8 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 8)

Vaurie, Charles.

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

AMERICAN MUSEUMNOVITATESPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCITY OF NEW YORK DECEMBER 19, 1953 NUMBER 1642Systematic Notes on Palearctic Birds. No. 3Turdoides caudatus and Turdoides altirostrisBY CHARLES VAURIEDuring a study of the Palearctic Timaliinae I examined two species(Turdoides caudatus and T. altirostris) the relationships of which, to-gether with their nomenclature which required clarification, are pre-sented in the following review.The range of the two species is shown in figure 1. Turdoides caudatusis an Indian form the range of which extends westward to lower Iraqwhere it occurs commonly in date palm gardens. In India the species iswidespread, occurring in suitable regions in open country, and in aridor semi-desert areas, chiefly at low elevations. This species varies geo-graphically. The second species, T. altirostris, occupies a relatively verylimited range and, being restricted to one uniform region, chiefly reedbeds, in lower Iraq and neighboring parts of southwestern Iran, doesnot vary geographically. The existence of two superficially very similarbut ecologically distinct species in the same region and occasionally atthe same localities was not suspected until fairly recent years.The nomenclatural history of the two sympatric forms is as follows(the full synonymy of the two species is given below). T. altirostris wasdescribed by Hartert in 1909 as a race of T. caudatus, but Ticehurstlater showed conclusively (1922) that the two are separate species. Therace of T. caudatus which in the western part of its range overlapsT. altirostris was apparently first described as salvadorii by de Filippiin 1865, but this description, published in a travel book, escaped atten-tion, and salvadorii was again described by Meinertzhagen in 1930 asT. c. theresae. The type locality of salvadorii is Shiraz, Fars, in southernIran and that of theresae is Baghdad, but the paratypes of theresae arefrom both Shiraz and Baghdad.In 1912 Zarudny, who is apparently the only author who has evercalled attention to salvadorii, questioned whether this name should notAMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESFIG. 1. Distribution of Turdoides caudatus and T. altirostris. The recordsshown are from specimens examined and the records given by Ticehurst (1922).replace altirostris. He stated that two specimens from Shiraz had a"short and high bill" and corresponded to the description of altirostris,but he was misled by holding to his opinion that this character was theonly constant one on which the two forms could be distinguished. Hartert(1922) in direct answer to Zarudny's query upheld the validity ofaltirostris but made no attempt to clarify the identity of salvadorii.It must be remarked here that, although the bill of T. altirostris ismore highly ridged and usually shorter than that of T. caudatus (fig. 2),this character is not absolutely constant. In three or four of 20 specimensof T. c. salvadorii that I have examined from southern Iran the shape ofthe bill is identical with that of the bill of T. altirostris, and as shown intable 1 its length may overlap also. All the records from southwestern2 NO0. 1642VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 3Iran published at one time or another by Zarudny must be questioned,as he does not distinguish the two forms with certainty.The identity of salvadorii must no longer remain in doubt, for thisAiFIG. 2. Plumage pattern in fresh plumage and shape of the bill in Turdoidescaudatus salvadorii (left) and T. altirostris (right). Natural size.1953 3AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESFIG. 3. Plumage pattern in worn plumage in Turdoides caudatus salvadorii(left) and T. altirostris (right, the specimen depicted being the type of the species).Natural size.name was properly proposed and is older than altirostris or theresae.I have not examined the type (if any) of salvadorii, the whereaboutsof which is unknown to me, but de Filippi's description makes it clearthat salvadorii is the form redescribed as theresae by Meinertzhagen.4 NO0. 1642VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 3Two of the characters of salvadorii given by de Filippi are diagnosticand separate it without question from T. altirostris. F. de Filippi statesthat in salvadorii "the feathers of the head and back are broadly flam-mulated [i.e., streaked and that] .. . the feet are pale." Figure 2 showsthat salvadorii is indeed broadly streaked, whereas the streaks are muchnarrower and much less conspicuous in altirostris, the dark pigment inthis latter being restricted to the shafts. The two specimens depicted infigure 2 are in perfectly fresh unworn plumage. With wear, as figure 3shows (which includes the type of altirostris), the difference is empha-sized as the pale edges of the feathers disappear in salvadorii. In freshlycollected specimens of salvadorii and altirostris, the tarsus and toes ofsalvadorii are pale yellow; in altirostris the tarsus is horn color and thetoes are dark brown.GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONTurdoides altirostris, as stated, does not vary geographically, whereasT. caudatus is divisible into four races.Two forms occur in India: a larger and apparently more heavily pig-mented race (eclipes) in the trans-Indus corner of northwestern India,which is replaced in the rest of the peninsula by nominate caudatus. Inthe latter the populations examined vary somewhat geographically incoloration, but the variation is slight and irregular, although the popula-tions of southern India average more rufous above and below than thoseof central and western India.In the northwest the populations of nominate caudatus tend to becomelarger and to approach eclipes in coloration, and it is likely that furthercollecting will define an area (as shown on fig. 1) where the two racesintergrade. In this area Whistler (1941) reports two specimens fromBahawalpur and Bhung on the eastern side of the Indus which he stateshave the larger measurements of eclipes but are similar to nominatecaudatus in coloration. Specimens that I have examined from Patialaand Sirsa east of Bahawalpur begin to show an approach to some of thecharacters of eclipes as defined by Ticehurst (1926), namely, in thesespecimens the ear coverts are somewhat darker and the pigmented areais somewhat more extensive and the white of the throat contrasts morestrongly with the rest of the underparts. I have not examined typicalspecimens of eclipes.In southern Afghanistan westward to the region of Bampur in PersianBaluchistan, eclipes is replaced by a distinctly larger (the difference isbest appreciated in the length of the bill; see table 1) and paler race. Inthis