr. Sharpe (Cat. B. XIII, p. 484) "it has generally been considered identical with _Foudia madagascariensis_," but the latter has the back marked with longitudinal black spots, while both the figure and description of _F. bruante_ represent a uniform red upperside; moreover the locality of the latter is expressly stated, and as we know other forms of _Foudia_ from the Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros, Aldabra and Madagascar, we have no reason to doubt the statement. We are not aware of any specimen existing of this doubtless extinct bird, though it would be worth while to search the Paris Museum for this treasure.

Habitat: Réunion or Bourbon.

{9}

CHAUNOPROCTUS BP.

_Chaunoproctus Bonaparte_, Consp. Av. I p. 526 (1850).

The genus _Chaunoproctus_ contains only one species, which is characterized by its enormous bill, the depth of the mandible being greater than the distance between the nasal apertures. The cutting-edge of the maxilla is nearly straight, and there is no tooth in the posterior half of the maxilla. The total length is about seven to eight inches. The adult male has red in the plumage, the female is brown, above and below.

Dr. Hartert (Vögel pal. Fauna I, p. 115) is of opinion that this bird is connected with _Carpodacus_ and allies, and not with the Greenfinches and Hawfinches, among which it is placed in the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum.

CHAUNOPROCTUS FERREOROSTRIS (VIG.)

(PLATE 3, FIG. 4.)

_Coccothraustes ferreorostris_ (_sic_) Vigors, Zool. Journ. IV p. 354
(1828); id. in Beechey's Voy. Blossom, p. 22, pl. 8 (1839).

_Fringilla papa_ Kittlitz, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sc. Petersbourg I p. 239,
pl. 15 (1830); id. Kupfertaf. Vög. p. 24, pl. 32, 2 (1832).

_Chaunoproctus papa_ Bonaparte, Consp. I p. 526 (1850); Bp. and
Schlegel, Monogr. Loxiens p. 32 pls. 37, 38 (1850).

_Chaunoproctus ferreirostris_ Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XII p. 31
(1888).

Vigors' original description, translated from the Latin, is as follows: "Dark brown; head, breast and upper part of abdomen scarlet. Bill very strong, feet plumbeous. Length of body 8½, bill 7/8, at gape 1-3/16, height 7/8; wings from the carpus to the third quill 4½; tail 3, tarsus 7/8 inches."

In the "Catalogue of Birds," XII, p. 31, both sexes are carefully described.

It appears that only one pair, now in the British Museum, was obtained during Captain Beechey's voyage. Curiously enough, Vigors suggested that the brilliantly coloured adult male might be the young, the female the adult bird, "as is the case in the Pine-Grosbeak" (_Sic!_).

Kittlitz, who visited the largest of the Bonin Islands in May, 1828, obtained a number of specimens, of which some are in St. Petersburg, two in Frankfurt-a.-M., one or two in Leyden, and, I believe, in Paris. {10} These seem to be all the specimens known in European museums. Mr. Seebohm's collector, the late Holst, failed to obtain it, and Mr. Alan Owston's men, who several times went to the Bonin group to obtain it, and who were promised good prices for specimens, did not get one. I am therefore convinced that for some unknown reason this bird became extinct, though there is still the possibility that the recent collectors did not collect on the main island of the group, which alone was visited by Kittlitz.

Kittlitz tells us that he found it in the woods along the coast, but not numerous. That it keeps concealed, is very phlegmatic, and is so little shy that one is obliged to go back for some distance, before shooting, if one wishes to preserve the specimen. Kittlitz saw it but seldom on high trees, mostly on the ground. Its frequently heard note is a very fine piping sound. In the crop and stomach small fruit and buds of one kind of tree were found.

Habitat: The largest of the Bonin Islands, south of Japan.

{11}

GEOSPIZA MAGNIROSTRIS GOULD.

(PLATE 3, FIG. 1.)

_Geospiza magnirostris_ Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1837, p. 5
(Galapagos Islands); Rothschild & Hartert, Nov. Zool. 1899 p. 154, 1902
p. 388; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XII, pp. 6, 7 (Fig.); Ridgway, B.
North and Middle America I, p. 495 (1901).

As explained in Nov. Zool. 1899, p. 154, it is uncertain where Darwin obtained the type specimens of Gould's _G. magnirostris_, as "Unfortunately, most of the specimens of the finch-tribe were mingled together," as Darwin tells us in his "Journal of Researches" (New Edition 1890, p. 420), and he had only "strong reasons to suspect that some of the species of the sub-group _Geospiza_ are confined to separate islands." We are, however, convinced that the types of _G. magnirostris_ can only have come from Charles Island, where it is, probably, the representative of _G. strenua strenua_. It seems, however, that _G. magnirostris_ exists no longer, for all subsequent collectors have failed to obtain specimens, unless an immature specimen in the U. S. Nat. Mus., from Charles Island (No. 115,905), is a young _magnirostris_ (cf. Nov. Zool. 1902, p. 388).

The dimensions of the three black specimens in the British Museum are as follows: Culmen 26.5, 27, 27; height of bill at base 23.5-24; wing 91, 91, 95; tarsus 25 mm. These measurements--a culmen of over 26.5 and a wing of 91 mm. combined--do not occur among our large series of _strenua_, and therefore it is hardly possible that _G. magnirostris_ is composed of huge examples of _strenua_ only.

As Charles Island has been inhabited for many years it is not at all unlikely that a bird became extinct on that place. On plate 3 is figured _G. magnirostris_ and a head of _G. strenua_ for comparison. {12}

GEOSPIZA DENTIROSTRIS GOULD.

_Geospiza dentirostris_ Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1837, p. 6;
Rothschild & Hartert, Nov. Zool. 1899 p. 163, 1902 p. 396.

This curious form differs from _G. fortis fortis_ (Charles Island!) in its bill, which is bowed in towards the end of the upper mandible, and slightly "toothed" on its cutting edge. The one specimen in the British Museum certainly came from Charles Island, and we may, therefore, conclude that the other also came from there, and there is certainly no reason to think that it came from Chatham Island. As the skins in the British Museum slightly differ from each other, there is some reason to suspect that they are both aberrations of _G. fortis fortis_. Otherwise it must have become extinct, as, in spite of special attention being paid to it, none of the recent collectors met with _G. dentirostris_.