race (huttoni), populations examined from Kandahar (topotypical)and Seistan are identical, but the populations of Bampur and other parts51953AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESof Persian Baluchistan, though closer to huttoni, grade into the morewestern populations of Laristan and Fars. In these populations (salva-dorii) the breast is lightly streaked with dark shaft streaks, the streak-ing on the crown and nape tends to be heavier and broader, and thegeneral coloration is paler and grayer. The streaks on the under partsare occasionally visible in some specimens from Kandahar and Seistan,but when present are less distinct and less numerous.The four races of caudatus can be divided into the Indian group (nomi-nate caudatus and eclipes), which is smaller and more richly pigmented,and the western group (huttoni and salvadorii), which is larger, paler,and grayer. Closer examination shows, however, that the geographicalvariation is clinal in character, the populations -becoming larger and,generally speaking, paler and grayer as they range farther west.NOMENCLATURE AND RANGES OF TURDOIDESALTIROSTRIS AND TURDOIDES CAUDATUSTurdoides altirostris HartertCrateropus caudatus altirostris HARTERT, 1909, Die Vogel der palkarktischenFauna, p. 623; type locality, Fao, Iraq.RANGE: Lower Iraq and neighboring districts of southwestern Iran.Examined from Khanaqin (Iraq) and Qasr i Shirin (Iran) in the north,to Nasiriya on the Euphrates in the west, to the region of Basra andfrom Fao in the south; reported from Ahwaz and Band i Qir, and prob-ably Malamir [Izeh] on the lower Karun in Iran but this last record isfrom Zarudny and uncertain (see text).Turdoides caudatus caudatus DumontCossyphus caudatus DUMONT, 1823, Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles, vol. 29,p. 268; type locality, India.RANGE: India (except in the northwestern corner, eclipes) in suitableregions from the foothills of the Himalayas to Tinnevelly district in thesouth, from Sind, Rajputana, and southern Punjab in the west to Cal-cutta in the east, Laccadives and Rameswaram Island.Turdoides caudatus eclipes HumeChatorhea eclipes HUME, 1877, Stray Feathers, vol. 5, p. 337; type locality,"Northwestern Punjab, Trans-Indus and lower valleys of the surrounding hills";the type is from Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, according to Tice-hurst (1926).RANGE: Northwestern Punjab (Salt Range, Attock, and Rawalpindidistricts), borders of southern Kashmir, and North West Frontier Prov-ince from Peshawar to Fort Sandeman in northern Baluchistan.6 NO. 1642VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 3Turdoides caudatus huttoni BlythMalacocercus Huttoni BLYTH, 1847, Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, vol. 16, p. 476;type locality, Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.RANGE: Southern Afghanistan westward through Seistan to the regionof Bampur in Persian Baluchistan, probably neighboring districts ofBaluchistan proper.Turdoides caudatus salvadorii de FilippiCrateropus Salvadorii DE FILIPPI, 1865, Note di un Viaggio in Persia (Daelli,Milan), p. 346; type locality, Shiraz, Fars, southern Iran.Argya caudatus theresae MEINERTZHAGEN, 1930, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club,vol. 50, p. 55; type locality, Baghdad, Iraq.RANGE: Southern Iran in Laristan, Fars, westward to lower Iraq; thewesternmost specimen examined is from Gurmat Ali, "4 miles aboveBasra."MOLTAli (1939) states that T. caudatus, at least in India, breeds apparentlythroughout the year. l\y specimens suggest also that it has no regularmolting season. Specimens from India molting some parts of the plum-age have been examined from every month except September and No-vember, from which I have no specimens. In Afghanistan adult speci-mens taken at Kandahar in the second half of October (17-23) are inthe very last stages of the molt which appears to have been complete.In Iran (including Seistan and Persian Baluchistan) molting adults wereexamined from February, June, July, August, November, and December.Three specimens taken on January 31 are not molting but a specimentaken on February 3 in the same region is molting the tail. Judging bythree specimens which appear to be first year birds, the post juvenal moltis complete. These specimens were taken, one on March 19 at Cuddapahin southern Madras, and two on December 17 at Isin, Laristan.In T. altirostris the molting season seems to be irregular also, butfewer molting specimens have been examined. Of four adults, two takenon September 9 at Basra and on November 23 at Khaniqin are ending amolt that was complete. In two specimens taken in April (no date) atNasiriya and on August 21 at Basra the molt is starting with that ofthe wing feathers; it is interesting to note that the August specimen,which was not sexed, was incubating.MEASUREMENTSThe measurements given in table 1 are not separated as to sex, forthe sexes are alike in coloration, the sexing may.be uncertain, and a71953AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESnumber of specimens were not sexed. Judging by the labels, femalesaverage somewhat smaller. The tail measurements are not exact and aretoo low, for almost no specimens have a perfect tail; the tail, being verysoft, quickly wears down to an extent that is not known.TABLE 1MEASUREMENTS OF ADULTS OF Turdoides caudatus ANDTurdoides altirostrisForm and Region N Wing Tail Bill from SkullNominate caudatusSouthern India 20 74-84 (79) 98-115 (106) 20-22 (20.7)Central India . . . 13 74-49 (77) a 20-21.5 (20.6)Kathiawar . 7 77-80 (78.5) 100-115 (107) 21-23 (21.5)Sind.4 75-80 (78.5) 103-116 (109) 21-22 (21.5)Bahawalpurb . 2 81.5, 84.5 123, 128Southern Punjab 7 78-84 (80.5) 107-125 (115) 20-21.5 (20.5)T. c. huttoniKandahar.8 85-90 (87) 115-128 (120) 21-25 (23.5)Seistan 6 82-92 (87.5) 118-128 (123) 23.5-25 (24.2)Persian Baluchistan 6 87-92 (89) 115-128 (121) 23-25. 5 (24.5)T. c. salvadoriiLaristan, Fars . . 20 84-93 (89.5) 113-132 (123) 22-26 (24.5)Iraq . . . . . . . 1 92 a 24.5T. altirostrisIran and Iraq 18 73-83 (77.5) 93-113 (104) 20-25 (22.8)a The tail is molting or too badly worn to be measured.bSee text.LITERATURE CITEDALI, SALIM1939. The birds of central India. Jour. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. 41,p. 87.HARTERT, ERNST1922. Die V6gel der palaarktischen Fauna. Berlin, Friedlander und Sohn,p. 2153.TICEHURST, CLAUD1922. The birds of Mesopotamia, pt. 2. Jour. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.,vol. 28, pp. 395-397.1926. [No title.] Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, vol. 46, pp. 66-67.WHISTLER, HUGH1941. In Ali, Salim, The birds of Bahawalpur (Punjab). Jour. Bombay Nat.Hist. Soc., vol. 42, p. 712.ZARUDNY, N.1912. Uber Crateropus caudatus altirostris Hartert. Ornith. Monatsber.,vol. 20, pp. 95-96.8 NO0. 1642