{13}

POMAREA NIGRA (SPARRM.)

_Muscicapa nigra Sparrmann_, Mus. Carlson. I, pl. 23 and text
(1786--Society Islands).

_Pomarea nigra_ Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. IV, p. 434 (1879--Full
synonymy, description, etc., Society Islands, Marquesas group).

In the list of birds now fully extinct, in the Proceedings of the Fourth Intern. Orn. Congress, I enumerated _Pomarea nigra_, on the strength of E. L. Layard's statement, P.Z.S. 1876, p. 501, who says: "This bird has undoubtedly become extinct. Large sums have been offered by Messrs. Godeffroy's collectors for the acquisition of a single specimen, but in vain! The very old natives say they remember the bird and call it "Moho."

I, however, overlooked the fact that this note of Layard's referred to the Friendly Islands only, and that this bird has afterwards been obtained in numbers on the Marquesas group. It would, nevertheless, be very interesting to compare specimens from the various islands, viz.: the Society group, Marquesas and Tongatabu, to see if they are perfectly similar.

{15}

MIRO TRAVERSI BULLER.

(PLATE 5, FIG. 1.)

_Miro traversi_ Buller, B. New Zealand, Ed. I p. 123 (1873--Chatham
Islands).

_Petroeca traversi_ Hutton, Ibis 1872, p. 245.

_Myiomoira traversi_ Finsch, Journ.-f.-Orn. 1874, p. 189.

_Miro traversi_ Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. IV p. 236 (1879).

_Miro traversi_ (partim) Buller, Suppl. B. N. Zealand II p. 125? pl.
XII (October, 1906).

The late Sir Walter Buller described, in 1873, _Miro traversi_ as follows: "Adult male. The whole of the plumage black, the base of the feathers dark plumbeous; wing-feathers and their coverts tinged with brown, the former greyish on their inner surface; tail-feathers black, very slightly tinged with brown. Irides dark brown; bill black; tarsi and toes blackish brown, the soles of the feet dull yellow. Total length 6 inches; wing, from flexure, 3.4; tail 2.6; bill 0.5, tarsus 1.1; middle toe and claw 0.1, hind toe and claw 0.8 inch."

"Female. Slightly smaller than the male, and without the brown tinge on the wings and tail."

It may be added that _Miro traversi_ is not pure black, but of a somewhat brownish slaty black.

_Miro traversi_ is only known from the Chatham Islands, where it was formerly very common, but, according to a letter from the late W. Hawkins, the cats, which have been introduced to destroy rats and rabbits, have exterminated it. It seems to have disappeared from Warekauri, the main island of the Chatham group, long ago, for H. O. Forbes (Ibis 1893, p. 524) and Henry Palmer found it, in 1890 and 1892, only on the outlying islets of Mangare and Little Mangare.

The bird from the Snares is quite different, being deep glossy black and having a shorter and narrower first primary. I named it _M. dannefaerdi_. It is to be feared that a similar fate will one day befall it as has, apparently, already befallen its congener from the Chatham Islands.

Sir Walter Buller (Suppl. B.N.Z. II, p. 125) has confounded _M. traversi_ and _dannefaerdi_, and the figure he gave on his plate looks so black, that I do not doubt it represents rather the latter than the former. Of course _M. dannefaerdi_ alone occurs on the Snares, and Buller's _traversi_ from the Snares were all dannefaerdi. Dr. Finsch's statement (Ibis 1888, p. 308) that Reischek's specimen from the Snares "agreed in every respect with specimens from the Chatham Islands" is entirely wrong, for, even if {16} one prefers unscientifically to lump allied forms, one cannot say that a _Miro_ from the Chathams agrees in every respect with one from the Snares. Buller's doubts about the distinctness of the latter might easily have been removed, if he had taken the trouble to compare them, for it does not require any genius to see the differences. I admit that with my present views on geographical forms I would regard the two _Miro_ as sub-species, and call them _M. traversi traversi_ and _M. traversi dannefaerdi_, but most ornithologists would still consider them to be "good species."

I may add that Buller, l.c., p. 125, has not quoted my description correctly, for in his rendering are several disturbing misprints, and in the fourth line from the bottom occurs a "not" which ought not to be there, and which makes the sentence incomprehensible. Also the name itself is spelt incorrectly.

I have a series from Mangare and Little Mangare, taken by Henry Palmer in 1890. The egg seems to be unknown.

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

{17}

TURDUS TERRESTRIS KITTL.

_Turdus terrestris_ Kittlitz, Mém. Acad. Sc. Pétersburg I p. 245, pl.
17 (1830--Boninsima).

_Geocichla terrestris_ Bonaparte, Consp. Av. I, p. 268 (1850); Seebohm,
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. V, p. 183 (1881); Hartert, Kat. Vogels. Senckenb, p.
6 (1891); Sharpe, Monograph Turdidae, I p. 107, pl. 33 (1902).

_Cichlopasser terrestris_ Bonaparte, C.R. XXXVIII, p. 6 (1854).

The following is Dr. Sharpe's description from a specimen in the Leyden Museum: "General colour of the upper parts olive-brown, shading into chestnut-brown on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail; the inside web of each feather much darker, approaching black on the back; lores dark brown; eye-stripe very obscure; lesser wing-coverts brown, darkest on the inside web; median coverts dark brown, with large olive-brown tips; greater coverts nearly black, broadly tipped, and narrowly margined towards the base with olive-brown; primary coverts black, with a broad olive-brown patch on the outer webs; tertials dark brown on the inner web, and olive-brown on the outer web; secondaries brown, margined with olive-brown on the outer webs; primaries brown, with the basal half of the outer webs, and a spot where the emargination begins, olive-brown; tail-feathers chestnut-brown; ear-coverts brown; underparts olive-brown, shading into white on the chin, throat, and centre of belly; under tail-coverts dark brown, with irregular diamond-shaped white tips; axillaries brown; under wing-coverts brown. Geocichline markings on inner webs of quills dirty white. Wing 3.8 inches, tail 2.6, culmen 0.85, tarsus 1.07, bastard primary 0.8."

The only person who ever collected this short-tailed Ground-Thrush was Kittlitz, who obtained four specimens, one of which is in St. Petersburg, one in Frankfurt, one in Vienna, and one in Leyden. Neither Holst, nor Alan Owston's Japanese collectors obtained specimens, though their special attention was called to it. Therefore, unless these recent collectors left unvisited the most important island of the group, we must suppose that it became extinct.

Habitat: Bonin Islands, south-east of Japan.

{19}

PHAEORNIS OAHENSIS WILSON & EVANS.

_Phaeornis oahensis_ Wilson & Evans, Aves Hawaiienses, Introd. p. XIII
(1899--Based on _Turdus sandwichensis_ var. Bloxam, Voy. "Blonde" App.
p. 250 (1826--Oahu) and _Turdus woahensis_ Bloxam M.S.)

Nothing is known about this evidently extinct bird, which formerly existed on the island of Oahu, except Bloxam's short description, which is as follows:--"Length 7½ inches; upper parts olive-brown, extremities of the feathers much lighter colour; tail and wings brown; bill bristled at the base."

The corresponding description of _Phaeornis obscura_ in Bloxam's M.S. notes is:--"Length 8 inches; belly light ash; back, tail and wings an ash-brown; bill slender, ¾-in. long, bristled at the base. A beautiful songster."

It is thus evident that Bloxam considered both forms to be distinct, and Messrs. Wilson and Evans were perfectly justified in naming the extinct Oahu form.

We are not aware of any specimens being preserved in any Museum, though Bloxam obtained a skin. Messrs. Wilson and Evans (l.c.) write:--"All the specimens obtained by Mr. Andrew Bloxam, properly prepared and labelled, were placed at the disposal of the Lords of the Admiralty, as shewn by a copy of the letter he wrote to their Secretary, and probably all were sent, as some certainly were, to the British Museum; but no other trace of this unique specimen of a vanished species, which may be properly called _Phaeornis oahensis_, is now forthcoming."

{21}

BOWDLERIA RUFESCENS (BULLER).

(PLATE 5, FIG. 3.)

_Sphenoeacus rufescens_ Buller, Ibis 1869, p. 38.

_Megalurus rufescens_ Gray Hand-l. B. I, p. 206. No. 2913. (1869.)

Buller's original description is as follows: "Upper parts, sides, and tail dark rufous brown, brightest on the crown and hind-neck; the feathers of the shoulders and sides centred with black. Quills dusky black, margined with rufous brown. Streak over the eye, throat, breast and abdomen pale fawn colour; sides of the head and ear-coverts marked with black. Bill light brown with the ridge black, feet dark brown." Buller's type probably had been preserved in spirit, as the colouration of fresh specimens is very different to his description. The general colour above and on the flanks chestnut rufous, most feathers with darker or black centres; chin, throat, breast and abdomen pure white; crissum and under tail-coverts whity buff or buffy brown. Wing 2.6 inches, tail 3.9 inches, culmen 0.65 inch.

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

Cats, rats and weasels have exterminated this fine species, which is now quite extinct. Messrs. Travers and Dannefaerd have supplied the specimens in most colonial museums, while Henry Palmer collected the 14 at Tring. A few in Liverpool and two in the British Museum are all known to me in Europe, in addition to those at Tring.

{23}

TRAVERSIA ROTHSCH.

See description below. Only one species known.

TRAVERSIA LYALLI ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 5, FIG. 3.)

_Traversia lyalli_ Rothschild, Bull. B.O.C. IV p. X (December 29th,
1894); Nov. Zool. 1895, p. 81.

_Xenicus insularis_ Buller, Ibis 1895, p. 236, pl.

_Traversia insularis_ Buller, Suppl. B.N.Z. II p. 109, pl. X (1906).

In 1894 I described this remarkable little bird as follows: "_Traversia_, gen. nov. _Xenicidarum_. Differs in several important points both from _Xenicus_ and _Acanthidositta_. Bill much larger and stouter, very little shorter, if at all, than the tarsus; the latter about as long as middle toe without claw, or the hind toe and claw, while in _Xenicus_ and _Acanthidositta_ it is about twice as long as the hind toe. The principal difference, however, is the weakness of the wing, which suggests flightlessness, as does also the very soft and loose character of the entire plumage, and the very Ralline aspect of the bird. There are only ten tail-feathers, and the scutellation of the tarsus is like that of _Xenicus_. These two points determine its position in the _Xenicidae_ at once (cf. Sclater, Cat. B. XIV, p. 450).

"The type is: _Traversia lyalli_, sp. nov.

"Male. Above dark brownish olive-yellow, each feather with a brownish-black border. A narrow distinct yellow superciliary line. Wings and tail umber-brown, the inner webs darker; wing-coverts like back. Chin, throat, and breast chrome-yellow, each feather slightly edged with greyish brown. Flanks, abdomen, and vent pale brown, centre of feathers paler.

"Female. Upper surface umber-brown, each feather bordered with very dark brown; wings and tail similar. Under surface buffy grey, the feathers edged with pale brown. Total length about 4 inches, culmen 0.6, wing 1.8 to 1.9, tail 0.8, but much concealed, tarens 0.75, middle toe 0.65, hind toe without claw 0.5. {24}

"Habitat: Stephens Island, New Zealand. Discovered by Mr. Dr. Lyall, lighthouse-keeper, and sent to me by Mr. Henry H. Travers."

I received nine specimens of this new bird, and was not aware that any others had been taken at that time. As I was unable to attend the December meeting, 1894, of the British Ornithologists Club, I asked Dr. Hartert to exhibit the birds in my name. When he had done so and had read the description, the Chairman, Dr. P. L. Sclater, said that the bird had also been received for illustration and description in the Ibis, from Sir Walter Buller, and he asked Dr. Hartert if I would not withdraw my description. Dr. Hartert said that this was unfortunate, but he had no authority to withdraw my description, and he and Dr. Sharpe thought that the proceedings of the meeting should be printed without consideration of any manuscripts which might refer to the same bird. No doubt this was hard luck on Sir Walter Buller, but it would have been equally hard luck for me if he had forestalled me with the new bird. He had only one specimen, I had nine, of both sexes, and I had paid a high price for them, as types of a new bird. My type is in Tring, and, as everybody knows, available for study by any competent ornithologist, while Buller's type was not in any museum, and it was uncertain to whom he would sell it afterwards. I suppose it is now in the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, to which Buller's third collection, 625 specimens, was sold for a thousand pounds, as Buller himself tells us in his Supplement II, p. 167, under the heading of _Glaucopis wilsoni_! On the same page Sir Walter Buller also tells us that his "second collection" was sold to me, but he makes a mistake about the price, as I certainly did not pay a thousand pounds for it.