Palearctic birds.

13 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 11-13)

8 p. : map ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 8)

AMERIICAN MUSEUMNOVYITATESPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCITY OF NEW YORK DECEMBER 19, 1953 NUMBER 1641Systematic Notes on Palearctic Birds. No. 2Geographical Variation in Ficedula tricolorBY CHARLES VAURIEThe small Slaty-blue Flycatcher (Ficedula tricolor) breeds in dense,mixed, evergreen, or conifer forests with undergrowth in the Himalayas,the Khasia, Manipur, and Chin Hills, the northern part of Yunnan, andthe mountains of western China (fig. 1). Altitudinally, it breeds fromabout 6000 feet up to perhaps the timber line, the usual range being be-tween 8000 and 12,000 feet. It is usually said to be non-migratory, butthe western populations come down to winter in the foothills or adjacentplains, and the present study suggests that the eastern populations under-take extensive migratory movements.The status of these eastern populations is confused. Many authorsidentify these populations (from Yunnan eastward) as F. t. cerviniventrisdescribed from Manipur, while a few others maintain that they shouldbe referred to nominate tricolor described from Nepal. The secondopinion expresses the correct affinities, but nomenclatural separation ofthese eastern populations from nominate tricolor seems desirable, as isshown by the present study which is based on specimens from virtuallyall of the known populations of the species. To present a clearer dis-cussion of the geographical variation of the species, I propose here asfollows:Ficedula tricolor diversa Vaurie, new subspeciesTYPE: A.M.N.H. No. 605993, Rothschild Collection; adult male;Lungan, now Pingwu, Mo Tien Ling Range, on the borders of Szechwanand Kansu; April 24 [May 8], 1893; Berezowski, collector.SUBSPECIFIC CHARACTERS: Differs very distinctly from F. t. cer-viniventris from Manipur and Chin Hills by lacking in both sexes thedull orange coloration of the under parts, including the throat, charac-teristic of these populations, and by being larger (table 1). Similar to2 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1641*..... , /.......4~~~~~~~~//FIJ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,0~~~~~~~... d ./S~~~~~~~~~~~-o,4.b4u-Ztc:4.1It343obItVAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 2nominate tricolor from eastern Nepal (see discussion below) and Sikkimto northeastern Assam, but darker, more saturated. The difference be-tween nominate tricolor and diversa is one of degree, diversa being theend of a cline. The males of diversa are darker below, grayer, less rufous,more olive, and their throat is buffy instead of white or whitish; above,they average somewhat less bluish, a duller slate. Females of diversaaverage less rufous, more olive above and below.MEASUREMENTS: See table 1.RANGE: Western China (see below).GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION OF THE SPECIESThe geographical variation in the northern populations (from Kashmirto Kansu and Shensi) is clinal, a very gradual cline of increasing pig-mentation running from west to east. The southern populations (cer-viniventris) have a restricted range in Manipur and Chin Hills and arenot part of this cline.In the westernmost northern populations (notata) the males are whiteand pure gray below, without a tinge of rufous or olive; the females area brighter and clearer rufous olive and have a redder tail. The clinalincrease in pigmentation was correctly stated by Whistler who, in hisdescription of notata, finds that the population of Nepal, the type localityof nominate tricolor, is intermediate between notata and darker popula-tions to the east of Nepal.The material that I have examined from Nepal, seven males andfemales from the region of Katmandu in central Nepal, apparently differsfrom the material examined by Whistler, for these specimens, althoughvery slightly more saturated on an average, can hardly be distinguishedfrom specimens examined from Kashmir and northern Punjab. I amforced to conclude that the range of the western notata extends as fareast as this region. On the other hand, six specimens from Sikkim showa clear change in characters. These specimens are distinctly more satu-rated below and have a tinge of rufous lacking in specimens from theregion of Katmandu.The type locality of nominate tricolor (1845) is Nepal, but there isno certainty that the type came from central Nepal. It may have comefrom eastern Nepal or even Sikkim, for, according to Kinnear (in Lud-low and Kinnear, 1937, p. 32), Hodgson had left Nepal for Sikkim in1843. Examination of the type might not necessarily be helpful, for thecharacters discussed are clinal and best appreciated in series. At anyrate there would seem to be no objection in principle to a restriction of3AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESthe type locality of nominate tricolor to eastern Nepal, and I accordinglyso restrict it.Specimens from the Lakhimpur district of eastern Assam continue toshow increasing saturation, but these specimens and identical specimensfrom the Khasia Hills do not show, in either color or size, any