I mentioned these unimportant details, because Buller rather bitterly and severely complained about my describing the Stephens' Island Wren, on p. 111 of his supplement. I may only add that of course my name, being published in December, 1894, has the priority over his, which was not published before April, 1895.

The history of _Traversia lyalli_ is perhaps the most extraordinary of any bird known. All the specimens I am aware of, viz., the eight now in my collection, the type of "_Xenicus insularis_" in Buller's former collection, one in the late Canon Tristram's collection, one in the British Museum (ex Tring), and two or more offered some years ago by Mr. Travers, were brought in by the lighthouse-keeper's cat. Evidently this feline discoverer has at the same time been the exterminator of _Traversia lyalli_, and many may have been digested by that unique cat, as in letters received from Mr. Travers I {25} have been told that no more specimens could be obtained, and Buller (l.c.) says: "Very diligent search has been made on Stephen Island for further specimens of the Island Wren, but without success, and there is too much reason to fear that this species has almost immediately after its discovery become extinct."

Habitat: Stephen Island, a small, partly wooded islet, about a square mile in extent, in Cook Strait. It is almost impossible that this bird has only existed on Stephen Island. It must have been overlooked on d'Urville Island or the "mainland," where it probably became extinct--through rats and cats, and similar pests--long ago.

{27}

MOHO APICALIS GOULD.

(PLATE 4A, 1.)

_Yellow-tufted Bee-eater_ (non Latham!), Dixon, Voyage round the World,
p. 357, plate (1789).

_Moho apicalis_ Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1860, p. 381 (? Hawaii).

_Acrulocercus apicalis_ Wilson & Evans, Av. Hawaii, pt. V text and
plate (1894).

_Moho apicalis_ Rothschild, Avif. Laysan, etc., p. 223 and plate
(1900).

This rarest species of the Mohos formerly inhabited the island of Oahu, where specimens were obtained in 1837, near Enero, by Herr Deppe. The localities of the specimens figured by Dixon and that of the type of Gould are uncertain, but they must have been obtained on Oahu. Since 1837 we have no further traces of _Moho apicalis_.

The only specimens known are those in Berlin, collected by Deppe, two in the British Museum, and one in my Museum at Tring. The latter, which I obtained in exchange from the British Museum, is the one brought home from the Sandwich Islands by Capt. Lord Byron. There is no specimen of _Moho apicalis_ in the Vienna Museum.

Habitat: Oahu.

{29}

CHAETOPTILA SCL.

_Chaetoptila_ Sclater, Ibis 1871 p. 358.

Dr. Sclater justly proposed a new generic term for the "_Entomyza_" or "_Moho_" _angustipluma_ of former authors. This bird belongs doubtless to the family of _Meliphagidae_ or Honey-eaters, and the genus is sufficiently distinct from all others. There are no fleshy wattles anywhere. The tail is long and strongly graduated; all the rectrices are obliquely pointed at their tips. The plumage of the body is very soft, that of the head, throat and chest almost fluffy; the feathers of the chin, throat and forehead end in hair-like bristles.

We know only one species.

CHAETOPTILA ANGUSTIPLUMA (PEALE).

(PLATE 4A, FIG. 2.)

_Entomiza angustipluma_ Peale, U.S. Expl. Exp., Birds p. 147 pl. XL
fig. 2 (1848--Hawaii).

_Mohoa angustipluma_ Cassin, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1855 p. 440.

_Moho angustipluma_ Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exp., Mamm. & Orn. p. 148 pl. XI
fig. 1 (1858--Hawaii).

Wilson & Evans, Aves. Hawai. pt. II and plate (1891--Hawaii).

Rothschild, Avif. Laysan, etc., p. 215 and plate (1900).

This remarkable bird, belonging to the family _Meliphagidae_, used to inhabit the island of Hawaii in the Sandwich Archipelago. It has been said by Mr. Dole to inhabit Molokai, but this is evidently an error. At present nobody on the island of Hawaii has any recollection of its presence, and its former native name is unknown--the name "Kiowea" erroneously quoted by Mr. Dole being that of _Numenius tahitiensis_. The bird is extinct, though we do not know the reason why it disappeared.

THE ONLY SPECIMENS WE KNOW OF ARE THE FOLLOWING:--

1. The type in the Museum at Washington, U.S.A.

2. One in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu.

3. One in the Museum of the University at Cambridge, obtained in
exchange from Honolulu by Mr. Scott Wilson.

4. One in my Museum at Tring, obtained in exchange from the Honolulu
Museum.

The type was obtained by Peale, the three others by the late Mr. Mills on the island of Hawaii.

{30}

STRIGICEPS LEUCOPOGON LESS.

_Strigiceps leucopogon_ Lesson, Echo du Monde Savant 1840 (?); Rev.
Zool. 1840, p. 266; Suppl. aux oeuvres compl. de Buffon, Descr. de
Mammif. & Ois, récemm. découverts, p. 277 (1847--Nouvelle Hollande);
Hartlaub, Beitrag Gesch ausgest Vögel, in Abhandl. Naturw. Ver. Bremen,
2te Ausgabe, als M.S. gedr., p. 40 (1896).

Nobody has hitherto identified the curious bird described by Lesson, l.c., under the above name. From the generic characters he gives it is evident that it was a bird with a long, curved bill, lanceolate feathers on the head and throat, and long, strongly graduated tail, doubtless belonging to the _Meliphagidae_. The description of the colouration is as follows:--

"Back, wings and tail bright greenish-olive; quills brown inside; shafts of the rectrices canary-yellow from below, glossy brown-red from above; top of head and neck chestnut, each feather being narrow and streaked with white, then with fawn-colour on the top; the feathers of the throat are elongated and fringed out on their edges, very narrow and lanceolate, grey at base, white at the tips; cheeks, sides of neck and chest ferruginous, some white streaks on the feathers of the chest and in the middle of the throat; flanks and belly clear rufous, passing into canary-yellow on the under tail-coverts. Tail from below greenish-yellow; tarsi horn-colour, bill above brownish, below yellowish with brown tip. Length about eight french inches and a half (0.23 centimètres)." (_Translated._)

This bird was said to have come from Australia. I have made enquiries, but the type seems to have disappeared. There is something in the description reminding us of _Chaetoptila angustipluma_. Unless the description is faulty, this bird came probably not from Australia, but from one of the Pacific Islands. It has not been observed since, and is possibly extinct.