approachto cerviniventris from Manipur and Chin Hills. In many bird species, asremarked by Baker (1933), populations from the Khasia Hills showmuch greater affinity to populations north of the Brahmaputra than tothose in the southern adjoining hills. It is probable that the populationof F. tricolor in the Khasia Hills was derived from the populations ofthe Assam Himalayas via the Naga Hills, but I lack specimens from thislast region, and I know of no records. A gap in distribution (fig. 1)owing to unsuitable territory may possibly separate the population of theKhasia Hills from the populations of Maripur and Chin Hills.East of Sikkim the species breeds abundantly in the forests of Bhutanand in the Himalayas to the east, as well as in forested regions northof the Himalayan Range in southeastern Tibet and in southwesternSikang, including the region around and north of the bend of the Tsangpo(Ludlow and Kinnear, 1937, 1944; Ludlow, 1951). These populations,identified as nominate tricolor by these authors, were not examined, butKinnear (1944) finds that the under parts of males in southwesternSikang are variable and these populations probably grade into diversafrom northern Yunnan.This last population continues to show increasing saturation, and thedarkest populations of all are reached in Szechwan, Kansu, and Shensi.However, since the changes in characters discussed are very gradual,the population of northern Yunnan averages only slightly darker andgrayer than the specimens from northeastern Assam, and, indeed, onemale (Wantsang Ku Forest in extreme northwestern Szechwan) of fivefrom Szechwan, Kansu, and Shensi has a whitish throat and is notseparable from the specimens from northeastern Assam.A gap (fig. 1) in southern Sikang separates the populations of northernYunnan from those of Szechwan, splitting the range of diversa into twoparts. The species was not found in this region by the two Dolan ex-peditions (Stone, 1933; Schafer and de Schauensee, 1939), but whileit cannot be expected on the steppes, it is not conspicuous and may occurin the forested river valleys of the southern parts of this region. If not,the population of northern Yunnan may be closer in its affinities to thepopulations of the eastern Himalayas than it is to the populations fromSzechwan, Kansu, and Shensi. On the whole, however, it seems bestreferred to diversa.Baker's statements of the breeding range of cerviniventris (1924,4 NO. 1641VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 21933) require comment. This author states that this race replacesnominate tricolor in "Northern Cachar, Manipur, Chin Hills to Yunnan,Shan States, Northern Siam and the hills of central Burma to Karenni,Yunnan." Actually the only breeding records cited are from the KhasiaHills and the Chin Hills. F. t. cerviniventris also breeds in the ManipurHills, and comparison shows that this population and that of theChin Hills are identical. It is possible that the species occurs elsewhere inBurma but probably only as a migrant, and it is not listed as occurringin Siam by Deignan (1945).The species has been collected in southern Yunnan at Mengtsz, inTonkin, and in northern Laos, but all the records are outside the breed-ing season which apparently does not start before early May. La Touchespecimens from Mengtsz (1923) were collected from October 17 toApril 20; from Tonkin on December 23 (Kinnear, 1929), and on April6 (Bangs and Van Tyne, 1931); and from Tonkin and northern Laosfrom November to January (Delacour and Greenway, 1940). All thespecimens examined by me, including those taken by La Touche atMengtsz at the two extreme dates cited, and specimens from Tonkinand Laos are unmistakable diversa, some specimens being as dark as thedarkest specimens from Szechwan, Kansu, and Shensi. I conclude thatthe species is only a winter visitor in these regions.The nomenclature and ranges of the four races follow:Ficedula tricolor notata WhistlerCyornis tricolor notalus WHISTLER, 1930, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, vol. 50, p. 70,Gund, Kashmir.RANGE: Western and central Himalayas from Kashmir to centralNepal (region of Katmandu). Whistler reports a specimen, probably amigrant, taken in winter at Kohat in North West Frontier Province.Ficedula tricolor tricolor HodgsonDigenea tricolor HODGSON, 1845 (August), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 26,Nepal, here restricted to eastern Nepal. D. tricolor Hodgson is not preoccupiedby Muscicapa tricolor Hartlaub, 1845 (after December 10), Rev. Zool., p. 406 =Ficedula zanthopygia (Hay), beginning of 1845.RANGE: Eastern Nepal east through Sikkim and Bhutan to AssamHimalayas, adjoining regions of southeastern Tibet and southwesternSikang, and in the Khasia Hills.Ficedula tricolor diversa VaurieRANGE: Western China, in northern Yunnan, and in western andnorthern Szechwan to southern Kansu and the Tsing Ling Range in5AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESsouthern Shensi; migrates to southern Yunnan, Tonkin, and northernLaos.Ficedula tricolor cerviniventris SharpeDigenea cerviniventris SHARPE, 1879, Catalogue of birds in the British Museum,vol. 4, p. 460, Manipur Hills.RANGE: Manipur Hills and Chin Hills.MOLT AND PLUMAGESA few molting specimens were examined, and the following notesmay be in order as the publications consulted make no mention of themolt. Adults have a complete post nuptial molt which is well advancedor nearing completion in a male taken on July 26 in Kashmir and inAugust (August 22; no further dates) in males and females taken innorthern Yunnan. A male taken on August 2 in Kashmir is very inter-esting. In this specimen the olive-brown body plumage and upper wingcoverts are being replaced by slaty-blue feathers, and the middle pri-maries are half grown. These new quills are adult feathers, but the oldprimaries are rounded and seem to be juvenal feathers. According toBaker (1924), "The adult plumage is attained by degrees, and manyyoung males breed in a halfway plumage between that of male andfemale." In this specimen the testes were minute and not in breedingcondition, and the adult plumage was being acquired all at once. A speci-men sexed as a female and noted as "laying" on May 6 in northernUnited Provinces has, however, a tail which is slaty-blue although notso dark as in the adult male. This specimen, despite the notation on thelabel, may be a first winter male. If I am correct, first winter males, orsome of them at any rate, can be distinguished from the adult female bythe shape of the primaries and, perhaps, the color of the tail feathers.The immature is well spotted and the post juvenal molt seems to bepartial and involves only the body plumage, the juvenal quills being re-tained.ACKNOWLEDGMENTI am very grateful to Mr. J. C. Greenway, Jr., of the Museum ofComparative Zo6logy, and to Mr. J. D. Macdonald of the British Mu-seum for their kindness in lending me specimens under their care.Among the material sent by Mr. Macdonald were some specimens ofcritical interest such as topotypes of F. t. cerviniventris and the para-types of F. t. notata.NO. 16416VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 2TABLE 1MEASUREMENTS OF ADULTS OF Ficedula tricolorRace and Region N Wing Tail Bill from Skull-F. t. notataKashmirKangra-ChambaTehri-UnitedProvincesCentral NepalF. t. tricolorSikkim.Northeast AssamKhasia HillsF. t. diversaNorth Yunnan.South Yunnan,Tonkin, and LaosSzechwanKansuShensic.F. t. cerviniventrisManipurChin Hills" . . ..44.622339Q9995od1 94 e3 91od1 960-63 (61.5)55-59 (57)59-63 (61)56, 5857, 6061-62 (61.3)54-60 (57)59-63 (61)5559-64 (61)57-58 (57.3)6358.10 e 60-64 (62)5 9 59-61 (60)66"3 936e29ci,b26"4 91c,1 99oe5 959-63 (62)58-59 (58.3)59-61 (60)60, 606059, 6359, 6156-58 (57)595555-58 (56)52-54 (53)49-54 (51)45-52 (50)49-55 (51)43, 4748, 5051-54 (52.6)44-48 (47)47-54 (50.5)4547-52 (52)44-48 (46)524848-54 (50.5)45-51 (47.5)47-56 (53)all 4951-52 (51.3)50, 515250, 5250, 5245-50 (47)464646-51 (49)44-49 (46)12.5-13 (12.6)12.5-13 (12.6)12.5-13 (12.6)12, 1312, 13all 13all 1312.5-13 (12.7)12.512-13.5 (12.6)12-13.5 (12.3)12.51211.5-13.5 (12.6)12.5-13 (12.6)12.5-13 (12.7)12-13.5 (12.5)12.5-13 (12.6)12, 131312.5, 1312.5, 12.512-12.5 (12.2)11.51111-12.5 (12)11-12 (11.6)a Winter visitors, see text.b The type of F. t. diversa.c All specimens very worn.d Specimens measured by Stresemann from the Chin Hills (1940, Mitt. Zool. Mus.Berlin, vol. 24, p. 190) which include most of the material above, measure for thewing, 10 males, 54-58; eight females, 53-54.The difference in size between diversa and cerviniventris is best shown by the wingand bill measurements which in all specimens is, in males: diversa, 23 specimens,wing, 59-64 (61.5); bill, 11.5-13.5 (12.7); cerviniventris, 10 specimens, wing, 55-59(56.5); bill, 11.5-12.5 (11.9).7AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESLITERATURE CITEDBAKER, E. C. STUART1924. The fauna of British India. London, Taylor and Francis, vol. 2,pp. 219-221.1933. The nidification of birds of the Indian Empire. London, Taylor andFrancis, vol. 2, pp. 186-188.BANGS, OUTRAM, AND JOSSELYN VAN TYNE1931. Birds of the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition to French Indo-China.Field Mus. Nat. Hist., zool. ser., vol. 18, p. 108.DEIGNAN, H. G.1945. The birds of northern Thailand. Bull. U. S. Natl. Mus., no. 186,pp. 435-465 (flycatchers).DELACOUR, JEAN, AND J. C. GREENWAY1940. VIIe exp6dition ornithologique en Indochine francaise. L'Oiseau,vol. 10, p. 38.KINNEAR, N. B.1929. On the birds collected by Mr. H. Stevens in northern Tonkin in 1923-24. Ibis, pp. 133-134.LA TOUCHE, J. D.1923. On the birds of south-east Yunnan, S. W. China, part 2. Ibis, pp.383-384.LUDLOW, F.1951. The birds of Kongbo and Pome, south-east Tibet. Ibis, p. 562.LUDLOW, F., AND N. B. KINNEAR1937. The birds of Bhutan and adjacent territories of Sikkim and Tibet,part 2. Ibis, pp. 32, 280-281.1944. The birds of south-eastern Tibet. Ibid., p. 194.SCHAFER, ERNST, AND RODOLPHE MEYER DE SCHAUENSEE1939. Zoological results of the second Dolan expedition to western Chinaand eastern Tibet, part 2. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 90,pp. 235-236 (flycatchers).STONE, WITMER1933. Zoological results of the Dolan West China expedition of 1931, part 1.Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 85, pp. 211-212 (flycatchers).NO. 16418

10 p. : ill., 2 maps ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

AbXieuicanJuseumPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET, NEW YORK 24, N.Y.NUMBER 1898 JULY 22, 1958Systematic Notes on Palearctic Birds. No. 33A Second Review of Carpodacus puniceus,with a Study of its Plumages, anda Supplementary Note onEmberiza schoeniclusBY CHARLES VAURIEThe two species discussed in the present paper have already been re-viewed in earlier papers in this series, but much additional materialhas been seen by me since they were published. New observations weremade and are presented below. This additional material was examinedduring a visit to several European museums in the spring and earlysummer of 1957, and I was received everywhere with great cordiality.It is a pleasure to acknowledge my gratitude to the curators of the birddepartments and their staff of the following institutions: AlexanderKoenig Museum in Bonn, British Museum (Natural History), MuseumNational d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, Senckenberg Museum in Frank-furt, Universitetets Zoologiske Museum in Copenhagen, ZoologischesMuseum in Berlin, and the Zoologische Sammlung des BayerischenStaates in Munich. Drs. G. Diesselhorst of Munich and G. Niethammerwere also very kind in sending series to New York for further study.Carpodacus puniceusIn a review of the Red-breasted Rose Finch that I published re-cently (1956, Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1786, pp. 17-23, fig. 2) I dividedthis species into six subspecies, which, ranging from west to east, were:AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESkilianensis, humii, nominate puniceus, sikangensis, szetschuanus, andlongirostris. I emphasized that one of these (szetschuanus) seemed to bevery weakly differentiated, and two (kilianensis and sikangensis) weredescribed as new.The study was based on the material in the collection of the Ameri-can Museum of Natural History and on specimens from the UnitedStates National Museum and Berlin Museum which were kindly lentby Dr. Friedmann and Dr. Stresemann. As this material was rathermeager in some respects, and I was concerned also about the plumagesequence, I have since examined all the specimens available in a num-ber of European museums.I believe now that the geographical variation is best expressed by therecognition of only five subspecies, and I have reached a better, thoughstill imperfect, understanding of the plumages of this little-knownspecies. The range of the five subspecies is illustrated in figure 1, andszetschuanus is now considered to be a synonym of longirostris.The geographical variation affects color and size and is summarizedbelow under the five subspecies.1. Carpodacus p. kilianensis Vaurie, 1956, type locality, Kilian Pass,western Kun Lun, Sinkiang. This race, which occupies the extremewestern end of the range, is pale and moderately well streaked and hasa long wing but a relatively short bill. Its range appears to be continu-ous with that of humii, but it resembles longirostris much more thanit does humii, although its range is separated from that of longirostrisby an enormous gap.This resemblance so impressed Richmond (1896, Proc. U. S. Natl.Mus., vol. 18, pp. 576-577) that he called his four specimens from theeastern Pamirs and Kun Lun longirostris, rather than humii or nomi-nate puniceus, but Richmond had not seen longirostris, and thesespecimens were described by me as kilianensis. These four specimens,plus four others, differ from longirostris by being darker and moreheavily streaked, and by having a distinctly smaller bill, except in onespecimen. Male kilianensis differs also by having a much narrowerband of red on the fore crown. This character varies individually, butin kilianensis the band is about half as broad, or less, than in malelongirostris. It would be misleading, therefore, to call the western pop-ulation by the name longirostris.The resemblance may be due to adaptive convergence, or perhapsthe two races are not so widely isolated as our present knowledge indi-cates. So far, kilianensis has been collected as far east as the KeriyaRange (where the Kun Lun flows into the Astin Tagh), while the2 NO. 1898VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 33FIG. 1. Distribution of Carpodacus puniceus.nearest known colony of longirostris is in the Nan Shan, but we knowvirtually nothing about the avifauna of the mountain ranges (the AstinTagh and its spurs) that connect the Kun Lun to the Nan Shan. It ispossible that the range is more or less continuous, and this possibilityis suggested by the line interrupted by question marks in figure 1.I believe that the Astin Tagh probably provides a suitable habitat forthis finch, which breeds at very high altitudes in wild rocky countryon desolate slopes that are virtually barren of vegetation. It breedsfrom about 12,000 to 17,300 feet, well above the tree line, and of allPalearctic passerines is the one that nests the highest.2. Carpodacus p. humii Sharpe, 1888, type locality, "Interior of N.W.Himalayas." I restricted the type locality to Kotgarh, northern Punjab,in 1956, the first locality mentioned by Sharpe, and found subsequentlythat the type had been collected at that locality. This race replaceskilianensis in the western Himalayas and differs from it by being dis-tinctly darker, more heavily streaked, and smaller. It grades into nomi-nate puniceus which is still darker, more heavily streaked, and smaller.3. Carpodacus p. puniceus Blyth, 1845, type locality, "Himalaya,"ex Hodgson MS. The type, which I have examined, is from Nepal. Thisrace ranges from Nepal eastward to Assam and neighboring Tibet andsouthwestern Sikang but is not uniform throughout its range, as thebirds from Tibet and southwestern Sikang are a little paler than birds1958 3AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESfrom Nepal and Sikkim. Their bill, though not their wing, averagesalso distinctly longer.Kinnear (1944, in Ludlow and Kinnear, Ibis, pp. 349-351) states thatbirds from Tibet and southwestern Sikang appear to be intermediatebetween nominate puniceus and szetschuanus but adds that the latteris unknown to him and that he judges only by its description. I do notfind that these birds are truly intermediate, as is shown clearly by thecolor of their under parts, but it is probable that nominate puniceusgrades into sikangensis (not szetschuanus) in western or perhaps cen-tral Sikang.One adult male collected in southern Tibet by Ludlow on September15, 1933, at Karo La is unusually large. Its wing measures 124 and itsbill 