{31}

DREPANIS TEMM.

_Drepanis_ Temminck, Man. d'Orn. Ed. II, I p. LXXXVI (1820--"Espèces:
_Certhia pacifica--obscura--vestiaria_ et probablement _falcata_, que
je n'ai pas vu.") Type by elimination: _Drepanis pacifica_.

The name _Drepanis_ is now restricted to the practically extinct "Mamo" of the natives of the Sandwich Islands. _Drepanis pacifica_ has a very striking black and yellow colouration; the somewhat loose-webbed under tail-coverts cover about three-quarters of the tail. The bill is long, curved, non-serrated, the upper mandible a few millimetres longer than the lower jaw. Nostrils large, covered by an operculum. First primary rudimentary, hidden by its covert. There is a silky, soft and fluffy axillary patch of feathers. The tail is slightly rounded. The metatarsus is covered with large, partly fused scutes.

Only one species known.

DREPANIS PACIFICA (GM.)

_Great Hook-billed Creeper_ Latham, Gen. Synops. I p. 703 (1782).

_Certhia pacifica_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I p. 470 (1788--ex Latham).

Both Mr. Scott Wilson and myself have at length discussed this beautiful bird in our books on the Hawaiian Avifauna. Of the actual status of this bird in former times we know nothing. Latham described it first (Gmelin named this species after Latham's description) from a pair in the Leverian collection, which is now preserved in the Vienna Museum. About half a century ago several specimens were collected by the late W. Mills near Hilo, on the island of Hawaii, the only island where it existed. Nothing certain was heard of the "Mamo" until, in 1892, my collector Henry Palmer obtained a fine male, which was caught before his eyes by a native birdcatcher. In July, 1898, Mr. H. W. Henshaw saw "at least a pair, possibly a whole family," in the woods of Kaumana, and in 1899 a native heard the, to him, well-known call near the same place. This brings the existence of the Mamo down to the year 1898 or 1899. In view of the futile efforts of Messrs. Henry Palmer, {32} Perkins, Henshaw and others to observe this rare bird again, we may well suppose that this species is either extinct, or will very soon vanish if any are left.

In former times the Mamo was probably more or less common. Its golden yellow feathers were of great value, and, though the majority of the famous war-cloaks are composed of the feathers of _Moho nobilis_, a few such cloaks are known to consist of Mamo feathers. It is supposed that it took generations to complete such a cape.

I only know of specimens of this bird in Vienna, Leyden, Paris, Honolulu, Cambridge and Tring.

The two examples in the Vienna Museum were obtained by Fichtel at the sale of the Leverian collection. One is perfect, the other has the upper portion of the bill wanting.

{33}

HEMIGNATHUS OBSCURUS ELLISIANUS GRAY.

(PLATE 4, FIG. 1.)

_Hemignathus obscurus_ Lichtenstein (non Gmelin!), Abh. Akad. Wiss.
Berlin, 1838, p. 440 pl. 5 fig. 1 (Oahu).

_Drepanis_ (_Hemignathus_) _ellisiana_ Gray, Cat. B. Trop. Is. Pac. Oc.
p. 9 (1859--based on Lichtenstein's _H. obscurus_ from Oahu).

_Hemignathus lichtensteini_ Scott Wilson, Ann. & Mag. N. H. ser. 6,
vol. IV, p. 401 (1889--Oahu, based on the Berlin specimen).

_Hemignathus ellisianus_ Rothschild, Avif. of Laysan, etc., p. 87
(1893) p. 310 (1900).

We know only of one single specimen, the type of the names _ellisianus_ and _lichtensteini_, figured and described by Lichtenstein, in 1838, under the name of _Hemignathus obscurus_. It is true that Lichtenstein says, that Herr Deppe procured several specimens, but there is only one in the Berlin Museum, and we have no knowledge where the others may be, if they are still in existence.

There can hardly be any doubt that _H. obscurus ellisianus_ is extinct on Oahu, where it was discovered by Deppe. All recent collectors, from Wilson and Palmer to this day, have failed to find a trace of it. Although collecting in the dense forests and rugged mountains of Oahu is most difficult, we may suppose that at least one of these collectors would have come across it, if it still existed.

The following is the description made by Dr. Hartert of the type in Berlin:--

"Above greenish olive-brown, more greenish on the back and rump, and somewhat more greyish on the head and hind-neck; the dark bases of the feathers on the head showing through, lores deep brown. A distinct yellow superciliary stripe. Chin, throat, and middle of abdomen dull brownish white (apparently somewhat faded). Upper breast olive-greenish, sides of breast and flanks dull olive-greenish, more olive-brown on the flanks. Wings and tail deep brown, bordered with yellowish green. Under-wing coverts dull white. Bill brown, somewhat horn-brown, but not blackish, as in the other forms of _Hemignathus_.

It is not probable that the bill and feet are faded, as in specimens of _Heterorhynchus lucidus_ collected and stuffed at the same time and kept side by side with _H. o. ellisianus_, the bill and feet are still blackish and not brown.

Wing 83.5, tail 53, culmen 56, bill from gape to tip in a straight line 47.5, lower mandible from mental apex to tip 40 mm."

{35}

HETERORHYNCHUS LUCIDUS (LICHT.)

(PLATE 4, FIG. 2.)

_Hemignathus lucidus_ Lichtenstein, Abh. d. Kön. Akad. Wissensch.
Berlin 1838 p. 451, pl. V figs. 2 [male] 3 [female] (1839--Oahu).

_Heterorhynchus olivaceus_ Lafresnaye, Mag. de Zool. 1839 pl. X. and
text (Oct. 1839).

The Oahu form of _Heterorhynchus_ is now extinct, and specimens are only, as far as we know, preserved in the Museums of Berlin (types of _H. lucidus_), Boston (type of _H. olivaceus_), Francfort, Paris, Leyden, London, Cambridge, Liverpool.