15, but it does not differ in coloration from the breeding birds ofthat region. Ludlow (1937, Ibis, p. 471) states that this "huge" malerepresents "either an abnormality or belongs to a different race" andthat it was accompanied by a large female. The female, though itswing measures 117 and its bill 13, is not larger, however, than somefemales I have measured from Sikkim. This finch is not migratory, butit moves down to lower altitudes and may also wander to some un-known extent after its breeding season which lasts through July. It isquite possible that these two birds were visitors from some unknownregion, probably in northern Tibet.4. Carpodacus p. sikangensis Vaurie, 1956, type locality, Mt. Konka,southeastern Sikang. This race is intermediate in size and colorationbetween nominate puniceus and longirostris, though closer to theformer in the general degree of color saturation. Female sikangensisdiffers very distinctly, however, from the females of nominate puniceusin the same plumage, whether from Sikkim, Bhutan, Tibet, or south-western Sikang, by having the ground color of the under parts muchpaler, whitish instead of dark buff on the throat and breast, and grayishinstead of buffy on the lower abdomen, flanks, and under tail coverts.This race is known so far with certainty only from southeastern andcentral eastern Sikang, but I believe its range probably extends west-ward to about the region of Batang in central Sikang. Schaifer collectedthree birds in the Batang Mountains in November, 1934, which heidentified as szetschuanus (1939, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol.90, p. 251), but he does not state if he compared his birds with the lat-ter. I suspect that these specimens are sikangensis.5. Carpodacus p. longirostris Przevalski, 1876, type locality, "Gadjur,Kansu"; with szetschuanus Bianchi, 1907, type locality restricted toPingwu, northern Szechwan, as a synonym. I have been unable to find4 NO. 1898VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 33Gadjur, but, according to Przevalski's itinerary, this locality seems tobe on the border of northeastern Tsinghai and Kansu, somewhere be-tween the mountains south of the Tatung River and Chenkiang inKansu. Bianchi did not mention a definite type locality, but all hisspecimens were from southeastern Kansu and neighboring northernSzechwan, and in 1956 I restricted the type locality of szetschuanus toLungan (now Pingwu), one of the localities mentioned by Bianchi andfrom whence I had a male paratype.The comparative material of these two forms that I have examinedis still very limited, consisting of two males and one female of szetschu-anus, all of them paratypes, and five males of longirostris, two of themparatypes. The lone specimen of szetschuanus examined in 1956 wasslightly darker than two males of longirostris, but I have since comparedanother male to the paratypes of longirostris and found the three speci-mens to be identical. The red frontal band is very broad in the male ofszetschuanus examined in 1956, but the additional specimens show thatthe width of the band varies individually to about the same extent inthe two forms. I can only conclude that the characters of szetschuanusare not constant, but it is possible that a larger series would show thatszetschuanus averages somewhat darker. However, as the darker speci-men differs only very slightly from longirostris, I think that it is bestnot to recognize szetschuanus.MEASUREMENTSThe length of the wing is given first, then that of the bill; the lattermeasurement was taken from the anterior border of the nostril. All themales are in red plumage unless stated otherwise.Carpodacus p. kilianensis: Four males, wing, 119-122 (120.5); bill, 12-14(13) in three specimens and 16 in the fourth. Three females, 115-117 (116);13-14.5 (13.6). Type, female, 117, 13.2.Carpodacus p. humii: Twenty-one males, 111-120 (116); 10.5-13 (12). Tenfemales, 105-115 (110); 11-13 (11.9). Type, male, 115, 12.Carpodactus p. puniceus: Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan: 18 red males, 107-118(113); 11-12.5 (11.8). Six brown males, 105-112 (108); 11.5-12 (11.6). Eleven fe-males, 105-117 (109); 11-13.5 (12). Tibet and southwestern Sikang: six males,110-116 (113.2); 13-15 (14.1). Three females, 106-117 (111); 13-14.5 (13.6).Type, male, 113, 11.Carpodacus p. sikangensis: Ten males, 115-120 (117.4); 12.5-14.5 (13.3). Tenfemales, 106-112 (109.4); 13.5-15 (14.3) in seven specimens, others broken.Type, male, 118, 14.Carpodacus p. longirostris: Five males, 117-126 (122.2); 15-17 (15.9). InC'szetschuannus," two males, 118, 121; 14.5, 15; and in one female, 116, 15.1958 5AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESPLUMAGESThis species is sexually dimorphic; the males are "red" (the red pig-ment is restricted, however, to the fore crown, face, throat, breast, rump,and upper tail coverts), and the females are brown. However, the malesare brown before molting into the red plumage and resemble the fe-males, and this brown plumage shows several stages in both sexes. Thesestages are not well understood, but unfortunately adequate data arescanty, and birds collected while they were molting are very few. I haveseen only five birds that were molting, out of a total of about 130 ex-amined. Three of these are males molting from the brown into the redplumage and were collected by Ludlow in southern Tibet from Sep-tember 2 to October 2, 1936, and two are birds in the post-juvenal moltcollected near Mt. Everest in September, 1921. My understanding ofthe plumage sequence follows.The red plumage is worn only by males and undoubtedly representsthe fully adult dress. This plumage does not seem to be acquired untilthe bird enters into its third year.The plumage acquired at the post-juvenal molt is brown and is prob-ably similar in both sexes, though I have not seen females in this dress.It is dark, heavily streaked, and brown throughout and is the plumageshown by the two young birds from Mt. Everest.In another stage, the plumage is still brown in birds of both sexesbut is less dark and heavily streaked than in the first winter plumage,and birds of either sex may or may not show a varying amount of yel-low on the rump. I am unable to understand this plumage to my com-plete satisfaction, but I suspect that birds with a yellow rump are twoyears old. A clue is offered by Whistler (I 925, Ibis, p. 180). He states thata bird which he collected in July, 1923, in Lahul is a "young male" inbreeding condition (as shown by dissection), but that its plumage wasbrown, with "the rump concolorous with