In 1838 Deppe saw this bird in great numbers flying round the flowers of the banana plantations. As the bird was apparently common, it is quite possible that specimens are preserved in several other collections, and it would be most welcome if the officials of continental Museums would give information in case they should find specimens of this interesting extinct bird.

Habitat: Oahu.

{37}

PSITTIROSTRA PSITTACEA DEPPEI ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 4, FIG. 3.)

_Psittirostra olivacea_ Rothschild, Avifauna of Laysan p. 193
(1900--Oahu, ex Lichtenstein nomen nudum & M.S.)

_Psittirostra psittacea deppei_ Rothschild, Bull. B.O.C. XV. p. 45
(1905--new name for the above, the name _olivacea_ being preoccupied by
Ranzani).

_Psittirostra psittacea psittacea_ is still one of the commoner birds on most of the Hawaiian Islands, except Oahu, where it was formerly replaced by a closely allied form, _P. p. deppei_, distinguishable by slightly smaller dimensions, more whitish abdomen in the male, and somewhat more olivaceous upperside. Specimens have been collected on Oahu by Prof. Behn and Herr Deppe, and besides a pair in my collection, I only know of examples in the museums of Berlin and Vienna. There is no trace left of this species in Oahu, and in spite of great efforts Mr. Palmer and all other recent collectors did not come across it. This form has thus shared the fate of _Hemignathus ellisianus_, _Heterorhynchus lucidus_, _Moho apicalis_ and _Phaeornis oahensis_, which have all disappeared from Oahu, while _Loxops rufa_ may still exist in a few pairs, or has possibly followed suit already.

{39}

LOXOPS COCCINEA RUFA BLOXAM.

_Fringilla rufa_ Bloxam, Voy. "Blonde" p. 250 (1826).

_Loxops wolstenholmei_ Rothschild, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club I, p. LVI
(1893--Oahu).

_Loxops rufa_ Wilson, Aves Hawaiienses part VI, plate and text (1896);
Rothschild, Avif. of Laysan, etc., p. 177 (1900).

This form of _Loxops_ is only found on Oahu, where it is doubtless very rare now, if not already extinct. The last known specimen was shot on April 20th, 1893, in the mountains of the Wailua district, on Oahu, and is in my collection. This is the only specimen obtained by the efforts of recent collectors, and, if any should still exist, we may suppose that their fate is sealed.

_L. c. rufa_ differs from _L. coccinea coccinea_ of Hawaii by its smaller size and more brownish, somberer coloration.

We know of specimens in the British Museum, including the type of Bloxam's _Fringilla rufa_, in Liverpool, Philadelphia, Berlin, Berlepsch Castle, Vienna and Tring.

{41}

CIRIDOPS WILSON.

_Ciridops_ Wilson, Nature 1892, p. 469.

Though formerly supposed to belong to the _Fringillidae_, it is now generally acknowledged to belong to the family _Drepanidae_, a peculiar family of different forms restricted in its distribution to the Hawaiian Islands. The genus _Ciridops_ seems to stand nearest to _Loxops_, from which, however, it is easily distinguished by the form of the bill, the pattern of colouration, stronger feet, and the structure of its plumage, which is somewhat stiff and scanty, while it is soft and rich in _Loxops_. The feathers of the crown and throat are pointed.

We only know one species belonging to this genus.

CIRIDOPS ANNA (DOLE).

(PLATE 4, FIG. 4.)

_Fringilla anna_ Dole, Hawaiian Almanac 1879, p. 49 (Hawaii); reprint
in Ibis 1880.

_Ciridops anna_ Wilson & Evans, Aves Hawaienses, Part IV, text and
plate; Rothschild, Avifauna of Laysan, p. 183.

The "Ulaaihawane" of the natives of Hawaii is one of the rarest birds known, only three specimens being on record--one, the type, in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, and two in my collection. One of these was brought home by Mr. Scott Wilson, who obtained it from Mr. Bishop in Honolulu, the other was shot by a native for my former collector, Mr. Palmer. No other examples have been obtained. As there are still a good many hawane palms in elevated districts of Hawaii, there is, of course, a possibility that a few examples still exist there; but to all intents and purposes _Ciridops anna_ may be looked upon as extinct.

{43}

SIPHONORHIS SCL.

_Siphonorhis_ Sclater, P.Z.S. 1861, p. 77. Type: _Caprimulgus
americanus_ L.

"The bill is extremely broad at base, the tip strong and heavily decurved; nostrils tubular and very prominent; rictal bristles strongly developed. Wing pointed, third primary longest; tail rounded, almost graduated. Tarsi long and naked. The sexes differ slightly in coloration. (Hartert.)"

SIPHONORHIS AMERICANUS (L.)

(PLATE 5A.)

_Small Wood-Owle_ Sloane, Voy. Jamaica II, p. 296, pl. 255, fig. 1
(1725).

_Caprimulgus americanus_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, p. 193 (1758--Ex
Sloane. "Habitat in America calidiore").

_Chordeiles americanus_ Bonaparte, Consp. Av. I, p. 63 (1850).

_Siphonorhis americanus_ Sclater, P.Z.S. 1861, p. 77; id. P.Z.S. 1866,
p. 144; Cory, B. W. Indies, p. 139 (1889); Hartert, Cat. B. Brit. Mus.
XVI, p. 592 (1892).

The whole diagnosis of Linnaeus is "Caprimulgus narium tubulis eminentibus," but the prominent tubular nostrils are just the character which distinguishes _S. americanus_ most strikingly from all the other goatsuckers, and I think that Sloane's figure and description are sufficient to indicate this bird. Sloane says as follows:--

"This was seven Inches from the end of the Bill to that of the Tail, and ten from the end of Wing to Wing expanded, it had a quarter of an Inch long crooked black bill, with two _Tubuli_ about one eight Part of an Inch long for the Nostrills, along the upper Mandible were several bristly Hairs in a Line, like those of a Cat's Mustachoes of a black Colour, the _Aperture_ of Chaps or Swallow was extraordinary large. The Feathers on the Head and under the Chaps were many, the Tail was four Inches long, the Head and Back were cover'd with Feathers of a mixt Colour of _Feuille Morte_, grey and black, the Wings and Tail were of the same Colour only Lighter under the Chaps, Breast and Belly was also of the same, the Legs and Feet were an Inch and half cover'd with brown Scales, the Toes four, three before, that in the middle three-quarters of an Inch long, and one behind. {44}

"Its Stomach was not very muscular, it was fill'd with Scarabei, &c. The rest of the Bowells agreed in everything with those of the greater Sort, concerning which see the description above.

"They feed on _Scarabei_ and other Insects of that Kind.

"They are found with the former."

Specimens of this Goatsucker are very rare in collections, and I am only aware of the existence of examples in American museums and of the pair obtained by Osburn in Jamaica about half a century ago, and now in the British Museum. Recent collectors have failed to procure it, and it is therefore to be feared that, like _Aestrelata caribbaea_, it has been exterminated by the introduced mongoose and other animals.

Habitat: Jamaica.

{45}

NESTOR PRODUCTUS (GOULD.)

(PLATE 6, head.)

_Wilson's Parrakeet_ Latham, Gen. Hist. B. II, p. 170 (1822).

_Plyctolophus productus_ Gould, P.Z.S. 1836, p. 19.

_Nestor productus_ Gould, Syn. Austr. B. and adj. Isl. pt. I, pl., fig.
1 (183--?).

_Centrurus productus_ Bp., Naumannia 1856, Consp. Psitt. No. 265.

Latham's original description is as follows: "Length thirteen inches. Bill very long and hooked, and upper mandible measuring almost two inches, the under three-quarters, colour dusky; plumage in general greenish ash, inclining to brown, and clouded here and there with orange as in the 'Crossbill,' but the edges of the feathers of the back dun colour; all the under parts of the body mixed yellow and dull orange; rump dull red; under wing coverts dull yellow; thighs brown; the quills reach almost to the end of the tail, which is somewhat, but not greatly, cuneiform; both quills and tail are brown, the former marked on the inner webs with five or six whitish bars; legs dusky, toes very long. Inhabits New South Wales. I met with a fine specimen of it in the collection of Thomas Wilson, Esqre."

It has long been a question whether _Nestor productus_ of Gould and _Nestor norfolcensis_ of Pelzeln were really distinct or only individual varieties of one species. I had for a long time considered them to be merely individual varieties, for I could not persuade myself that a small island like Philip Island, almost contiguous to Norfolk Island, could have a different species of _Nestor_ to that found on the larger island. Since commencing to write this book, however, I have come to somewhat different conclusions. In the first place no special locality is given for _N. productus_ by the earlier authors, in the same way as in the case of _Notornis alba_, which, like the _Nestor_, was said to come from N. S. Wales. This fact is easily explained, as N. S. Wales and Norfolk Island were both penal settlements in the early days, and there was intercourse by regular vessels plying between these colonies and Lord Howe's Island. Now we find in the case of several other birds that distinct local forms occur on Norfolk and Lord Howe's Islands, while as far as I know there is no other record of a distinct bird from Philip Island. I therefore believe that _Nestor productus_ inhabited both Norfolk and Philip Islands, and that all specimens extant are from Philip Island, where it lingered some years longer than on the main island, while the specimens of Ferdinand Bauer and Governor Hunter, and possibly the supposed _N. norfolcensis_ of {46} Canon Tristram's collection, now in Liverpool, had been brought from Lord Howe's Island in cages and were kept as pets in Norfolk Island; and then, as the value of exact data in those early days of our science was unknown, the references were made to the place whence the specimens were seen or brought. One thing however is certain, the bill in Ferdinand Bauer's sketch is evidently a monstrous growth produced by captivity, for Latham expressly describes the bill of Governor Hunter's bird as ending in a long thin point. The differences of _N. norfolcensis_ are the dull crimson sides of face, chin, and throat; dull green head and hind neck, and the total absence of bars on the tail. The plate given herewith is a reproduction of the Liverpool bird, with the bill of Ferdinand Bauer's sketch added, as this is wanting in that bird, and in the corner a head of the specimen of _N. productus_, purchased for the Tring Museum, when the late Mr. Wallace's Museum at Distington, Cumberland, was dispersed.

I have carefully examined the three fine specimens of _Nestor productus_ in the British Museum, and the conclusion I have come to is that the bird described by Gould as the adult of his _N. productus_ was an abnormal specimen, and was in relation to normal _N. productus_ what the aberrations called "_superbus_" and "_esslingi_" are to _N. meridionalis_. The bills of the British Museum specimens are very different. The one from the Bell collection has the long, thin bill, but it is at least half-an-inch to three-quarters shorter than those in the Tring and Florence specimens.

Habitat: Philip Island and probably Norfolk Island.

One in Tring, three in London, one in Florence, two in Vienna, one in Prague, two in Leyden, one in Amsterdam, are known to me.

The two specimens in the Vienna Museum were both bought in 1839. One from Ward, with a short bill, brown chest and throat, and a very wide yellow breast-band. The other from Baron von Hügel, which has a long bill and very red cheeks and chin. {47}

NESTOR NORFOLCENSIS PELZELN.

(PLATE 6, full figure.)

_Long-billed Parrakeet_ Latham, Gen. Hist. II, p. 171 (1822).

_Nestor norfolcensis_ Pelzeln, Sitzb. k. Akad. Wiss. XLI, pp. 322-325,
pl.--(1860--detailed description from the manuscript of the late
botanist, Ferdinand Lucas Bauer, and figure of head with an evidently
abnormally developed bill. The specimen was from Norfolk Island; it had
disappeared before Pelzeln's time).

Latham's original description is as follows: "Length above 12 inches. Bill very long and curved, thick halfway from the base, but tapering quite to a point at the tip, and under mandible truncated at the end, colour of both, dusky; head and neck dull green; sides under the eyes, chin and throat pale crimson; upper parts of the body, wings and tail dusky; breast yellowish; belly, thighs and vent more or less crimson; tail cuneiform; legs brown."

"One of these was in possession of Governor Hunter, who brought it from Norfolk Island; from the bill it seems related to the other, but the tail is cuneiform in a much greater degree, without any bars across it."

The only bird of this species extant is the one in Liverpool, from the Tristram collection.

Governor Hunter's specimen and Bauer's bird were both brought from Norfolk Island, but as they were cage-birds, and differed so markedly from _N. productus_, I, for reasons given under _N. productus_, believe this bird came from Lord Howe's Island.

Habitat: Lord Howe's Island (?).

{49}

LOPHOPSITTACUS NEWTON.

The huge bill and peculiar shaped crest, together with the--apparently, _i.e.,_ if the figure is correct--very short wings are characteristic of this genus. (P.Z.S. 1875, p. 350.)

LOPHOPSITTACUS MAURITIANUS (OWEN).

(PLATE 7.)

_Broad-billed Parrot_ Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. VI, p. 53 (1866).

_Psittacus mauritianus_ Owen, Ibis, p. 168 (1866).

_Psittacus (Lophopsittacus) mauritianus_ A. Newton, P.Z.S. (1875), pp.
349, 350.

_Lophopsittacus mauritianus_ Newton, Enc. Brit. (ed. 9) III, p. 732,
ff. 44, 46 (1875).

This extraordinary parrot was first described and made known to science by Professor Owen in 1866. He described it from 2 lower mandibles, much damaged, which were dug up from the Mare aux Songes. Except a few further osseous remains, mostly collected by Sir Edward Newton, nothing more of importance was found relating to this bird till Professor Schlegel discovered in the Library of Utrecht the manuscript journal kept during the voyage to Mauritius in A.D. 1601-1602 of Wolphart Harmanszoon, in which among other items of natural history there is a sketch of _Lophopsittacus_ from life, and the statement that it was wholly of a grey-blue colour. From the fact that this bird is not mentioned by the voyagers who visited Mauritius in the 2nd and 3rd decades of the 18th century, it is probable that it was one of the first of the Mascarene birds to become extinct. This is easily understood when we consider that the bird was apparently unable to fly, and would like all big parrots prove excellent eating.

Only known from osseous remains and the above-quoted drawing and notes.

35 tarsi and tibiae, and 60 complete and incomplete lower mandibles and fragments of palatine bones in the Tring Museum.

Habitat: Mauritius.

{51}

ARA TRICOLOR BECHST.

(PLATE 10.)

_Le petit Ara_ D'Aubenton, Pl. Enl. 641.

_L'Ara tricolor_ Levaill., Perr. I p. 17, pl. 5 (1801).

_Psittacus tricolor_ Bechst., Kurze Ueb. p. 64, pl. I (1811).

_Sittace? lichtensteini_ Wagl., fide Bp., Naumannia 1856, Consp. Psitt.

Bechstein's description, taken from Levaillant, is (translated) as follows: "This _Aras_, which others have held to be only a variety of _Macao_, is according to Vaillant a distinct species. It is one third smaller than the red-fronted species, or 1 ft. 10 in. long, of which the tail takes 11 inches and the bill 18 lines. The latter is of a black colour and has the upper mandible less curved, and the sides of the lower mandible more swollen than is the case in the other _Ara_ species. The cheeks are naked and white, with three lines of red feathers. Head, front and sides of the neck, breast, belly and thighs red; back of the neck pale yellow; back, shoulders and smaller wing coverts brownish red bordered with yellow or green; flanks yellowish, primaries above dark azure blue, below coppery red. Crissum violet blue, undertail coverts pale blue with green and brown-red borders; under-wing coverts red, the larger yellow, and brownish green. Two centre tail feathers all red with blue tips, the outer ones blue on outer webs and tips, red on the rest of the feather."

Of this bird I know only of two in the British Museum, one in Paris, one in Leyden, one in Liverpool. The specimen in the Paris Museum bears the inscription "Macrocercus tricolor (Bechst.) M. E. Rosseau. Cuba. Ménagerie 1842." Probably, however, there are more specimens in other museums.

Apparently the last specimen was shot in 1864 at La Vega (Bangs, Americ. Nat. XXXIX, p. 200).

Like all the extinct West Indian Macaws, Amazons and Conures, it became extinct through its persecution by the inhabitants for food.

Habitat: Formerly Cuba and Isle of Pines. {52}

ARA GOSSEI ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 11.)

_Yellow-headed Macaw_ Gosse, Birds of Jamaica, p. 260 (1847).

_Ara gossei_ Rothsch., Bull. B.O.C., XVI, p. 14 (1905); Proc. IV, Orn.
Congr., p. 201 (1907).

_Ara tricolor_ (non Bechstein) Clark, Auk 1905, p. 348.

Mr. Gosse's description is as follows:--"Basal half of upper mandible black; apical half, ash coloured; lower mandible, black, tip only ash coloured; forehead, crown, and back of neck, bright yellow; sides of face, around eyes, anterior and lateral parts of the neck, and back, a fine scarlet; wing coverts and breast deep sanguine red; winglet and primaries an elegant light blue. The legs and feet are said to have been black; the tail, red and yellow intermixed (Rob.)"

Mr. Gosse also remarks, "If this is not the _tricolor_ of Le Vaillant, which is the only Macaw I am aware of marked with a yellow nape, it is probably new."

In spite of the evident differences in the description, the Jamaican _Ara_ has always been united with the Cuban _A. tricolor_, even as lately as October, 1905, by Mr. Austin H. Clark (Auk, 1905, p. 348), though he queries it in a footnote. The specimen described by Dr. Robinson, here quoted by Gosse, was shot about 1765, by Mr. Odell, in the mountains of Hanover parish, about ten miles east of Lucea.

Habitat: Jamaica.

The specimen described no longer exists, and there are none in any collection known.

There was a third member of the _tricolor_ group of Macaws found on the large island of Haiti, which Mr. Clark has also united under _A. tricolor_, but I believe it must have been different, just as the Jamaica bird. {53}

ARA ERYTHROCEPHALA ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 12.)

_Ara militaris_ Gosse, Birds of Jamaica, p. 261 (1847).

_Ara erythrocephala_ Rothsch., Bull. B.O.C., XVI, p. 14 (1905); Proc.
IV Orn. Congr., p. 201 (1907).

Gosse says the description given to him in a letter, just received from Mr. Hill, was as follows:--"Head red; neck, shoulders, and underparts of a light and lively green; the greater wing coverts and quills, blue; and the tail scarlet and blue on the upper surface, with the under plumage, both of wings and tail, a mass of intense orange yellow."