the rest of the upper plum-age." This bird is at least one year old, but its rump was not yellow,and it is probable that the yellow rump is acquired at the molt in thefall when the bird enters its second year. If this surmise is correct, itfollows, I believe, that yellow-rumped males molting into red plumagein the fall must be entering their third year, as the species shows no evi-dence of a spring or prenuptial molt. The three molting males col-lected by Ludlow had a yellow rump.The plumage sequence of the female is obscure, but I suspect thatfemales which are yellow (not buff) on the breast, as well as on therump, are old females, and that this dress is the equivalent of the redplumage of the male. We know with certainty that females with a yel-6 NO. 1898VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 33low breast are adult, or at least in breeding condition, because two ofthe three females of humii that I have examined which had a yellowbreast were building or adding to their nests. One of these collected byWhistler in Lahul on July 8, 1922, was carrying goat's hair when heshot it, and he also subsequently noted on its label that dissectionshowed that it had just laid its eggs.It seems odd that in the females of humii, nominate puniceus, andsikangensis that I have examined which seemed adult, I saw only threeyellow-breasted ones out of 10 of humii, none at all in 14 of nominatepuniceus, and 10 of sikangensis. The three yellow-breasted females ofhumii were unknown to me in 1956 when I described kilianensis, andI concluded, erroneously, that the presence of a yellow breast was asubspecific character, as my females of kilianensis had a yellow one. Itis possible, nevertheless, that this character is retarded and perhaps in-hibited altogether in some parts of the range of the species; perhaps itvaries individually to an unknown extent. A yellow breast is reportedin female longirostris.I may add that an occasional red male shows a few yellow feathersother than on the rump. I have seen two specimens collected in southernTibet on July 5, 1936, and September 15, 1933, that had a few yellowfeathers on the cheek, and one of these had also a few on the upperthroat. One specimen, collected on July 14, 1912, in the Kaghan Valleyin North West Frontier Province had two or three yellow feathers onits breast among the red ones.Emberiza schoeniclusA detailed review of the Reed Bunting was published by me recently(1956, Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1795, pp. 1-13, figs. 1-2) in which thevarious subspecies were divided into three groups: the nominate scho-eniclus, the pyrrhuloides, and the intermedia groups. Four subspecieswere recognized in the third group: witherbyi von Jordans, 1923; caspiaMenetries, 1832; korejewi Zarudny, 1907; and intermedia Degland,1849. Several forms were synonymized with the last-named, amongthem reiseri Hartert, 1904, but the additional material that I have seensince shows that I was mistaken about reiseri and that it is valid. Itdiffers from intermedia by having a much larger bill (fig. 3). The typelocality of reiseri is Lamia, Thessaly, Greece, and that of intermedia isDalmatia.The additional material seen consisted chiefly of a good series ofbreeding birds in the Munich and Bonn museums which had been col-lected in the Vardar Valley from Salonica north to the region of Skopje19158 7o o* 0-Cz0Q)-.oTXa-Ja8VAURIE: PALEARCTIC BIRDS, NO. 33FIG. 3. Shape and size of the bill in adult males of the five races of the in-termedia group of Emberiza schoenicltus and in E. s. pyrrhuloides. Left: Top,witherbyi from Mallorca; middle, intermedia from Dalmatia; bottom, type ofreiseri, Lamia, Thessaly. Right: Top, caspia from Enzeli (now Pahlevi), north-ern Iran; middle, korejewi from Seistan, eastern Iran; bottom, pyrrhuloidesfrom the Volga Delta.in southern Yugoslavia. They all have a big bill similar to that of thetype of reiseri (fig. 3). Their wing length averages somewhat larger,measuring 82-93 (86.7) in 11 males, as against 80-87 (83) in 10 breedingmales of intermedia from Yugoslavia, but the two races are similar incoloration.My reason for not recognizing reiseri in 1956 was, as I stated then,that the bill varied a great deal individually in the specimens examinedwhich consisted of the type and of the three paratypes of reiseri. In thesefour specimens the bill is similar to that of intermedia in one specimenand smaller than in the latter in another. However, the four specimenswere collected at Lamia on December 4 and 6, 1901, and on January23 and February 8, 1903, and it seems obvious now that the series is amixed one. I was not aware that the populations of the Balkans arepartly migratory, but this apparently is the case, and Lambert (1957,1958 910 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1898Ibis, p. 65) has mentioned very recently that this species is a "partialmigrant" in Greece, a fact that hitherto was unsuspected.The range of reiseri is shown in figure 2, and the differences in theshape and size of the bill of the five races of the intermedia group areillustrated in figure 3, in wvhich a typical specimen of pyrrhuloidesproper is also shown. The bill, however, varies individually to someextent in all the six races. The bills of pyrrhuloides and reiseri are saidto be identical, but, as a rule, the bill of reiseri, though very large, isless massive, less highly arched, and its lower half is narrower and lessglobular in shape than that of pyrrhuloides.The specimens of witherbyi seen in 1956 were not very numerous,but larger series confirm that this race is distinctly darker above, inworn plumage, than intermedia or reiseri. It averages somewhat smaller,as seven breeding males from Mallorca (the type locality of witherbyi)have a wing length of 79-82 (80.3), but its bill is, on an average, similarin shape and size to the bill of intermedia.

14 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 13-14)

21 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

26 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

25 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical records (p. 23-25)

13 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references.Alaudidae. Eremalauda. Eremopterix. Ammomanes. Alaemon. Melanocorypha. Eremophila. Galerida. Alauda -- Motacillidae. Anthus. Anthus richardi and Anthus campestris. Anthus trivialis. Anthus pratensis. Anthus cervinus. Anthus spinoletta. Anthus sylvanus

37 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

Palearctic birds.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications