PROCEEDINGS OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. V, PP. 231-372. JANUARY 28, 1904, PAPERS FROM THE HOPKINS-STANFORD GALA- PAGOS EXPEDITION, 1898-1899. XVI. BIRDS. BY ROBERT EVANS SNODGRASS AND EDMUND HELLER. CONTENTS. PAGE. Introduction 234 Family Sphenicidse 235 1 . Spheniscus mendiculus 235 Family Stercorariidae , 236 2. Stercorarius pomarinus 236 Family Laridae 237 3. Larus fuliginosus ... 237 4. Larus franklinii 237 5. Creagrus furcatus 237 6. Sterna fuliginosa 239 7. Anous stolidus galapagensis 239 Family Diomedeidae . . . 240 8. Diomedea irrorata 240 Family Procellariidae ... 241 9. Puffinus obscurus subalaris 241 10. ^Estrelataphceopygia 242 11. Procellaria tethys 242 12. Oceanodroma cryptoleucura . 243 13. Oceanites gracilis 243 Family Phaethontidse 243 14. Phaethon cethereus 244 Family Sulidae ...... 244 15. Sula variegata 244 16. Sula piscatrix webster i * 246 17. Sula nebouxi 248 Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci. , January, 1904. 231 232 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Family Phalacrocoracidae 249 18. Phalacrocorax karrisi 249 Family Pelecanidae . . 250 19. Pelecanus californicus 251 Family Fregatidse 252 20. Fregata aquila ... 252 Family Anatidae 252 21. Anas versicolor 252 22. Poecilonetta bakamensis galapagensis 253 Family Phcenicopteridae 253 23. Phoenicopterus ruber 253 Family Ardeidse - 254 24. Ardea kerodias . . 254 25. Herodias egretta , 254 26. Butorides pluntbeus ... 255 27. Nyctanassa violacea 255 Family Rallidae 256 28. Porzana spilonota , .... 256 29. Porzana sharpei . 256 30. Gallinula galeata 257 Family Phalaropodidse 257 31. Phalaropus lobatus 257 Family Recurvirostridse 258 32. Himantopus mexicanus . 258 Family Scolopacidae 258 33. Tringa bairdi . 258 34. Tringa minutilla . . . .' ; 258 35. Calidris arenaria 259 36. Helodromas solitarius 259 37. Heteractitis incanus 259 38. Actitis macularia 260 39. Numenius hudsonicus 260 Family Charadriidae 260 40. Squatarola squatarola 261 41. jtfLgialitis semipalmata 261 Family Aphrizidae • 261 42. Arenaria interpres 261 Family Haematopodidse 262 43. Hcematopus galapagensis , 262 Family Columbidae 262 44. The Nesopelia galapagoensis Series 262 44«. Nesopelia galapagoensis galapagoensis 262 44#. Nesopelia galapagoensis exsul 263 Family Falconidae 263 45. Buteo galapagoensis 264 Family Strigidae 266 46. Strix punctatissima 266 Family Bubonidae • 266 47. Asio galapagoensis . . 267 BIRDS 233 Family Cuculidae 268 48. Coccyzus melanocoryphus 268 Family Tyrannidae 268 49. Myiarchus magnirostris 269 50. The Pyrocephalus nanus Series • ... ,~. ~ . 270 50^. Pyrocephalus nanus nanus 270 ^Qb. Pyrocephalus nanus abingdoni 271 51. Pyrocephalus dubius 272 Family Icteridse 272 52. Dolichonyx oryzivorus 272 Family Fringillidae 273 53. Geospiza pallida . . . , 277 54. Geospiza heliobates ... 279 55. The Geospiza prosthemelas Series 284 55«. Geospiza prosthemelas prosthemelas 284 55#. Geospiza prosthemelas salvini 287 56. Geospiza paupera 288 57. Geospiza habeli 288 58. Geospiza incerta 289 59. Geospiza affinis ........ 289 60. The Geospiza psittacula Series 290 6oa. Geospiza psittacula psittacula 290 6o£. Geospiza psittacula toivnsendi 291 61. Geospiza crassirostris .... 291 62. The Geospiza fuliginosa Series 294 62«. Geospiza fuliginosa parvula 294 623. Geospiza fuliginosa fuliginosa 315 ()2c. Geospiza fuliginosa minor 316 62d. Geospiza fuliginosa acutirostris 316 62e. Geospiza fuliginosa difficilis 317 63. The Geospiza fortis Series 318 63^. Geospiza fortis fortis 319 63^. Geospiza fortis fratercula 326 63^. Geospiza fortis platyrhyncha 327 63^. Geospiza fortis dubia , 328 630. Geospiza fortis simillima 329 63 f. Geospiza fortis bauri 329 64. Geospiza darwini 330 65. Geospiza strenua , 330 66. Geospiza magnirostris 332 67. Geospiza debilirostris . , . 333 68. Geospiza septentrionalis 333 69. The Geospiza scandens Series 336 69^. Geospiza scandens scandens 336 69^. Geospiza scandens fatigata 338 6gc. Geospiza scandens abingdoni 340 6yd. Geospiza scandens rothschildi , . ... 341 70. The Geospiza conirostris Series 342 7Oa. Geospiza conirostris propinqua 343 7o3. Geospiza conirostris conirostris 344 234 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Family Hirundinidse 347 71. Progne modesta 347 72. Hirundo erythrogaster 348 Family Mniotiltidae 348 73. The Certhidea olivacea Series 350 730. Certhidea olivacea olivacea 350 73^. Certhidea olivacea luteola 351 73c. Certhidea olivacea ridgwayi . . 352 73*/. Certhidea olivacea fusca • 352 730. Certhidea olivacea mentalis • 353 73/". Certhidea olivacea becki 354 74. The Certhidea cinerascens Series 354 74«. Certhidea cinerascens cinerascens 354 74#. Certhidea cinerascens bifasciata 356 75. Dendroica petechia aureola -35 Family Troglodytidae 358 76. Nesomimus trifasciatus 358 77- Nesomimus macdonaldi 359 78. Nesomimus adamsi 360 79. The Nesomimus personatus Series 362 79«. Nesomimus personatus bauri 362 79^. Nesomimus personatus personatus 363 79c. Nesomimus personatus bindloei 365 79«/. Nesomimus personatus hulli 365 80. The Nesomimus melanotis Series 367 Soa. Nesomimus melanotis dierythrus 367 8o3. Nesomimus melanotis barringtoni 368 8oc. Nesomimus melanotis melanotis 369 Sod. Nesomimus melanotis parvulus • . 370 INTRODUCTION. THE succession of families and genera followed in this paper is that of the American Ornithologists' Union. Trinomials are applied according to A. O. U. canons of nomenclature, t. e.9 when forms overlap in their variations, regardless of the pos- sibility or impossibility of their interbreeding, they are called subspecies. A number is given to each species of a genus, and this number is intended to stand, not for the form first named, but for the sum of all the subspecies, where subspecies that compose the species occur, not this number and a letter for each of the other subspecies as in the A. O. U. Check List. Each variety of a species is lettered. Thus : 63, Geospizafor- tis consists of 630, G . fortis fortis ; 63$, G. fortis fratercula^ etc. ; not 63, Geospiza fortis; 630, G. fortis f rater cula, etc. BIRDS 235 Subspecies are arranged in the order of their apparent relation- ships, not according to priority of description. All measurements, unless otherwise stated, are in millimeters. Measurements of length are in all cases of the specimen before being skinned. Family SPHENICIDJE. Genus Spheniscus Brisson. Spheniscus BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 96, 1760. Range. — Antarctic regions, southern parts of South America and Africa, and the Galapagos Archipelago. i. SPHENISCUS MENDICULUS Sundevall. Spheniscus mendiculus SUNDEVALL, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., pp. 126, 129, 1871 (James Island, Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 660, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 199, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago : Charles, Seymour, James, Dun- can, Albemarle and Narboro. This species is most common at Tagus and Iguana Coves on Albe- marle, about Narboro, and on the east side of the Seymour Islands. It probably seldom if ever occurs at the more northern islands of the group — Abingdon, Bindloe, Tower, Wenman and Culpepper. We did not see it at any of these islands or at Chatham or Barrington. Captain Noyes told us that he once saw one at Wenman Island. If so this is the only record of the occurrence of the family north of the equator, Wenman Island lying in i°2Of N. The species is said to be closest to S. magellanicus of the southern part of South America, ranging northward to southern Chile on the west, to Rio Grande do Sul on the east, and inhabiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. It differs from this species in being smaller and in having a longer and more slender bill. We have four specimens from Tagus Cove, all of them having a pale brownish-gray inner margin to the dorsal edge of the wings. The skin about the bill is pinkish-purple ; the upper mandible black, yellow at the base, and with a light spot on the side before the nostril ; lower mandible black on the distal third, the rest pale yellowish. The birds sit most of the time on the rocks near the shore, from which, when disturbed, they simply drop off into the water. When sitting in an upright attitude the body is for the most part held per- pendicular, but it is bent forward somewhat at the middle of the spine, giving the bird a sort of humpbacked appearance. The wings 236 SNODGRASS AND HELLER are suspended at the sides, but held a little away from the body so that from a distance one can see between the wings and the body. When sitting in a horizontal attitude, as they do when evidently taking their ease, generally on the top of some rock, the same hump is con- spicuous at the middle of the back, the wings are held downward at right angles to the body, clasping the sides of the rock as if to help retain the position there. The wings are never held back against the sides of the body in ordinary bird fashion. The bill is nearly always directed upward at a small angle. During progression on land they hop with both feet together, keeping the body erect, and present a very awkward and clumsy appearance ; but in the water they are ex- ceedingly graceful. When quietly floating the bill is inclined a little upward as when they sit on the rocks. They swim entirely by means of the wings, the feet being held close together and extended straight behind the body, acting apparently as a rudder. On the surface they swim rather slowly, and an up-and-down bobbing motion is imparted to the body. Beneath the surface they go in any direction with great rapidity, having then more the appearance of a fish or seal than of a bird. They also leap from beneath the water into the air and dive back again just as does a seal or porpoise when breaching. Occasionally they make a sort of grunt, and also utter deep elon- gated sounds resembling ha-a-a-ah, the stress gradually declining toward the end. This latter note seems to be a call from one bird to another, but when uttered no obvious reason appears why they should thus call to one another. We did not find them nesting and did not see any of them mated. Family STERCORARIHXE. Genus Stercorarius Brisson. Stercorarius BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, pp. 149, 150, 1760. Range. — Breeding in arctic and subarctic regions, migrating in winter south into the tropics. 2. STERCORARIUS POMARINUS (Temminck). Lestris pomarina TEMMINCK, Manuel d'Ornithologie, p. 514, 1815. Stercorarius pomarinus ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 192, 1899 (Galapagos). Range. — Nearctic and palaearctic, south in winter to Africa, Aus- tralia and South America. Galapagos Archipelego (accidental) . One immature female reported by Rothschild and Hartert, taken by the Harris expedition in December. BIRDS 237 Family LARIDJE. Genus Larus Linnaeus. Larus LINN^US, Syst. Nat, ed. x, I, p. 136, 1758. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 3. LARUS FULIGINOSUS Gould. Larus fuliginosus GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 141, 1841 (Gala- pagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, 1896, p. 635. — ROTHS- CHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 189, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago: Chatham, Hood, Charles, Harrington, Indefatigable, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Abingdon, Bindloe and Tower. Common about nearly all the islands except Wenman and Culpepper where it appears to be absent. We have four specimens taken at Tagus Cove, Albemarle, in January. They are extremely noisy birds. When one is about to alight to feed, whether alone or with others, it begins to utter harsh, elongated sounds repeated in quick succession and long continued. Often, when uttering the notes, the bird stands with the foreward part of the body depressed. Often also, they utter a sound composed of a monotonous series of closely repeated guttural notes resembling ah ah ah ah ahiihah. There is never any apparent reason why they should utter these sounds. 4. LARUS FRANKLINII Swainson and Richardson. Larus franklinii SWAINSON AND RICHARDSON, Faun. Bor. Amer., n, p. 424, pi. 71, 1831. Range. — Interior of western North America, south in winter to South America ; Galapagos (accidental). We have one specimen, an immature male, taken at Mangrove Point, Narboro, in March. This is the only record of the species from the Galapagos, though it is said to be plentiful in winter on the coast of Ecuador and Peru. Genus Creagrus Bonaparte. Creagrus BONAPARTE, Naumannia, p. 211, 1854. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago, coast of Peru, Malpelo Island. 5. CREAGRUS FURCATUS (Neboux). Larus furcatus NEBOUX, Rev. Zool., p. 290, 1840; Voy. Venus, Atlas, pi. x, 1846 (" Monterey, California " — probably a mistake). Creagrus furcatus SALVIN, Trans. Zool. Soc., ix, p. 506, 1876 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 638, 1896. Xema urcata ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool, vi, p. 190, 1899. 238 SNODGRASS AMD HELLER Range. — Galapagos Archipelago: Chatham, Hood, Seymour, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Tower, Wenman and Culpepper. Coast of Peru and Malpelo Island. This species was first reported by the Venus from Monterey, Cali- fornia. Presumably this is a mistake through confusion of labels, for on the same cruise the Venus collected at the Galapagos and should have gotten the gull there where it is abundant. It is a common bird of the Galapagos, frequenting nearly all the islands. We found it in December specially abundant at Wenman and Culpepper. Large numbers of these birds were nesting on the cliffs of the small islet lying near the main island of Wenman. Apparently they nest only on the cliffs, for none was found on the upper surface of the island where many boobies and frigate birds were nesting. It is an extremely noisy species. As the birds sit on the cliffs they utter shrill elongated notes having a sort of weary tone to them. They often vary this sound by breaking up the first or the last part into a series of closely connected chattering notes. At other times they open the mouth widely and make a harsh guttural sound, consisting of one note repeated several times in quick succession. This sound differs from the reiterated one accompanying the continuous notes in being much less guttural and in having a flatter tone and a pitch about the same as the continuous shrill part. The birds utter some or all of these sounds almost continually, and when many are together they make a great deal of noise. They utter the same notes while flying. The bird lays a single egg on a ledge of the cliff, constructing no nest. Two specimens of eggs have a light yellowish-brown ground color, and are blotched with a few large purplish-brown paler spots, and darker, smaller ones of dark brown. The markings are evenly scattered about over the surface, and are much more numerous on one than on the other. In shape they are ovate and measure 65 x 48 and 68x45. We were at Albemarle Island from January i till January 20 be- fore we saw any individuals of this species. On the latter date we took one at Tagus Cove ; after this we saw several here every day, and in February they became common. We have four specimens from Culpepper, Wenman and Albemarle. Genus Sterna Linnaeus. Sterna LINN^US, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, p. 137, 1758. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. BIRDS 239 6. STERNA FULIGINOSA Gmelin. Sterna fiilginosa GMELIN, Syst. Nat., I, p. 605, 1788. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 191, 1899 (Culpepper and Wenman Islands, Galapagos). Range. — Tropical and subtropical shores everywhere. In the eastern Pacific : Revillagigedo, Clipperton and Cocos Islands, west coast of Mexico, west coast of South America, Galapagos Archi- pelago. Reported by Rothschild and Hartert as taken by the Harris expedi- tion at Wenman and Culpepper. We observed it at these islands in December, but did not secure any specimens. Genus Anous Stephens. Anous STEPHENS in Shaw's Gen. Zool., xni, p. 139, 1826. Range. — Intertropical. Galapagos Islands. 7. ANOUS STOLIDUS GALAPAGENSIS (Sharpe). Megalopterus stolidus GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 146, 1841 (Galapagos). Anous galapagensis SHARPE, Phil. Trans., CLXVIII, p. 469, 1879 (Galapa- gos).— RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 642, 1896. Anous stolidus galapagensis ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 191, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago: Charles, Hood, Chatham, Bar- rington, Seymour, Duncan, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Abingdon, Bindloe, Tower, Wenman and Culpepper. This is a very abundant species throughout the archipelago. It is very similar to A. stolidus ridgwayi Anthony of Cocos and Clipperton Islands, but differs from this subspecies in being slightly darker and in having a more dusky tone to the back and upper tail coverts, and also in having the gray of the upper part of the head darker. One of the Cocos specimens in our collection, however, has the tone of this color indistinguishable from that of the Galapagos specimens. The under parts also of A. s. galapagensis are darker, having a more dusky shade. Our collection contains three adult males and two adult females, all taken in January. At Tagus Cove, Albemarle, these birds were very abundant about the high cliffs facing the ocean. They began to mate about January 21 and on the first of February we found eggs. Each bird lays a single egg. The nests were placed in holes in the faces of the tufa cliffs about the cove, and were often so low that thev could be reached 240 SNODGRASS AND HELLER from a boat. The nest was in all cases a scant affair, consisting of a few twigs laid in the bottom of the cavity. The eggs are slightly elongate-ovate. The color is creamy white, marked with a few small light and dark blotches of brown, most numerous about the large end ; one egg having the rest of the surface almost plain. Two specimens measure: 50 X 34 and 48 x 35. We found them nesting on James Island in April. Family DIOMEDEHXE. Genus Diomedea Linnaeus. Diomedea LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, p. 132, 1758. Range. — Entire Pacific Ocean and southern seas in general. Gala- pagos Archipelago. 8. DIOMEDEA IRRORATA Salvin. Diomedea exulans WOLF, Ein Besuch auf den Galapagos Inseln, p. 13, 1879. Two kinds of Albatrosses HABEL, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., ix, p. 458, 1876. Diomedea exulans and D. nigripes RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 646, 1896. Diomedea irrorata SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 430, 1883 (Callao, Peru) ; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxv, p. 445, pi. 8, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, vn, p. 51, 1898. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, H Novit. Zool., vi, p. 192, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago and coast of Peru. The home of this species appears to be restricted to the eastern end of Hood Island. Albatrosses have long been known to exist at the Galapagos Islands, but the specimens brought back by the Harris expedition in 1898 were the first to be certainly identified. They were determined by Rothschild and Hartert to be Diomedea irrorata, a species de- scribed in 1883 by Salvin from a specimen taken at Callao, Peru, evidently a wanderer from the Galapagos, for no others have been taken on the mainland. Albatrosses are frequently to be seen among the islands of the archi- pelago, but they breed only at the eastern end of Hood Island. There is here a large rookery which has long been known to whalers and made to supply eggs for eating. At the time of our visit to Hood Island in May the albatrosses were nesting. The nests were scattered about on the ground in open places among the bushes, averaging about twenty-five feet apart. A few of the birds were in pairs, apparently not yet nesting ; but most of them were sitting on one egg each. When disturbed they attempted to frighten away the intruder by loudly snapping the beak. We have seven eggs taken in May. They are somewhat elongate- BIRDS 241 ovate, not much narrowed at the smaller end. The ground color is dull whitish; the surface is finely speckled with cinnamon color, sometimes sparsely spotted about the larger end with small brown blotches, but generally with a dark cap at the larger end of closely speckled brown, extending for a varying distance toward the smaller end of the egg, but always disappearing at one third of the distance, often narrowly confined at the end. They measure 111x74; 112x74, 108x72; 113x71; 112x74; 10x569; 113x72. Family PROCELLARIID^E. Genus Puffinus Brisson. Puffinus BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 131, 1760. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 9. PUFFINUS OBSCURUS SUBALARIS (Ridgway). Puffinus tenebrosus? TOWNSEND, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xin, p. 142, 1890 (Galapagos). Puffinus tenebrosus TOWNSEND, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., xxvu, No. 3, p. 126, 1895 (Galapagos). Puffinus subalaris RIDGWAY (from Townsend's MS.), Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 650, 1896 (Galapagos). Puffinus obscurus subalaris ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, 1899, pp. 194, 1895. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago. We quote the name of this form as a subspecies of Puffinus obscurus from Rothschild and Hartert, having no material with which to make comparisons. The bird is common about the Galapagos Islands, but it does not appear to breed at many places. At Wenman it was common in December, and was found on the main island in a cave near the south end of the east shore. In the cave the birds were rather timid and sought the darker parts of it when approached. When disturbed while sitting on the floor and on ledges of the walls, they made no re- sistance but simply got out of the way of the intruder by retreating farther back into the cave or beneath loose rocks. They could not be driven out. One bird was found here sitting on an egg which she could not be made to leave, although she only passively resisted its being taken by remaining motionless upon it. The egg was deposited upon the bare ground near the wall of the cave. It is plain white, somewhat elongate-ovate, and measures 52 x 35. We have three adult male and three adult female specimens taken in December and January. 242 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Genus ^strelata Bonaparte. &strelata BONAPARTE, Consp. Av., n, p. 188, 1856. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 10. ^STRELATA PHyEOPYGIA Salvin. JEstrelata phceopygia SALVIN, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., ix, p. 507, 1876 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 648, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 198, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Islands. We did not meet with this species about the archipelago until March 4. After this it became a very frequent bird, but nowhere did we find it breeding. We have four specimens from off Iguana Cove, Albemarle, two taken in March and two in June. The bill is black, the tarsus and the basal third of the toes livid whitish, the rest of the toes and the claws black. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF •phceofygia. a a - ^ g EJ W (U ««; . o Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. 1 "So n bfl $ I °l °l 8 A 1 * V rt l« 1" H i 4309 Albemarle ^ 415 284 155 34 25 15 14 37 45 5097 " 9 405 295 143 34 24.5 16 38 45 5091 " 400 285 150 33 24-5 15 15 36 43 43J7 " " 408 295 157 33 24-5 15 14 37 Genus Procellaria Linna3us. Procellaria LINN^US, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 131, 1758. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. ii. PROCELLARIA TETHYS Bonaparte. Procellaria tethys BONAPARTE, J. f. Orn., p. 47, 1853 ; Compt. Rend., xxxvni, p. 662, 1854 (Galapagos). — TOWNSEND, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., xxvn, No. 3, p. 126, 1895 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 656, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 199. 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago, Cocos Island and neighboring waters. This bird is to be found throughout the archipelago, but is specially abundant about Iguana Cove at the southern end of Albemarle and at Mangrove Point, Narboro. Townsend reports it from four BIRDS 243 hundred miles east of the Galapagos and we observed it north of the Galapagos Islands in the latitude of Cocos Island. We have ten specimens taken at Iguana Cove, Albemarle and Man- grove Point, Narboro, in December and April. Genus Oceanodroma Reichenbach. Oceanodroma REICHENBACH, Syst. Av., p. 4, 1852. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 12. OCEANODROMA CRYPTOLEUCURA (Ridgway). Cymochorea cryptoleucura RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., iv, p. 337, 1882 (Hawaiian Islands). Oceanodroma cryptoleucura TOWNSEND, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., xxvn, p. 125, 1895 (Wenman Island, Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 654, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 198, 1899. Range. — Hawaiian and Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, St. Helena, Madeira and Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic. We have no specimens of this species. It has been taken at the Galapagos Islands only by Townsend. Genus Oceanites Keys, and Bias. Oceanites KEYSERLING AND BLASIUS, Wirblth. Europ., i, p. xciii, 1840. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 13. OCEANITES GRACILIS (Elliott). Thalassadroma gracilis ELLIOTT, Ibis, p. 391, 1859 (west coast of South America). Oceanites gracilis RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 658, 1896 (Gala- pagos).— ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 198, 1899. Range. — Coast of Chile and the Galapagos Archipelago. We have eleven specimens taken at Iguana Cove and Tagus Cove, Albemarle, in December and January. The species occurs at nearly all of the islands, but nowhere did we find it breeding. Family PHAETHONTID^E. Genus Phaethon Linnaeus. Phaethon LINN^US, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, p. 134, 1758. Range. — Intertropical seas. Galapagos Archipelago. 244 SNODGRASS AND HELLER 14. PHAETHON ^ETHEREUS Linna-us. Phaethon athereus LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 134, 1758. — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 600, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HAR- TERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 1 80, 1899. Range. — Tropical seas in general. We observed this species all the way from Guadalupe Island off Lower California to the Galapagos Archipelago. At the latter locality we found it most abundant at Wenman, Culpepper, Hood and Brattle, but nowhere did we find it nesting. The Harris expedition report it as nesting on the eastern end of Hood Island in October. This is the only species of Phaethon that has been observed at the Galapagos Islands, although P. rubicaudus is rather common in the eastern Pacific north of the Galapagos. Family SULHXE. Genus Sula Brisson. Sula BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 495, 1760. Range. — Temperate and tropical seas. 15. SULA VARIEGATA Tschudi. Dysporus variegatus TSCHUDI, Fauna Peruana, Ornithologist, p. 313, 1845 (Peru). Sula cyanops RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 595, 1896 (Galapagos — quoted from Sundevall). Sula variegata ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 178, 1899. Range. — Coasts of Chile and Peru. Galapagos Archipelago : Culpepper, Wenman, Tower, James, Brattle, Charles and Hood. This species is common on the most northern and most southern islands of the Archipelago — Wenman, Culpepper, Tower and Hood — but seldom visits the central islands. We never saw it at Tagus Cove, Albemarle, where we spent several months, and at Eliz- abeth Bay, Albemarle, we saw only a few in February flying over Perry Isthmus which separates the northern half of Albemarle Island from the southern half. The coloration in life of the naked parts of the adults is as follows : Bill light orange-red, yellowish at the tip and along the commissure ; skin about the eyes deep greenish-black, a light spot beneath the eye ; gular sac blackish. On Culpepper this species was found on the tenth of December just beginning to nest. A few birds were seen sitting on eggs, but most of them were in pairs defending nesting sites. The nests con- sisted merely of slight depressions scraped in the soil. BIRDS 245 On Wenman this Sula was very abundant and the nesting season here, from the thirteenth to the twenty first of December, was somewhat more advanced than we found it on Culpepper Island. The birds were nest- ing in considerable numbers on the small, flat topped island lying to the north of the main island. There is no soil on this island and the females deposited their eggs on the flat surface of the rocks. We did not see any nesting on the ledges of the low cliffs forming the sides of the island. No nest is constructed, and generally only one egg is laid by each female. On Culpepper we saw some nests containing two. They snap their beaks viciously at the foot or leg of the intruding person, and a nesting bird cannot be forced to leave her egg. Even those that are not nesting can scarcely be made to fly. The birds are extremely noisy. When approached they utter loud, harsh, squawk- ing sounds, which become louder and more rapid the more they are disturbed. They utter also a sort of whistling sound made appar- ently in the lower part of the throat while the mouth is held wide open. This whistle is generally preceded by a blowing sound. Birds with eggs make no sounds different from those made by others. One bird when annoyed by poking it with a stick uttered only the loud squawking, while another, disturbed in the same manner, uttered only the whistling notes and could not be induced to make any other sound. Generally, however, the same bird made both of the sounds, changing at short intervals from one to the other. The squawking sound is the one most commonly uttered. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Sula Variegatd. a i Cat. No. 3 M , s <« 5! I £ Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. I bo • 8 i 1 I |» ata I 01 i a 1 3835 Culpepper. $ 830 430 230 101 43 53 83 3837 880 455 233 III 41 55 80 3838 9 860 450 220 106 39 55 78 3839 855 452 220 109 54 83 3877 Wenman. ^ 805 450 230 100 42 56 78 3839 9 845 448 230 103 43 53 77 4136 800 430 225 IOI 43 54 77 A bird just out of the egg and not yet having its eyes open, was ob- served lying squirming on the ground, uttering in slow succession low chuckling notes. There was no apparent reason why it should be making these sounds. Two sets of two eggs each were taken on Culpepper. In color they Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1904. 246 SNODGRASS AND HELLER are like those of other species of Sula. They measure 6«; x 46, 62 x 44, and 70 x 44, 70 x 46. We did not find this Sula nesting on Tower when this island was visited in June. A few of the birds were seen about the northeast part of the island. We have four adult specimens of this bird from Culpepper Island, two from Wenman, one from Tower, and one immature female from Harrington . The young of Sula variegata somewhat resemble in general color- tion the adults of Sula brewsteri and it may be that the birds reported by Kinberg and by Baur and Adams as the latter species were simply the immature of S. variegata* For some reason the young of this species is very rarely seen about the islands. We have one specimen taken at Barrington Island in May — the only immature individual of S. varie- gata that we saw. There is no authentic record of the occurrence of S. brewsteri at the Galapagos Archipelago, although it is a common bird at Cocos Island, which lies about four degrees north and to the east of the Galapagos. 1 6. SULA PISCATRIX WEBSTERI (Rothschild). Sula piscator RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 598, 1896 (Gala- pagos). Sula websteri ROTHSCHILD, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, vn , p. 52, May, 1898 (Clarion Island, Galapagos Islands). Sula pise atrix websteri ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. ZooL, vi, p. 177, 1899. Range. — Revillagigedo Archipelago. Cocos Island. Galapagos Archipelago : Culpepper, Wenman, Tower and Hood. We have four adult specimens in the white plumage, taken in De- cember from Wenman and Culpepper, and three taken in November and August from Clarion Island of the Revillagigedo Archipelago. All of them have the tails mostly dark brownish as described by Rothschild ; the females do not differ from the males in color. We have also six immature birds in the brownish plumage taken at Wen- man and Culpepper in December and at Cocos Island in July, and one grayish bird taken from Culpepper in December. The species is easily distinguished at all ages from all other species of Sula of the eastern Pacific by its bright red feet. In adults there is a narrow band of red on the bare skin about the base of the upper mandible and a large quadrate patch of the same color at the base of each ramus of the lower mandible ; the skin about the eye is blue, with an elongate spot of pink in it below the eye ; the gular membrane BIRDS 247 and the skin back of the base of the lower mandible are purplish- black. We found this species nesting on Culpepper and Wenman in De- cember, on Hood in May and on Tower in June; but it- was seen nowhere else in the archipelago. Hence it is coincident in its range at the Galapagos with Sula variegata. At Wenman Island we found it abundant in December on the small islet off the north side of the main island. Nests were numerous and were always placed in the low bushes that cover most of the island. The birds were never observed to alight anywhere else than in these bushes when they came to the island. The most common sound they uttered consisted of a short series of hoarse, guttural notes. On Tower, also, they always nested in the bushes. Here the nests were placed four or five feet above the ground and consisted of twigs somewhat woven together into a circular form with a shallow depres- sion above. Sometimes a few dry leaves were placed in the bottom of the cavity. The incubating bird holds the single egg between her feet. None of the nests at this time on Tower Island contained young birds. This habit of nesting in trees or bushes distinguishes this species from all the other Sulas of the eastern Pacific, and the species occurs on all the tropical islands of this region except Clipperton, where vegetation is is wholly lacking. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Sula webstert. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. i d 1 u t-r bib q 5 1 Culmen. Depth of Bill at Base. Tarsus. Middle Toe. 4282 4273 3841 3840 5024 3842 5009 Wenman. Clarion. * ft 9 * 9 720 75o 705 775 760 75o 765 371 385 395 393 407 403 395 212 247 220 223 235 218 240 85 85 85 89 88 36 31 34 37 34 32 34 35 39 34 35 36 39 38 58 63 59 64 61 63 65 On Culpepper, Wenman and Tower, birds in the white plumage were very scarce compared with the number of those in the immature brownish plumage. The majority of nests containing eggs or young birds we found occupied by one of these fully grown but brownish birds. These individuals were certainly immature, but must have SNODGRASS AND HELLER been at least six months old. They were fed by the adults with dis- gorged flying fish {Exoccetus volitans} and young specimens of Hem- iramphus. These immature birds appear to remain on the nest for a long time, perhaps nearly a year, being fed by the parents ; and re- ciprocate by incubating the eggs. The young when just hatched are naked, but soon become covered with a white down. 17. SULA NEBOUXI Milne-Edwards. Sula nebouxi MILNE-EDWARDS, Ann. Soc. Nat. Zool., xiu, p. 37, pi. 14, 1882 (Chile). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 596, 1896 (Galapagos). — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 596, 1899. Range. — Pacific coast of tropical America and the Galapagos Islands. This is the most common and most widely spread Sulaoi the archi- pelago. We observed it about all of the islands except Culpepper, although at Wenman it is rare. Its breeding habits are different from those of both 6". variegata and S. piscatrix websteri\T\ that it invari- ably nests on cliffs. During the winter the cliffs about Tagus Cove, Albemarle, afford a roosting place for a large number of these birds, who sit on the ledges in an almost upright position, seldom assuming the squatting goose-like attitude of the other two species. They are very quiet birds ; even when a large number are together on the face of a cliff it is only occasionally that one is heard to make any sound. Their notes and their voice are very similar to those of S. variegata, consisting of a harsh squawk and a whistling sound. They are expert divers and often drop almost vertically head downward from great heights into the water in order to capture a passing fish. Under the water they turn and soon come to the surface. The Harris expedition reports this species as breeding on Hood and Gardner (near Charles) Islands during the latter part of October and on Abingdon Island in August. We found it nesting on Albemarle and Narboro in March and on Hood in May. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Sula Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Locality. | • .S 1 d u a §<; \l in lie Toe. Mus. s H 3 •3 O r 4220 Albemarle. * 835 425 247 106 37 50 70 4344 " 9 878 442 244 108 38 55 75 4032 Narboro. 870 440 255 in 37 53 78 BIRDS 249 Our collection contains two adult females and one adult male taken about Albemarle and Narboro in January, February and March. In life the bare parts of the bird are colored as follows : bill slate- blue; bare skin of sides of head and about base of bill gray ish -blue ; gular sac light blue; iris varying from cream color to straw-color; tarsus and toes bright pea-green to blue-green, webs blue-green to indigo ; claws grayish-dusky. Family PHALACROCORACID^E. Genus Phalacrocorax Brisson. Phalacrocorax BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 511, 1760. Range Cosmopolitan except Polynesia. Galapagos Archipelago. 1 8. PHALACROCORAX HARRISI Rothschild. Phalacrocorax harrisi ROTHSCHILD, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, vn, p. 52, 1898. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 179, 1899 (Galapagos). Nannopterum harrisi SHARPE, Gen. and Spec. Birds, p. 235, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago : Narboro and Albemarle. This species was first obtained by the Harris expedition. It is sur- prising that so striking a bird should never have been reported before. Our collection contains seven specimens from Narboro and Albe- marle. They all agree with Rothschild's description of the type, but show in addition a greenish iridescence on the upper parts. The color below varies considerably. Some of the darkest males from Narboro are seal brown below. A nesting female from Albemarle is light tawny on the breast, a little darker on the abdomen. The gular sac in life is livid- purplish, or brownish-purple; the iris emerald; the upper mandible black with pale brown tip and tomia ; the lower mandible light brown with darker tomia ; the feet and webs black, claws slaty black. The pupil is elliptical with the longer diameter horizontal. Occurs abundantly in the surf and on the shore and rocks of Nar- boro. A few also were found along the shores of Banks Bay and at Black Bight, Albemarle. The birds are entirely unable to fly. When on shore they sit in an upright position and often extend the wings with their planes vertical, somewhat in the manner of vultures while digesting their food. In the water they have a very graceful appearance, carrying the neck bent in a very swanlike fashion. The adults were never heard to make any sound. The food consists largely of devilfish (Octopus), which the birds obtain by diving. Some were observed swallowing devilfish more 250 SNODGRASS AND HELLER than a foot in length. Fish also form a part of their food. The young are fed by the parents with disgorged food until they have attained nearly adult size. A large, immature bird may often be seen pursuing an adult through the surf with loud cries and savage thrusts of the beak, until the latter comes to terms, thrusts its beak into the open mouth of the young and disgorges into it a mass of partially digested food. In January, at Black Bight, Albemarle, a small rookery was found, consisting of four occupied nests. The nests were placed on a flat, smooth sheet of lava at the edge of a small lagoon. They were made of brown algae heaped up into cone-shaped masses about a foot high, hollowed out at the top to receive the eggs. A nest measured had the following dimensions: External diameter, seventy-five centimeters; internal diameter, forty centimeters ; depth of the cavity, ten centi- meters. The birds here were all in pairs, the females sitting on the nests, the males standing quietly nearby. The females stubbornly de- fended their nests when disturbed, making savage thrusts with their bills and hissing loudly. Two of the nests contained each three well in- cubated eggs. One of the others contained two eggs and one young, the other one egg and two young. The nestlings were black and naked. The eggs are elongate-oval or narrowly elliptical in shape and have a light bluish-green color. This color is usually, however, hidden by a white chalky deposit. The eggs of the two sets measure as follows: 71x42.5, 67x42.5, 67x43, and 68x41, 68x45, 59 X41- MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF PkalaCTOCOraoC harrtst. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. M ! (• i g ,.; d i to 1 lie Toe. (« a ^ a 0 H 1 4086 Narboro. £ 930 186 145 67 86 82 3912 « '« 880 188 145 75 83 81 3895 " " 9oo 185 155 63 81 80 3937 " M 910 184 165 62 73 77 3976 " " 190 165 60 75 76 4245 3891 Albemarle. 9 870 900 180 175 165 165 65 62 | 75 77 Family PELECANEXE. Genus Pelecanus Linnasus. Pelecanus LINN^US, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 132, 1758. Range. — Cosmopolitan, except Polynesia. Galapagos Archipelago. BIRDS 251 19. PELECANUS CALIFORNICUS Ridgway. Pelecanus fuscus SUNDEVALL, Proc. Zool. Soc., p. 125, 1871 (Galapagos). Pelecanus fuscus (?) californicus RIDGWAY, Water Birds N. A., n, p. 143, 1884 ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 593, 1896 (Galapagos). Pelecanus fuscus californicus ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zoof, vi, p. 176, 1899 (Galapagos). Range. — Pacific Coast of America from Washington to Peru. Galapagos Archipelago : Charles, Hood, Chatham, Barrington, Sey- mour, Indefatigable, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Abingdon, Bindloe and Tower. Generally most abundant on the leeward side of islands, specially numerous about Tagus Cove, Albemarle, and on the east shore of Nar- boro, seeming to prefer places affording a considerable expanse of smooth water. Old rookeries were found on Narboro, the nests being situated in small bushes near the coast. Rothschild reports a nest of three eggs taken among the mangroves of Indefatigable in September by the Harris expedition. MEASUREMETS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF PehcanUS californicus. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. locality. X 5 "So I bib o i °3 H Culmen. Tarsus. Middle Toe. 4217 3834 4262 3981 Albemarle. it Narboro. 9 <( 1290 1300 1290 538 535 54o 530 150 145 136 136 76 73 7i 72 307 305 305 312 100 105 104 104 We have four adult females, all in the postnuptial plumage, and they are indistinguishable from the California specimens. The gular pouch of a female taken at Elizabeth Bay, Albemarle, in February, was col- ored in life as follows : Ground color very pale brown ; numerous much darker lines of purplish-brown arising at the sides of the base of the pouch and running forward parallel with the ramus of the mandible on each side, meeting in the median line in pairs forming acute angles ; posteriorly along the edges of the pouch the lines indistinct and the purplish color rather diffuse; veins with a greenish-blue color ; bill, upper mandible horn-greenish, basally with indistinct yellowish streaks, toward the tip this color median only, sides of mandible becoming scarlet, claw lemon-yellow, with dusky shade at base; lower man- dible greenish and yellowish at base, in front of this mottled with yel- 252 SNODGRASS AND HELLER lowish, greenish and scarlet, still farther forward entirely scarlet, tip same as claw of upper mandible. Bare skin at base of bill dark pur- plish. Lower eyelid pink. In another specimen of the same date the ground color of the pouch was pale yellowish-green, the lines dark brown, almost no purplish color, a shade of the latter color along the rami of the mandible and edges of the throat feathers ; bill colored the same as first specimen, but the lower eyelid purplish. Family FREGATID^. Genus Fregata Brisson. Fregata BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 506, 1760. Range. — Intertropical seas. 20. FREGATA AQUILA (Linnaeus). Pelecanns aquilus LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, p. 133, 1758. Fregata aquila RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 590, 1896 (Gala- pagos).— ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 175, 1899. Fregata aquila minor RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 591, 1896 (Galapagos). Range. — Intertropical and subtropical seas. Galapagos Islands. Common everywhere about the archipelago^ observed at all the islands. Found nesting on Culpepper and Wenman in December, and on Tower in June. Family ANATIDJE. Genus Anas Linnaeus. Anas LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 122, 1758. Range. — Cosmopolitan. 21. ANAS VERSICOLOR Vieillot. Anas 7w.«V0/0r VIEILLOT, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., v, p. 109, 1816. Querquedula versicolor SALVIN, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., ix, p. 499, 1876 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 614, 1896.— ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 183 ,1899. Range. — Southern part of South America and the Galapagos Archipelago. One specimen said to have been taken by Kinberg. None reported from the Galapagos since. Genus Pcecilonetta Eyton. Paecilonetta EYTON, Monogr. Anatidae, p. 16, 1838. Range. — South America, West Indies, Bahamas, Galapagos. BIRDS 253 22. PCECILONETTA BAHAMENSIS GALAPAGENSIS (Ridgway). Pcecilonetta bahamensis GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 135, 1841 (Galapagos). Pcecilonetta galapagensis RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xn, p. 115, 1890 (Galapagos) ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 612, 1896. Pcecilonetta bahamensis galapagoensis ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 183, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago. We simply follow Rothschild and Hartert in giving this form as a subspecies of P. baJiamensis, having no material of the latter species with which to make comparisons. This is a common species throughout the archipelago wherever suitable places occur. It is especially abundant on Albemarle, James, Charles and Chatham. Family PHCENICOPTERIDJE. Genus Phoenicopterus Linnasus. Phoenicopterus LINN/EUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 139, 1758. Range. — Tropical and subtropical regions. Galapagos Archi- pelago. 23. PHCENICOPTERUS RUBER Linnseus. Phoenicopterus ruber LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 139, 1758. — SALVIN, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., ix, p. 498, 1876 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 608, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 182, 1899. Phoenicopterus glyphorhynchus GRAY, Ibis, p. 442, pi. 14, fig. 5, 1869 (Gala- pagos). Range. — Atlantic coast of Mexico and Central America, southern Florida, Galapagos Archipelago : Charles, James, Indefatigable and Albemarle. We obtained this species on the shore of the southern half of Albe- marle, a short distance west of Elizabeth Bay. Only seven indi- viduals were seen. They were wading about quietly in the small reedy marshes back of the mangrove swamps along the shore. They were very tame and reluctantly swam to the opposite side of the small ponds when approached. Only one was seen to fly and it alighted again a few yards from where it started. Another was made to run along on the surface of the water flapping its wings. The only sound they uttered was a hoarse guttural note somewhat between a squawk and a grunt, resembling a little the note of the great blue heron. Mr. G. M. Green of San Francisco reports having found the flamingoes 254 SNODGRASS AND HELLER breeding in the salt marshes about James Bay on James Island, and he obtained eggs in August. Family ARDBIDJB. Genus Ardea Linnaeus. Ardea LINN^US, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 141, 1758. Range. — Cosmopolitan except New Zealand and Polynesia. Galapagos Archipelago. 24. ARDEA HERODIAS Linnams. Ardea herodias LINN^US, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 143, 1758. — DARWIN, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 128, 1841 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 60 1, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 1 80, 1899. Range. — Northern temperate and tropical America. Galapagos Archipelago: Seymour, Indefatigable, Duncan, Albemarle and Narboro. We found this heron especially abundant in the mangrove swamps of the east shore of Narboro. In January we obtained here a set of three eggs. The nest consisted of a flat platform of large twigs, placed in a mangrove tree about a foot and a half above high water. Genus Herodias Boie. JfJerodias BOIE, Isis, p. 559, 1822. Range. — Cosmopolitan. 25. HERODIAS EGRETTA (Gmelin). Ardea egretta GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, p. 629, 1788. f Herodias egretta RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 60 1, 1896 (? Galapagos). Herodias egretta ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 181, 1899 (Albemarle Island, Galapagos). Range. — Temperate and tropical America. Galapagos Archipel- ago: Albemarle. Only one specimen of the American egret has been obtained at the Galapagos ; it was taken by the Harris expedition and determined by Rothschild and Hartert to be the same as South American birds. Baur and Adams reported finding on Albemarle " a rookery of white herons." We saw one individual on a small island in the center of a lake in the bottom of the large tufa crater just south of Tagus Cove, Albemarle. BIRDS 255 Genus Butorides Blyth. Butorides BLYTH, Cat. Birds, Mus. Asiat. Soc., p. 201, 1849. Range. — North and South America, Africa, southern Asia to Australia. 26. BUTORIDES PLUMBEUS (Sundevall). Butorides javanicus SCLATER AND SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 323, 1870 (Galapagos). Ardea plumbea SUNDEVALL, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., pp. 125-127, 1871 (Gal- apagos). Butorides plumbeus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 602, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 181, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago : Chatham, Hood, Charles, Bar- rington, Indefatigable, Seymour, Duncan, Jervis, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Bindloe, Abingdon, Tower and Wenman. Common almost everywhere in the archipelago, especially so in the mangrove swamps of Albemarle and Narboro. They are very tame and allow one to approach them closely before they fly. When they take flight, whether frightened or not, they nearly always utter in slow succession elongated squawks. When about to alight they shorten the notes and utter them more rapidly. In February we secured a set of three eggs at Elizabeth Bay, Albemarle. The nest consisted of a loosely constructed platform of dead twigs, placed in a tree of a man- grove swamp, about eight feet above the water. The eggs are plain light green, measuring 41 x 33, 41 X 32.5, and 42 x 33. They are widest at the middle and symmetrically narrowed at each end. Genus Nyctanassa Stejneger. Nyctanassa STEJNEGER, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., x, p. 295, 1887. Range. — Temperature North America and all of Middle and South America. Galapagos Archipelago. 27. NYCTANASSA VIOLACEA (Linmeus). Ardea molacea LINN.EUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, p. 143, 1758. Nycticorax violaceus GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 128, 1841 (Galapagos). Nyctanassa molacea RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 606, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 182, 1899. Range. — Tropical and southern north temperature parts of Amer- ica. Galapagos Archipelago : Charles, Hood, Chatham, Indefati- gable, Seymour, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Bindloe and Tower. This heron is not nearly so common about the archipelago as the last. We obtained one set of three eggs in May on Indefatigable. The nest 256 SNODGRASS AND HELLER was on the ground in the brush about four hundred yards back from the shore at the northeast corner of the island near Seymour Island. The eggs are identical in color with those of the last species, Butorides plumbeus, but they are larger and the longest transverse diameter is a little nearer one end than the other, giving them a slightly ovate shape. They measure 48 x 37, 45.5 X 36, and 49 x 36. Family RALLID^. Genus Porzana Vieillot. Porzana VIEILLOT, Analyse, p. 61, 1816. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 28. PORZANA SPILONOTA (Gould). Zapornia spilonota GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 132, pi. 49, 1841 (Galapagos). Pjrz ana spilonota SALVIN, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., ix, p. 500, 1876 (James and Indefatigable Islands). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 6 1 8, 1896. Porzana galapagoensis SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxm, p. 113, 1894 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 619, 1896. Creciscus spilonotus ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 184, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago : James Island. This species is known only from the original specimens taken by Darwin on James. We take the above synonymy from Rothschild and Hartert, who have examined the types. 29. PORZANA SHARPEI (Rothschild and Hartert). Creciscus sharpei ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 185, 1899, (Indefatigable Island). Porzana spilonota SCLATER AND SALVIN (not of Gould), Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 456, 1868 ; p. 323, 1870 (Indefatigable Island). — SALVIN, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 500, 1876 (James and Indefatigable Islands) (in part). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 618, 1896 (in part). Creciscus spilonotus SHARPE (not of Gould), Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxm, p. 137, 1894 (Indefatigable Island). Range. — Galapagos Archipelago : Indefatigable and Narboro. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Porzana sharpei. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. x i 1 S 1 d '3 H Culmen. w c; «4H tf) f= idth of Bill at Base. Tarsus. iddleToe. « £ 1 4017 Narboro. 0* 153 64 24.0 15.0 6.0 4.0 21 24 3994 " 150 65 25.5 14-5 5-5 4-5 23 25 BIRDS 257 We have two specimens of a Porzana, an adult male and an adult female, taken in January in a mangrove swamp on the east shore of Narboro, which differ in no way from the description of P. sharpei by Rothschild and Hartert. These two specimens are the only rails that we saw, although much time was spent looking for others. Genus Galinula Brisson. Galinula BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 2, 1760. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 30. GALINULA GALEATA (Lichtenstein). Crex galeata LICHTENSTEIN, Verz. Doubl., p. 80, 1823. Galinula galeata RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 621, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 186, 1899. Range Tropical and most of temperate America. Galapagos Archipelago : Albemarle. We obtained two specimens of this species in February near Eliza- beth Bay, Albemarle. The galinules were rather plentiful in the small reedy marshes and salt pools back of the mangrove swamps bordering the north shore of southern Albemarle west of Elizabeth Bay. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Galinula galeata. as a _ Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. t to s bb n i Culmen fro Top of Fron Shield. Width of Frontal Shield. Depth of B at Base. Width of B at Base. d 3 Middle To< 4233 Albemarle. £ 370 183 60 45 13 13 10 54 63 4239 " " 360 170 74 48 14 II 9 69 Family PHALAROPODID-E. Genus Phalaropus Brisson. Phalaropus BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 12, 1760. Range. — Breeding in arctic and subarctic regions of both hemi- spheres, migrating into the tropics. 31. PHALAROPUS LOBATUS (Limueus). Tringa lobata LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, pp. 148, 824, 1758. Range. — Northern parts of northern hemisphere ; south in winter to the tropics. Galapagos Archipelago. We obtained two specimens of this species March 29 from a flock on the water off the southeast point of Narboro. It has not hitherto 258 SNODGRASS AND HELLER been reported from the Galapagos. We saw the birds several times in that vicinity. Family RECURVIROSTRIDJE. Genus Himantopus Brisson. Himantopus BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 33, 1760. Range. — Cosmopolitan (littoral). Galapagos Archipelago. 32. HIMANTOPUS MEXICANUS (Miiller). Charadrius mexicanus MULLER, Syst. Nat. Suppl., p. 117, 1776. Himantopus mexicanus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 633, 1896 (Galapagos). — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 189, 1899. Range. — South temperate and tropical America. Galapagos Archipelago. This bird is rather rare about the archipelago. They seem to pre- fer lakes and ponds of quiet water rather than the ocean beaches and rocks along the shore. We observed them about the lake in the crater a short distance south of Tagus Cove, Albemarle, on the ponds back of the beach at James Bay, James Island, about similar ponds on the west side of the southern Seymour Island, and at a lake on the upper part of Hood. Family SCOLOPACID^). Genus Tringa Linnaeus. Tringa LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 148, 1758. Range. — Arctic and subarctic during the breeding season, cosmo- politan during migrations. Galapagos Archipelago. 33. TRINGA BAIRDII (Coues). Actodromas bairdii COUES, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 194, 1861. Heteropygia bairdi ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., xix, p. 188, 1899 (Galapagos). Range. — Breeding in Alaska, migrating south to the interior of North America and west coast of South America. Galapagos Archi- pelago. Rothschild and Hartert report the only specimen of this species known from the Galapagos Archipelago, as taken by the Harris expe- dition on Barrington in October. 34. TRINGA MINUTILLA Vieillot. Tringa minutilla VIEILLOT, Nouv. Diet., xxxiv, p. 452, 1819. — SCLATER AND SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 323, 1870 (Galapagos). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 631, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 188, 1899. BIRDS 259 Range. — Northern North America, migrating over the entire American continent. Galapagos Islands. This sandpiper is but infrequently met with on the Galapagos Islands. Genus Calidris Cuvier. Calidris CUVIER, Leg. Anat. Comp., i, pi. 2, 1800. Range. — Cosmopolitan during migrations, breeding only in north- ern regions. Galapagos Archipelago. 35. CALIDRIS ARENARIA (Linnseus). Tringa arenaria LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. xn, I, p. 251, 1766. Calidris arenaria RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 629, 1896 (Gala- pagos).— ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 187, 1899. Range. — Cosmopolitan during migration. Galapagos Archi- pelago. Found occasionally at the Galapagos, generally in winter. The Harris expedition took one specimen, however, as early as July 29. Genus Helodromas Kaup. Hflodromas KAUP, Skizz. Entw.-Gesch. Eur. Thierw., p. 144, 1829. Range Cosmopolitan during migration, breeding in the northern parts of the northern hemisphere. Galapagos Archipelago. 36. HELODROMAS SOLITARIUS (Wilson). Tringa solitaria WILSON, Amer. Orn., vn, p. 53, pi. 58, fig. 3, 1813. Helodromas solitarius ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 188, 1899 (Galapagos). Range. — Breeding in northern North America, in winter migrat- ing south to southern South America. Galapagos Archipelago. A chance visitor at the Galapagos during winter migrations. Roths- child and Hartert report two specimens taken October 12 on Chatham by the Harris expedition. Genus Heteractitis Stejneger. Heteractitis STEJNEGER, Auk, i, p. 236, 1884. Range. — Shores and islands of the Pacific Ocean. Galapagos Archipelago. 37. HETERACTITIS INCANUS (Gmelin). Scolopax incanus GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, Pt. n, p. 658, 1788. Heteractitis incanus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 632, 1896 (Galapagos). — ROTHSCHILD, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 188, 1899. Range. — Pacific coast of America and eastern islands of Polyne- sia. Galapagos Archipelago. 26O SNODGRASS AND HELLER A frequent winter visitor at the Galapagos where it has been re- ported from nearly all of the islands. Genus Actitis Illiger. Actitis ILLIGER, Prodr., p. 262, 1811. Range. — Nesting in the northern part of both hemispheres, almost cosmopolitan during migration. 38. ACTITIS MACULARIA (Linnaus). Tringa macularia LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. xii, i, p. 249, 1766. Tringoides macularia SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxiv, p. 468, 1896. Range. — North America, migrating in winter to northern and cen- tral South America. Galapagos Archipelago. This bird is a chance visitor at the Galapagos in winter. We have one specimen taken at Tagus Cove, Albemarle, in January. Other collectors have not reported it. Genus Numenius Brisson. Numenius BRISSON, Ornithologist, vi, p. 311, 1760. Range. — Breeding in northern parts of northern hemisphere ; cos- mopolitan during migration. Galapagos Archipelago. 39. NUMENIUS HUDSONICUS Latham. Numenius hudsonicus LATHAM, Ind. Orn., p. 712, 1790. — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 633, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 189, 1899. Numenius borealis SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 429, 1883. Range. — Arctic and subarctic regions of North America during breeding season ; during migration, central and South America. Gal- apagos Archipelago. Not numerous at the Galapagos, but frequently seen during winter. We saw more individuals along the eastern shore of Narboro Island than anywhere else. The specimen in the British Museum, collected by Markham at the Galapagos Islands, and recorded by Salvin as Numenius borealis, is said by Rothschild and Hartert to be N. hudsonicus. Family CHARADRIIDJE. Genus Squatarola Cuvier. Squatarola CUVIER, Reg. Anim., i, p. 467, 1817. Range. — Arctic during breeding season, cosmopolitan during migrations. Galapagos Archipelago. BIRDS 26l 40. SQUATAROLA SQUATAROLA (Linnseus). Tringa squatarola LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 149, 1758. Squatarola squatarola RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 626, 1896 (Galapagos). — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 187, 1899 (Galapagos). Range. — Same as that of the genus given above. This species occurs at the Galapagos in both winter and summer. It was taken by Baur and Adams in August, by the Harris expedition in November, and by us in February. It is not of common occurrence. We have only one specimen; taken at Elizabeth Bay, Albemarle. Genus ^gialitis Boie. ALgialitis BOIE, Isis, p. 558, 1822. Range. — Cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 41. ^EGIALITIS SEMIPALMATA (Bonaparte). Charadrius semipalmatus BONAPARTE, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., v, p. 98, 1825. ^Egialitis semipalmata RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 628, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 186, 1899. Range. — Breeding in arctic and subarctic parts of North America, migrating in winter south to northern South America. Galapagos Archipelago. This bird has been taken at the Galapagos Islands during both summer and winter. Rothschild and Hartert report it taken by the Harris expedition from July 29 to December 3. We have two speci- mens taken in January, one at Turtle Point near Tagus Cove, Albe- marle, and the other on the east shore of Narboro. The birds were very wild and hard to approach — qualities that distinguish all the visitant birds of the archipelago from the resident birds. Family APHRIZIDJE. Genus Arenaria Brisson. Arenaria BRISSON, Ornithologist, v, p. 132, 1760. Range. — Northern parts of northern hemisphere during the breed- ing season ; coasts of the entire world during migration. 42. ARENARIA INTERPRES (Linnseus). Tringa interpres LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, p. 148, 1758. Arenaria interpres RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 625, 1896 (Galapagos). — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 187, 1899. Range. — Same as that of the genus given above. Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1904. 262 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Common on the shores of most of the islands, and appears to be found at the archipelago throughout the year. The birds are very wild, however, and evidently not resident there. Taken by Baur and Adams in June and July, by the Harris expedition from September to Novem- ber, and by us in January and March. Family H^MATOPODIDJE. Genus Haematopus Linnasus. HamatopuslAWMEVS, Syst. Nat., ed. x, I, p. 152, 1758. Range. — Nearly cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 43. H^MATOPUS GALAPAGENSIS Ridgway. ? Hamatopus palliatus SCLATER AND SALVIN. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 323, 1870 (Galapagos). Hamatopus galapagensis RIDGWAY, Auk, in, p. 331, 1886 (Chatham Island, Galapagos); Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 621, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 186, 1899. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago: Chatham, Hood, Barrington, Indefatigable, Seymour, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Bindloe and Tower. These birds are not specially abundant anywhere but one sees them at nearly every place on the shores of the islands. We found them specially frequent in the small pools just back of the shore on the west side of the southern Seymour Island. They were always very tame. Family COLUMBIDJB. Genus Nesopelia Sundevall. Nesopelia SUNDEVALL, Meth. Nat. Av. Disp. Tentam., p. 99, 1872. Range. — Galapagos Archipelago. Allied to Zenaida but differing from it in the possession of twelve instead of fourteen rectrices. 44. THE NESOPELIA GALAPAGOENSIS SERIES. 44*. NESOPELIA GALAPAGOENSIS GALAPAGOENSIS (Gould). Zenaida galapagoensis GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 115, pi. 46, 1841 (Galapagos Archipelago). Nesopelia galapagoensis RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 614, 1896. Nesopelia galapagoensis galapagoensis ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 183, 1899. Range. — Charles, Hood, Chatham, Barrington, Indefatigable, Duncan, Jervis, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Abingdon, Bindloe and Tower. BIRDS This is a common bird on most of the islands of the archipelago, rare only on Charles and Albemarle. This may be due to the number of dogs and cats on these two islands, since the species nests on the ground. The birds seem to be more or less migratory, Tor~during January and March we saw only one or two doves about Tagus Cove on Albemarle, while in June they were not infrequent here and at this time we often saw small flocks at Turtle Point just north of Tagus Cove. One nest was found in April on James Island. It consisted of a few straws and leaves lining a cavity in the surface of a rough lava bed. The nest contained one egg ; the female was collected and an- other egg was found in the oviduct nearly ready to be laid. The first one is dull white, oval, and measures 27.5 x 22.5. On Barrington the doves were found nesting during the latter part of May. The nests were all on the ground between blocks of lava, and contained each two eggs like the one from James. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF galapagoensis galapag oensis . Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. 1 Length. tfl n rt Culmen. axilla from Nostril. 1 :iddleToe. 2 * 3945 Narboro. $ 238 123 67 16.3 13.3 24 21 3882 it 240 127 66 16.3 13.5 23 22 4412 " 245 I29 76 16 14 23 22 4453 " 250 134 71 17 14 23-5 20.5 3889 " 9 218 1 2O 68 15 14 21-5 19 5023 Albemarle, Iguana Cove. 22O 119 73 16 13 20 21 5252 Tagus " 215 "3 16.5 13.5 22.5 21 4466 James . 220 120 68 16 12.5 23 20 5172 Duncan. 225 118 67 15-5 12.5 21-5 20.5 4989 Barrington. 211 118 67 15 12 21 20 4898 Hood. $ 247 134 78 17-5 13-5 22 24 53°6 Tower. " 244 130 78 17.7 14-3 237 22 44<5. NESOPELIA GALAPAGOENSIS EXSUL Rothschild and Hartert. Nesopelia galapagoensis exsul ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 184, 1896 (Culpepper and Wenman Islands). Range. — Culpepper and Wenman. This form is considerably larger than N. g. galapagoensis, having a larger body, longer wings, and a longer and heavier bill. The wing in the males in our collection is not less than one hundred and thirty 264 SNODGRASS AND HELLER nine millimeters in length, and the culmen in the males is in all cases greater than eighteen millimeters. In the specimens of males from the other islands the wing does not exceed one hundred and thirty four millimeters and the culmen is in all cases less than eighteen milli- meters. No differences of color are appreciable between the two subspecies. The difference between the males of the two forms is such that they might almost be given the rank of species. The females are more nearly alike, being in each case smaller than the males. The subspecies was very common on Culpepper and Wenman. We have seven specimens taken in December. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF NeSOJ>elia galaj>agoensis exsul. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. X i Length. i i Culmen. Maxilla from Nostril. I Tarsus. Middle Toe. 5312 5315 5316 5312 5314 5317 3859 Culpepper. t i i Wenman. $ « (i 9 i « $ 260 255 230 236 248 139 141 144 125 126 128 140 79 76 82 66 68 72 79 19-5 19 19-5 16.7 17 17-5 18.5 15 15 16 14 14 14 15 26.5 26.5 26 23 22.5 23-3 24.5 23-5 22 23-7 21.3 21 21.7 22 Family FALCONIDJE. Genus Buteo Cuvier. Buteo CUVIER, Le9. Anat. Comp., i, Tabl. n, Ois., 1800. Range. — Cosmopolitan, excepting most of the Australian region. Galapagos Archipelago. 45. BUTEO GALAPAGOENSIS (Gould). Polyborus galapagoensis GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 9, 1837 (Galapagos Islands). Craxirex galapagoensis GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 23, pi. 2, 1841. Buteo galapagoensis RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 587, 1896. - ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 174, 1899. Range. — Hood, Chatham, Barrington, Indefatigable, Duncan, Jervis, James, Albemarle, Narboro, Abingdon and Bindloe. Closely allied to Buteo swainsoni of North America, from which it differs in the larger bill and feet. BIRDS 265 Coloration of the Naked Parts in Life. — Iris seal-brown in the adult, ochreous-buff in the young ; cere and base of mandible naples yellow ; upper mandible bluish-brown at the base, blackish at the tip ; feet and legs maize-yellow, claws blackish. We have two adult specimens from Albemarle in the dark phase, and one immature specimen in the tawny phase. We observed the species frequently on Narboro, but we did not collect any specimens here. It was seen also on James, Duncan, Indefatigable, Harrington, Hood, Chatham, Abingdon and Bindloe. It is fairly common throughout its range but is most numerous along the coast, showing, however, no preference for any special kind of country. It is equally abundant on barren stretches of lava and on areas of dense vegetation. It is extremely tame and will usually come within a few feet of a col- lector and sometimes closer still if he has any food to offer. The birds feed principally on the common lizard, Tropidurus, which abounds on nearly all the islands near the shore. All the specimens examined contained remains of these lizards. The rarity of this lizard on Charles, where it is now nearly extinct, may explain the absence of Buteo from this island. Similarly, the islands of Tower, Wenman and Culpepper, where the buzzard is lacking are also without repre- sentatives of Tropidurus. Darwin says that the Buteo feeds on the young of the land tortoise, Testudo, when just emerging from the shell. If this is the case, it is probable that they likewise eat the young of the green sea turtle, Chelone, which breeds abundantly on the sand beaches. A nest containing two incubated eggs was found on Bindloe in June. The nest was situated on a ledge of lava projecting from the perpendicular side of a canyon ; it was a very bulky affair made of sticks and twigs and lined with leaves. Both of the parents were in the dark phase of plumage, which is probably the adult color. Only one of these eggs was preserved. It is immaculate greenish-white, about the same color as the eggs of Circus hudsonius (Linn.), and measures 58 x 44. Another nest was found in January near Tagus Cove, Albemarle, situated on a high pinnacle of lava near the middle of a very rough lava stream. This nest was very large. The height being about three feet and the basal width nearly as great. It had evidently been used for many years. A pair of buzzards in dark plumage remained most of the time in the neighborhood and were presumably the owners. We never got any eggs from this nest, but the breeding season evidently does not begin until June. 266 SNODGRASS AND HELLER MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF ButeO goensts. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. locality. 1 length. bo a 5 i Culmen. Tarsus. iddleToe. || S 3946 Albemarle, Point Christopher. «f 535 405 223 40 70 48 3965 « n n 9 575 430 252 41 71 55 Family STRIGIDJE. Genus Strix Linnaeus. Strix LINN^US, Syst. Nat, ed. x, i, p. 92, 1758. Range. — Almost cosmopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. 46. STRIX PUNCTATISSIMA Gray. Strix punctatissima GRAY, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 34, 1841 (James Island). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 583, 1896. — ROTHS- CHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 175, 1899. Range. — James, Indefatigable, South Seymour, Abingdon and Albemarle. (Records of this species from the mainland are doubtful.) Two immature specimens are in the collection. They are only slightly fulvous below, being chiefly grayish, spotted with dark brownish. The wing in each is less than two hundred and thirty millimeters. One of the specimens is from near Tagus Cove, Albe- marle, where it was secured in a cavity on the side of a steep walled canyon ; the other was taken from a cavity between some rocks on Seymour Island. Several old nesting burrows were seen on canyon sides near Tagus Cove, Albemarle, and in one an old unhatched egg was found. This egg is whitish and in shape is slightly more spherical than the eggs of Strix pratincola Bonap. It measures 41 X 31. The entrances to the burrows were strewn with the skulls and other remains of rats (J/#.y), the rodents apparently forming the greater part of the food of the owls. Family BUBONID^E. Genus Asio Brisson. Asio BRISSON, Ornithologist, i, p. 28, 1760. Range. — Absent in most of the Australian region, otherwise cos- mopolitan. Galapagos Archipelago. BIRDS 267 47. ASIO GALAPAGOENSIS (Gould). Brachyotus galapagoensis GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 10, 1837 (Gala- pagos Islands). Otus galapagoensis GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 32, pi. 37 1841. Asio galapagoensis RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 585, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 175, 1899. Range. — Chatham, Hood, Barrington, Indefatigable, Duncan, James, Albemarle, Bindloe, Tower and Culpepper. This species is a local form of the nearly cosmopolitan Asio accip- itrinus (Pall.). It differs from the latter species in having a some- what larger bill and conspicuously larger feet ; the middle toe meas- uring about thirty two millimeters in length, while in A. accipitrinus it is about twenty seven millimeters. A. galapagoensis differs also in being generally darker and in having the brown streaks of the lower parts wider and persistent upon the posterior part of the abdomen, on the flanks, legs and under tail coverts. This owl is more common on the Galapagos Archipelago than the only other species found there, Strix punctatissima. On some of the islands it is fairly abundant, especially on Duncan and Barrington. Throughout a part of its range this species must live entirely on birds and insects, for on Tower, Culpepper and Hood there are apparently no rodents. On Barrington and Duncan, where it is most numerous, mice and rats are abundant. A set of four incubated eggs was taken on Barrington Island May 29. The nest consisted merely of a slight depression scraped in the scanty soil where it was found, to which no lining had been added. The eggs are white and subspherical in shape, measuring 42.5 x 34-5 ; 42.5 x 34; 43 x 34-55 41 x 34- MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Asio Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. 1 9 ti 340 375 I '3 H 146 155 Culmen. Tarsus. 1 32 4976 4716 Barrington. Duncan. 290 280 32 32 45 43 Asio accipitrinus. 3181 Palo Alto, California. ? 280 I, So 2P 46 27 3157 Pullman, Washington. g 305 1.5.5 27 46 26 Monomoy Island, Massachusetts. 310 155 30 46 27 268 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Family CUCULIME. Genus Coccyzus Vieillot. Coccyzus VIEILLOT, Analyse, p. 28, 1816. Range. — Temperate and tropical America. Galapagos Archi- pelago. 48. COCCYZUS MELANOCORYPHUS Vieillot. Coccyzus melanocoryphusV\K\\^Qi, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., viu, p. 271, 1817. — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 581, 1896 (Charles and Chatham Islands). — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 174, 1899. Range. — Most of South America. Galapagos Archipelago: Charles, Chatham and Albemarle. We have one adult specimen taken in May on Chatham, where the species was fairly common. On Albemarle we found it at the base of the mountain back of Tagus Cove, where in March we secured three young birds. Their notes are very similar to those of C. ameri- canus. We have also one adult from Iguana Cove, Albemarle. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF CoCCyZUS melanocoryphus. J 8 Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. M 1 § 8 bb a 9 1 | 6 Maxill from Nosl Tarsus Middle T 4752 Chatham. ^— T3 '§ mill ll $ §.s °-2 C/3 Platyspiza. ll c g," 03 | •§. Sli! &•*= ,a bo N Sf 4J Adult Males of Camarhynchus. Young Males of Geospiza in Fourth Plumage, Young Males of Cactornis in Second Plumage, Adult Females of Cactornis. Camarhynchus- S *52 PsS tj K^ S '« S ;« ^ .^ "a « "S | : ^ M *, ^ i t| Cfl ^ i i 1 .§' JWii i ^ i .• . / 1 • 1 •a g |» | J c | 1 | i Stage VI ( £ entirely black). ! 1 i 1 1 1 1 9 blackish. s •& ^c % s S i 1 f . 1 i ! BIRDS 277 to the feathers, below buffy-white spotted with brown on the breast and on the sides. Bill slender; culmen curved, not greater than eighteen millimeters, contained one and one third times in the tarsus; depth of bill about equal to gonys. The two species at present known under this subgenus without doubt stand nearer to the ancestral Geospiza than does any other known member of the genus. The plumage of the male and the fe- male is the same and is identical with that of young birds of Cama- rhynchus and Geospiza proper before they have begun to assume the melanistic phase characteristic of all the higher Geospizce. Young birds of this subgenus, in the first plumage, have a bright olivaceous color, a character common to young birds of Cactospiza and Cama- rhynchus but lost by all the members of Geospiza proper and of Cac- tornis. The adults reach the brown-spotted stage attained by the young of the other higher groups in Stage III. Hence, during their life history, the members of Cactospiza go through Stages I, II and III. One member of the subgenus, G. heliobates, is an inhabitant exclu- sively of the mangrove swamps of the archipelago. It might be fanci- fully supposed that these mangrove swamps were the first vegetation on the islands and that G. heliobates, or an ancestor of the present Geospizce resembling it, lived in these swamps until the islands became elsewhere fit for habitation ; that then some of the birds left the swamps and became differentiated into the species of Camarhynchus, Geospiza proper, and Cactornis ; while the others, remaining in the swamps, retained their primitive plumage, and survive at present as G. heliobates. The mangrove swamps were, most probably, the first vegetation of the islands on which they occur, but they are not pres- ent to any extent anywhere except on the southeast part of Albemarle, along the shores of the straits between Albemarle and Narboro, and at Elizabeth Bay, Albemarle. These islands do not by any means appear to be the oldest of the archipelago and their mangrove swamps stand on very recent lava. Hence the greater probability is that G. heliobates has been derived from G. pallida, the member of Cacto- spiza that inhabits the same areas as the other Geospizce. The two species differ only in the size of the bill. 53. GEOSPIZA PALLIDA (Sclater and Salvin). Cactornis pallida SCLATER AND SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 323, 1870 (Indefatigable Island). Cactornis hypoleuca RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xn, p. 109, 1890 (James Island). Camarhynchus pallidus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 565, 1896; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 487, 1901. Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1904. 278 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Camarhynchus productus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 364, 1894 (Albemarle Island) ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 566, 1896. Geospiza pallida ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 165, 1899 (Indefatigable, Jervis, Duncan, James and Albemarle Islands). Range. — Indefatigable, Jervis, Duncan, James and Albemarle. Adult Male. — Cat. No. 4591, Leland Stanford Junior University Museum; James Island, April 22, 1899. Above, plain light brown, darker on the head where the feathers have distinctly dark brown centers; lighter, almost grayish-brown on the rump and upper tail coverts. Upper surface of wings and tail darker than the back, some- what sooty-brown. The wing quills with narrow grayish outer edgings, and wider slaty inner borders. The upper wing coverts with indistinct grayish-brown edgings. Under wing coverts whitish. Lores, superciliary line, subocular and auricular regions, and entire under parts dirty buff gray, palest on the belly and under tail coverts. Under parts most strongly tinged with brownish-buff on the breast and along the sides. Throat and breast spotted with dusky. Bill black. Feet dark brown. Length 148 millimeters, wing 75, tail 48, culmen I7'5* g°nvs 9'3» width of bill at base 7.3, depth of bill at base 9.5, tarsus 24. Immature. — Cat. No. 5225 Leland Stanford Junior University Museum; Iguana Cove, Albemarle, June 9, 1899. Back almost entirely pure yellowish-olive, the feathers of the head having slightly dusky central areas. The lower parts are bright yellowish-buff, con- siderably paler than the back. Wings and tail dusky with wide olive- buff edgings to the feathers. The feathers of the breast and sides without subterminal brown spots. Bill brownish-yellow above, pale yellowish below. Feet dark brown (specimen moulting). This plumage is what we have termed Stage I in the evolution of the color of the Geospizce. The color of the specimen just described is identical with that of young birds of the subgenus Camarhynchus. It was taken at about one thousand feet elevation at the south end of Albemarle, near Iguana Cove. This species probably represents the ancestral Geospiza more nearly than any other species of Geospiza now living. In plumage it is cer- tainly primitive, for in the adult it reaches only the stage attained by the immature birds of all the other species. Whether the bill has the shape of the ancestral Geospiza or not is impossible to say, since the variation of this member in the genus is so great that we can place no reliance on the supposition that it has remained constant. Geospiza pallida differs but little from the next species, G. heliobates BIRDS 279 of the mangrove swamps of Albemarle and Narboro. The songs of the two species are, however, very different. That of G. pallida, as we heard it on James, may be represented thus : cfiir-kee e-e-e chtr- kee ~e-e-~e. It is a rare bird, the two specimens above described are the only ones we obtained. 54. GEOSPIZA HELIOBATES Snodgrass and Heller. Geospiza heliobates SNODGRASS AND HELLER, The Condor, p. 96, Aug., 1901 (Albemarle Island). Range. — Albemarle and Narboro in mangrove swamps. Specific Characters. — Very similar to G. pallida, resembling it in coloration, but having a smaller bill — the culmen being 15.5 milli- meters or less in length, while in G. pallida it is 17 millimeters or more in length. Adult Male. — Cat. No. 4186 (type of the species), Leland Stan- ford Junior University Museum; mangrove swamp at Tagus Cove, Albemarle Island, Jan. 24, 1899. Above dark brown with an olive tinge on the rump ; all of the feathers of the dorsum with narrow pale olive-grayish edgings; wing and tail feathers lighter, more smoky- brown ; lores, sides of head and under parts dirty buff -gray ; brownish- buff on the sides and flanks ; lores spotted with brown ; feathers of the breast and sides with dark brown central areas forming spots of the same color. Tips of the greater and the middle wing coverts rather indistinctly brownish-rufous, forming two inconspicuous cross bands. Under wing coverts grayish ; under tail coverts brownish-buff with pale grayish edgings. Under surface of wing and tail feathers grayish- brown. Bill black. Feet dark brown. Length 123 millimeters, wing 72, tail 48.5, culmen 15, gonys 8, width of bill at base 6.5, depth of bill at base 9, tarsus 21.5. There is a slight variation in the paleness of the under parts in dif- ferent specimens of adult males, some being slightly paler than the type. Some also have a slightly more olive tinge to the plumage of the back. There is present in a few specimens a very distinct gray superciliary stripe ending behind the eye above the auricular region ; in others this stripe is less distinctly marked or entirely absent. There is no distinguishing difference between the Albemarle and Narboro specimens. Adult Female. — Female specimens having the plumage very much worn are almost identical in coloration with the males, but generally have fewer and smaller spots below. Above, the plumage is blackish on the head, almost pure olive-brown on the back, with the central 280 SNODGRASS AND HELLER areas of the feathers darker. Wing and tail feathers dark brown with olive-buffy edgings. There is considerable variation in the color of the adult females. Some are, as described above, almost exactly the same as the males, but others have the lower parts plain buff -gray with no spots whatever. Immature Males and Females. — Feathers of the head and back with blackish centers and olive-yellowish borders, on the head the black predominates, on the rump the olive-yellow, on the back the two are present in almost equal proportions. Wing and tail dark brown with buff edgings to the feathers ; these edgings are widest and most conspicuous on the tips of the greater and middle wing coverts. Under parts similar to the adult male, having the same spots, but generally paler. Bill dusky or brownish above, pale brown or yel- low below. Feet dark brown. Still younger birds (represented only by males in our collection) are colored like the last but have no spots on the under surface, being plain dirty grayish below with a buff tinge, especially on the breast and along the sides. We have no females of this stage but it is to be supposed from analogy that they do not differ from the males. The extent of the olive coloring on the upper parts varies according to the abrasion of the plumage. We have no specimens of this species in the purely olive and yellow plumage characteristic of Stage I, but since this plumage is well represented by G. pallida we may expect to find it present in G. heliobates. Rothschild and Hartert * make the following remark concerning Geospiza pallida: "The birds which are olive and bufRsh yellow below are immature ones, but it is somewhat puzzling to account for the distinct blackish brown stripes on the lower throat, chest and sides of the body in some of them. Neither the apparently most adult ones, nor the most yellowish, and therefore, according to our view, youngest of the series, have these stripes well developed." The facts of the case are as follows (applicable to either species of the subgenus) : (i) The youngest birds of each sex are unspotted below ; (2) older immature birds of both sexes have the lower parts profusely spotted, in some cases even more so than in the adults ; (3) adult males are generally more or less spotted below ; (4) adult females may be spotted below or they may be entirely plain there. The apparent in- congruity pointed out by Rothschild and Hartert of some of the females losing their spots in maturity may be explained as follows : The indi- 1 Novitates Zoologicae, vi, p. 166, 1899. BIRDS 28l vidual feathers of the spotted regions of both immature and adult birds are pale slaty-gray basally; toward the tip is an arrow head shaped spot of dark brown with the apex directed toward the distal part of the feather ; beyond this and forming the exposed margin of the feather is a buffy-gray area. The youngest birds, represented by the olive and yellow specimens of G. pallida have no brown spots on the feathers of the lower parts. Our specimen is moulting. Hence, the spotted plumage is obtained by a moult involving a change in the color of the feathers. The individual feathers of the adults that are plain below and of those that are spotted below are the same in color, but those that are unspotted are new, and show no signs of being worn, while those of the spotted birds are so greatly worn that nearly all the pale marginal part has been lost. Hence this difference in the general coloration of the birds is not one of an actual difference in the color of the feathers, but is a difference of the degree of abrasion of the plumage. The immature spotted birds have the plumage very soft and lax, and the tips of all the feathers are rough and ragged as if much worn away. We have no specimens of this age having a fresh plumage, but it is evident that if the feathers of the worn birds were entire the brown spots below would be concealed, and then immature birds would present the same two phases as do the adults. All of our immature spotted birds are moulting so that between this stage and the adults a moult intervenes. Hence there is in Geospiza pallida and G. heliobates no real color difference between the males and the females. Immature birds in the second plumage, i. e., in Stage II, differ from the adults only in having the bill paler in coloration — brownish above and yellow below; in the plumage being softer and more lax, and in possessing wider, more distinct and more buffy wing bands formed of the pale edgings of the middle and greater coverts. This latter character distinguishes birds of this stage in all the subgenera and may be regarded, when com- bined with a non-olivaceous plumage, as diagnostic of Stage II. Hence between Stage II and the adults a moult intervenes, but this moult involves only a slight change in the color of the plumage. In its habits Geospiza heliobates is the most interesting species of all the Geospizce. It inhabits exclusively the mangrove swamps and feeds on insects. Whether it occurs on other islands besides Albemarle and Narboro we do not know. These swamps in many places con- sist merely of a narrow fringe of trees bordering shallow lagoons that run inward from the shore ; but in other places, such as at Turtle 282 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Point, Elizabeth Bay and Villa Mil, Albemarle, and along the east shore of Narboro, depressions of the surface of considerable extent lie a short distance back from the shore and these fill up with water at high tide, but have generally no visible connection with the ocean. At such places there occur large, dense groves of the mangrove tree and of another tree, Avicennia, which is always associated with it. At high tide the bases of these trees are covered several feet in depth, while at low tide the floor of the swamp is generally exposed except for scattered pools of water. It is only in the denser, interior parts of such groves as these that Geospiza heliobates is found. The birds seldom come out to the edge of the swamp, but they may easily be taken if one can find a clear space near the center of the grove. They are not timid or wary, but seem simply to prefer the denser and more shaded parts of the swamps. Their food consists entirely of insects which they obtain under the bark of the trees. The notes of this species are as distinctive of it as is its habitat. We first heard the birds in January in the grove at Turtle Point, just north of Tagus Cove, on Albemarle. The song resembled tur-tiir, tiir-tur, tur-tiir, the set of two syllables being generally repeated three times in succession, although sometimes more and sometimes only twice. The sound was varied somewhat and often resembled tiver-twer, ttver-twer. The notes are uttered rather loudly and have a very striking sound when heard issuing from the depths of a dense and apparently otherwise uninhabited grove. The birds seem to utter the notes almost constantly, and their presence and location in a swamp may always be known by their song. We observed the species in the swamps of the east shore of Nar- boro during January, March and April, and did not perceive any dif- ference between the habits or notes of the birds here and those at Turtle Point, Albemarle. The species was also observed in two large groves situated two or three miles apart, on the north shore of southern Albemarle, a few miles west of Elizabeth Bay. It was at once apparent, however, on listening to the birds of these swamps that their song differed from that of the Tagus Cove and Narboro birds. Instead of each set of notes in the song consisting of two syl- lables, it consisted of three. Each trisyllabic set was repeated two or three times just as with the others. The song, hence, resembled tur-tiir-tur, tur-tur-tiir, tur-tur-tiir. Each swamp was visited twice ; the birds were not scarce in either, and only now and then were bisyl- labic sets heard. We visited the Turtle Point swamp again in March and the birds here were singing, as before, their bisyllabic song. BIRDS 283 Besides the song just described the species has several ordinary notes. One resembles cheek, the k sound at the end distinguishing it from the notes of other Geospizce. The vowel sound of this may be varied to chook, but the terminal k is retained. When hopping about they also utter a very low sound resembling cheep. Another common note very characteristic of the species, and one by which it may readily be known, is a rather harsh, prolonged sound, having e as the vowel and the stress declining toward the end. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF GeOSflZd Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. L,ocality. M U •5 length. t % £ Culmen. 1 Width of Bill at Base. Depth of Bill at Base. Maxilla from Nostril. Tarsus. 4491 Narboro. g 137 69.5 44.5 15-5 8.5 7 9.25 II 21.5 4492 I32 73-5 46 15.5 8.25 7-5 8-5 10.5 21 3896 128 72 47 15 8 7 8 10 23 4109 127 71 49 15 8 7 9 10.5 22 4479 9 130 70.5 40.5 15 8-3 7 9-5 10 21.5 4496 157 71 40.5 15-5 8 7 8.5 10.5 20.5 39U 4186 Albemarle. $ 133 123 73 72 53 48.5 15-3 15 8 8 6-5 9 9 ii 10.3 23 21-5 4161 126 7o 48.5 15 8 7 8 ii 21-5 4226 133 71-5 45 15-5 8.5 6-5 8 10.5 23-5 4266 127 69 39 15 8 6-5 8 10.5 21-5 4166 122 7i 42 15 7.5 6.7 8-3 IO 21.5 4124 128 72 43 15 8 6-5 8-7 IO 21-5 4122 125 73 43 15 7-7 7 9 10 22 4130 129 74 45-5 15 7-7 7 8-5 9.5 22.3 4173 128 73 50 15 8 6-7 8.3 10 23 5U2 9 137 67.5 46 15-5 8 7 8 10.5 20 4249 132 69.5 42.5 15-3 7-5 6.7 8 10 22 4157 138 7i 44 15 7 9 ii.5 22.5 4177 112 70 42 14.5 8 6.7 7-7 10 21 4213 142 70 42-5 15 8.7 6-7 8 II 21.7 4242 136 68 4i.5 15 8.5 6 7.5 IO 21 4138 120 70 45 14 8 7 8.7 IO 22 4135 I25 46 15-3 8 7 10.5 21.5 4192 122 68 44 15 7-7 6-5 8 9-7 22 4146 123 69 51-5 15 8 7 8.7 10.3 22 We know nothing concerning the breeding habits of the species. The nesting season apparently does not begin till after March. It is still to be determined, also, whether the bird occurs in the mangrove swamps of other islands such as Indefatigable. There are in the collection seven adult males, seven adult females, five immature males and one immature female from the mangrove swarnp at Turtle Point north of Tagus Cove, Albemarle, taken in January ; two adult males, two adult females and one immature male 284 SNODGRASS AND HELLER from the swamps at Elizabeth Bay, Albemarle, taken in February ; four adult males, two adult females, one immature male and five im- mature females from the mangrove swamps on the east shore of Nar- boro Island, taken in January, March and April; and one adult female from Tagus Cove, Albemarle, taken in June. We have examined also specimens of this species in a collection be- longing to Captain W. Johnson, of San Francisco, collected in 1900 and 1901 by Mr. G. M. Green, of San Francisco. The specimens are from the mangrove swamps at Tagus Cove, Albemarle, and also from the mangrove swamps on the southeast part of Albemarle, abreast of the Grossman Islands. They are exactly the same as our birds from Tagus Cove, Elizabeth Bay and Narboro. Mr. Green obtained one specimen of Geospiza pallida from the eastern side of the moun- tain south of Perry Isthmus. In the preceding table No. 4186 was taken mated with No. 4138. Subgenus Camarhynchus Gould. Camarhynchus GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 6, 1837. (Type Cama- rhynch us psittacula Gould . ) Adult males with the back, head, throat and breast blackish. Sexes dissimilar. Female never blackish. The young resemble the adult female. Bill conical with the culmen strongly curved. The males of this subgenus go through Stages I to V. This is an ad- vance of two stages beyond the stage attained by the males of the last subgenus. The female remains in Stage III. Birds in Stages I and II have the bill yellowish. In the higher stages the bill is generally black. There is but slight variation in the shape of the bill. The species can be most naturally arranged in a series graded by the size of the bill, beginning with the smallest billed form and ending with the largest. Among the specimens there is considerable variation in color, but it is probable that the males of all the species eventually attain the stage in which the entire upper and fore parts are blackish, although such forms have not been reported for all the species. But many are rare and black males are unknown only in the rarer species. 55. THE GEOSPIZA PROSTHEMELAS SERIES. 550. GEOSPIZA PROSTHEMELAS PROSTHEMELAS (Sclater and Salvin). Camarhynchus prosthemelas SCLATER AND SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 323, fig. 4, 1870 (type, from Indefatigable Island). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 563, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 485, 1901. BIRDS 285 Geospiza prosthemelas ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 169, 1899. Range. — Narboro, Albemarle, James, Duncan, Jervis, Indefatig- able, Charles, Gardner (near Charles), Barrington and Cowley. Adult Male. — Cat. No. 4536, Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum; James Island, April 21, 1899. Head and neck all around and breast black. Back and upper surface of wings and tail dark dusky brown. Rump and upper tail coverts paler brown. Belly and under tail coverts white ; sides and flanks brownish ; lower part of breast white, streaked with black. Lower surface of wings and tail grayish-brown. Under wing coverts dusky-gray anteriorly, whitish posteriorly. Bill black. Feet dark brown. Length 105 millimeters, wing 63, tail 38, culmen 10.7, gonys 5.7, width of bill at base 6.3, depth of bill at base 8, maxilla from nostril 7, tarsus 20.5. There is a considerable amount of variation amongst the fifteen specimens of adult males in the collection, specially in the coloration of the lower parts. Some have the back and upper surface of the wings lighter than in the one described, contrasting more strongly with the black of the head. The feathers of the throat and breast may have only the central areas black, the marginal parts being white. In some not only the belly but the lower part of the breast and the sides are white, the sides being streaked with brown. Still others have almost no dusky below, except on the throat, where the central areas of the feathers are black,' the general color of the under parts in such speci- mens being yellowish-olive, shaded on the breast and sides with buff. The top of the head may be black with narrow olive-yellowish edges to the feathers, the back, wing- and tail-coverts olive-brownish, with the central areas of the feathers darker, the wing and tail quills brown with yellowish-olive edgings. The bill in such specimens is entirely black, indicating that the birds are adults. Since comparatively few of the males have purely black heads, we may assume that the acquisition of this character is rather late in the life of the bird. Adult Female. — Cat. No. 4372, Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum; Tagus Cove, Albemarle, March 18, 1899. Feathers of the upper parts dark brown centrally, with yellowish-olive borders nar- rowest on the head and widest on the lower back and rump. Wings and tail dusky-brown, the feathers edged with yellowish-olive. Lower parts dirty buffy-gray, whitish on the belly. Obsolete streaks of brown on the breast and sides. Bill black. Feet brownish-black. The streaking of the under parts and the proportion of olive and brown on the back in adult females varies, but such differences are 286 SNODGRASS AND HELLER apparently due to the degree of abrasion of the feathers. Some of the females have a pale superciliary stripe, a character of the young of Camarhynchi and adults of G. pallida. Immature Males and Females (Stage II). — Upper parts blackish and olive, the black occupying the central areas of the feathers and the olive the edges. In some the olive predominates, in others the black. Under parts buffy-grayish, in older specimens streaked with brown in the breast. Middle and greater wing coverts with wide buffy tips forming two bands across the wing. Bill pale yellowish. Feet brown. . Young Males and Females (Stage I). — Above olive-brownish, the brown color occupying the central areas of the feathers, the edges of the feathers yellowish-olive, this color often almost concealing the darker central color. Wings as in older specimens. Below pale yellowish-olive or buff, obscurely streaked on the breast and sides with brown. A yellow superciliary stripe. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF prosthemelas -prosthemelas. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. M i Length. bi a £ S Culmen. i & 1 Width of Bill at Base. !« O CO 5m P,rt P Maxilla from Nostril. Tarsus. 4427 Narboro. 9 106 57-5 39-5 II 6 6.5 8 7-5 20.5 4317 Albcmarle. g H5 62 38 1 1-5 6 6 8-5 7-5 20 4396 no 61 36 II 5-5 6 8 7 20 4246 113 61 39 10.7 5-5 6.5 8 7 20.5 431° 121 61 39 1 1.5 6 6.5 8.5 8 20.5 4327 no 64 37-5 ii 5-7 6.5 8-3 7 20.7 4362 116 60 39 ii 5-5 6.3 8 7 20 4257 H3 62.5 4i 12 5-5 6.5 8 7 21 4105 no 62 44 ii-3 5-7 6.3 8 7 20 4234 9 117 60 43 ii 5-3 5-5 7-7 7 19.5 4155 in 58 42 n 5-5 6-3 8 7 19 4318 116 60.5 33-5 ii. 5 5-5 6.5 7 7 19-5 4268 in 61 37 10.5 5-3 6 7 6.5 2O 4372 no 61 37 10.5 5-3 6.5 8-5 7 19 4536 James. $ 105 63 38 10.7 5-7 6-3 8 7 20.5 4544 112 62 36.5 n 5-3 6.5 7-7 7 19.7 4509 110 63.5 45 n 5 6 7-5 6.7 20 H5 62.5 39 n 5-3 6 7 6.5 2O 4532 106 64 46 11.5 6 6-3 7-3 7-7 2O 4527 IIO 62 42 n 5-3 6 7-5 7 19-5 4605 9 III 56 38 11.5 5-5 6 7-5 7 I8.5 4554 (i 104 60 4i n 5-3 5-7 8 7 19 4739 Char es. 5 115 62 40 12 5-7 6.5 8 7-5 18.7 4727 115 62 39-5 11.7 5-5 6 8.5 7-3 2O 4732 9 120 58.5 38 II-3 5-5 6 7-3 7 19 4741 (i IIO 60 35 II-5 5-5 6 7 7 20 BIRDS 287 On these olive-yellowish specimens there is not enough brown be- low on the feathers to give the color of the spotted immature form merely by a wearing away of the paler marginal parts of the feathers. Hence, there must be, as in the case of G. pallida, a moult inter- vening between the olive-yellow stage and the spotted stage involving a change in the color of the feathers. When feathers are acquired having large subterminal brown spots the olive above and the yellowish below may yet, however, be indefinitely retained through not being worn off so as to expose the brown. Our specimens were taken at Iguana Cove, Albemarle, in Decem- ber and March ; at Tagus Cove, Albemarle, in June ; on James in April, and on Duncan and Charles in May. This is the smallest species of the subgenus Camarhynchus and one of the smallest of the Geospizce, being about the same size as G. fulig- inosa. The bill is nearest in shape to that of the subgenus Geospiza and probably represents the first step in the bill variation along the Camarhynchus line. The following two pairs of specimens were taken mated with each other: Nos. 4246-4268, 4532-4554. 55^. GEOSPIZA PROSTHEMELAS SALVINI (Ridgway). Camarhynchus salvini RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 364, 1894 (Chatham Island), and xix, p. 561, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, p. 486, 1901. Geospiza salvini ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 169, 1899. Range. — Chatham. This form is very close to G. p. prosthemelas, averaging slightly larger with a heavier bill, approaching G. paupera in size. The collection contains seven adult specimens from Chatham taken in May. Five are apparently adult males, one of which has the head and throat black, but the color does not extend so far down on the chest and sides as it does in most of the adult males of G. p. pros- themelas. The other males, apparantly immature in plumage, are streaked below anteriorly, being in the plumage described as adult by other authors. Our specimens are no more olivaceous than those from Albemarle, but are considerably more so than those from James. The Charles Island specimens of G.p. prosthemelas is intermediate in size between G. p. salvini and G. p. prosthemelas of the other islands, although some specimens from most of the islands within the range of the latter species are equal to G. p. salvini in size. 288 SNODGRASS AND HELLER MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF proslkemelas salvini. JC3 d to A ^ £.__. 4 ai Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. 1 I I i Culme | O j*g S ° P 58 S^ §a Tarsu; i « i 4794 Chatham. $ 125 66 40 12 6 6.7 8.5 7-3 21.5 4823 " 123 69 40 12.5 6 7 9-3 8.3 21-5 4711 " 122 62 39 13 6.5 6-5 8 8.5 21 4802 4< 124 63 39 12.5 6.7 8-7 8 21-3 4710 9 i*5 59 35 II 6 6-3 8 7 20.5 4708 it 122 62 37 12 6.3 8.5 20.5 56. GEOSPIZA PAUPERA (Ridgway). Camarhynchus pauper RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xn, p. in, 1889, and xix, p. 559, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 483, 1901. Geospiza paupera ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., in, p. 169, 1899. Range. — Charles Island. This species approaches G. habeli in the shape of the bill but it is much smaller and the adult males have the head and chest less blackish. We have three specimens, two of which are adult males, but both lack blackish heads, being streaked on the throat and chest with dark brown. These were taken near the higher central part of the island to which they seem to be confined, none being seen near the coast. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Geospiza -pauper a. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. 1 0 S bib t Culmen. • B O O Basal Width. 1 p i i i! .*3 ^! 1« Tjfc Tarsus. 4788 4740 Charles. s 135 118 69 70 47 39 14 13-3 7-3 6.3 7 7 9.5 9 9-5 8.5 21 22 57. GEOSPIZA HABELI (Sclater and Salvin). Camarhynchus habeli SCLATER AND SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc., pp. 323, 325, fig. 3, 1870. — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 555, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, p. 480, 1901. Camarhynchus bindloei RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvm, p. 294, 1895, and xix, p. 556, 1896. Geospiza habeli ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 168, 1899. Range. — Abingdon and Bindloe. BIRDS 289 This species is intermediate in size between G. psittacula and G. affinis, but with a differently shaped bill. The bill is not so deep and considerably more elongate. We Jiave three adult specimens of this species from Abingdon and Bindloe-. Immature birds common on Abingdon, but adults rare, only two having been seen. Only a few seen on Bindloe. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF GeosptZd hdbeli. Cat. No. , bio d B 3 a Id i Stan. Univ. Locality. D a .S *3 S g p fl & • c Mus. S £ H 0 a a 1 1 8» S • w 3 5200 Abingdon. $ 130 71 39 16 8.5 8,5 II 10.5 22 5I4I Bindloe. " 140 69 44-5 16 8 8.3 II 10.7 23 5i3i " 9 144 73 46 16.5 7-7 8 10.5 10.3 21-5 58. GEOSPIZA INCERTA (Ridgway). Camarhynchus incertus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvm, p. 294, 1895 (James Island) and xix, p. 560, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 482, 1901. Geospiza incerta ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 168, 1900 (James and Duncan Islands). Range. — James and Duncan. This species was not seen by us. According to Rothschild and Hartert it is a very doubtful form and is probably not different from G. affinis. 59. GEOSPIZA AFFINIS (Ridgway). Camarhynchus affinis RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 365, 1894, and xix, p. 554, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 481, 1901. Goespiza affinis ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 168, 1899. Range. — Albemarle. This species is very similar in the shape of the bill to G. psittacula psittacula. All of our specimens are considerably smaller than the specimens of G. p. psittacula, but the two would probably be found to intergrade if a large series could be compared. We have five specimens from Iguana Cove, Albemarle, two of which are adult males; the others have immature plumage, but have black bills and are of adult size. This species is not common at Iguana Cove and appears to be very rare about Tagus Cove, where only a single immature specimen was secured during several weeks of collecting. In June these birds were heard at Iguana Cove singing a song which may be represented by twlr*e-twe'e~t'wee-'ee-~e. 290 SNODGRASS AND HELLER MEASUREMENTS OF Geospiza ajfinis. Cat. No Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. 3 JS If u 4 ttt a 5 '1 Culmen. to >> I Basal Width of Bill. 1 r Maxilla from Nostril. Tarsus. 4335 4041 5I04 3884 4071 Albemarle, Iguana Cove. > § o .= is 1° PQ fc 1° PQ Maxilla from i Nostril. Tarsus. 4443 Narboro. g 166 77-3 56 15 7-3 9-3 H-5 10 24.5 4421 154 81.3 52.5 14.7 7 9-5 12.5 IO 27 4452 161 77 52.5 14.5 7 8.5 11.7 9-7 26 4445 164 78 54 15-5 7 9-5 11.7 10 24.5 3878 155 83 48 17 7 10 12.3 10 28 4422 9 158 76 53-7 15 6.7 8.7 ii.5 10 24 4451 161 76 5i 13-5 7 8.5 H.5 9-3 26.5 4454 77-5 5i 14 7 9-5 ".5 10 27-5 4450 164 72 52.5 14-5 6.5 9-5 12.5 10 25-5 3972 157 78 53 16.5 7 9 12 10 25-5 3934 Albemarle. $ 158 83 52 16-3 7 10 12.5 9-7 27 3954 163 85 54 18 7-3 10 13 ii 29 4090 167 81 49 17-5 7 9-3 12.5 10 26.5 3935 158 82 55 17 7-5 9 12 10 26.5 3944 170 87 52 17-5 7-5 10 13 10 27.5 433i 9 155 81 52.5 15-5 7 9-3 ii.5 10.3 28 4589 James. $ 1 66 84 56 18.5 7-3 10 13.7 II 29 4616 Duncan. 9 156 80 54 17 7-5 10 12 10.5 23-5 4793 Chatham. « < 163 85 50 17 7-5 10 13 10 28.7 5278 Abingdon. $ 163 84 53 17-5 7 10 13 II 26 5287 « * 9 160 77 56 16 7-3 9-7 12-5 10 27 The following numbers represent pairs taken mated: 4443-4451; 4421-4422. BIRDS 293 Subgenus Geospiza Gould. Geospiza GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 5, 1837. (Type, Geospiza mag- nirostris Gould.) Adult males almost entirely black, under tail coverts edged with whitish; sexes dissimilar ; females never blackish ; the young resemble the adult female ; bill conical but varies greatly in size and propor- tions; culmen generally straight. During their growth males of this subgenus go through Stages II to VI. There is never at any age any plumage resembling the yellowish- olive plumage of Stage I in Cactospiza and Camarhynchus. Young birds in the first plumage are in Stage II. The adult female is the same as in the two preceding groups. The evolution of this subgenus is not so simple as that of Cama- rhynchus. G. fuliginosa parvula we take as the most generalized member of the group, partly because it is most convenient to form a series beginning with it, and also because it resembles in size and general proportions Geospiza ( Camarhynchus} prosthemelas with which we started the Camarhynchus series. Starting with G. fuli- ginosa parvula, and constructing the series according to the size and shape of the bill, we can form a continuous line from G. fuliginosa parvula to the more slender billed varieties of the same species, and from these through G. debilirostris and G. septentrionalis to the more slender billed members of the subgenus Cactornis. In the latter subgenus there is again an evolution in the color, consisting of a farther advance in melanism affecting the young of both sexes and the adult females. From G. fuliginosa parvula also a second line branches off in the opposite direction with regard to the size of the bill, /. £., instead of becoming longer and more slender, the bill be- comes proportionally larger and thicker at the base. This series begins with G. fortis fortis, runs through the other varieties of the same species, and then through G. darwini and G. strenua to G. magn irostris . The species G. conirostris tve place in the subgenus Cactornis. This is contrary to any disposition of it made by other authors, but the species have heretofore been grouped solely according to the shape of the bill. This, we think, is certainly a mistake, for the color is so characteristically different in the four groups as we here give them, and manifestly so much more constant than the shape of the bill, that we feel confident in relying on it as being a more important character for classifying the members of the genus. However, the bill in G. conirostris propinqua almost grades into that of G. scandens Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1904. 294 SNODGRASS AND HELLER rothschildi, so that there is scarcely a break in the bill series of Cac- tornis even when G. conirostris is included in it. 62. THE GEOSPIZA FULIGINOSA SERIES. This series comprises all the smaller billed forms of Geospiza. Under it we include the subspecies G. f. par-villa, G.f . fuliginosa, G.f. minor, G.f. acutirostris and G. f. difficilis. It is represented on every island of the archipelago except the two most northern and smallest ones — Wenman and Culpepper. The bill varies within the following limits: Culmen 12-15.5, width of bill at base 6.3-8, depth of bill at base 6.5-10. The species is the most abundant in individuals almost everywhere that it occurs, as well as the most widely distributed. 62*. GEOSPIZA FULIGINOSA PARVULA (Gould). Geospisa parvula GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 6, 1837 (James). — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 529, 1896. Geospiza fuliginosa fuliginosa ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 161, 1899. Geospiza fuliginosa RIDGWAY (not of GOULD), Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 526, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 504, 1901. Range. — James, Albemarle, Narboro, Duncan, Jervis, Indefatig- able, Seymour, Barrington, Charles, Gardner (near Charles) and Hood. Most of the specimens referred to Geospiza parvula by Ridgway are undoubtedly simply small sized specimens of the same species that he called Geospiza fuliginosa. Rothschild and Hartert state that " the type of G. parvula, according to Darwin, had been collected on James Island." Hence the name Geospiza fuliginosa parvula (Gould) must be given to the representatives of G. fuliginosa inhabiting the islands given above, since these differ slightly as a whole from the representa- tives on Chatham to which the name G. fuliginosa fuliginosa (Gould) must be given. The bill of G.f. parvula is shaped like that of G. fortis but is considerably smaller, the culmen averaging about thirteen millimeters, being always less than fifteen. The variety differs from G. f. fuligi- nosa in the shorter but less slender bill. Some specimens from the northern slope of Narboro have unusually slender bills which nearly equal in length those of the longest billed Chatham specimens. This is the most abundant form of Geospiza in the archipelago. It outnumbers in individuals all the other species together almost everywhere that it occurs. On account of its being the most easily BIRDS 295 studied species, and also apparently the most generalized of the sub- genus Geospiza, we give the following detailed descriptions of the different stages which were briefly outlined in the introduction to the genus. The birds in the first plumage are in Stage II, St^ge~I having been apparently crowded out of the life history in the subgenera Geo- spiza and Cactornis. Stage II. Toung Males and Females just out of Nest. — This stage represents the first phase of the plumage of birds of both sexes after leaving the nest and is characteristic of young birds of the first year during spring and summer. We have no specimens taken later than June, so we do not know when the change from this stage to the next takes place. Young birds taken in December and January are in Stage III. Feathers all soft and lax. Top of head and back brownish or dusky, the feathers with buffy, sometimes with buff y -yellowish margins widest on middle of back and on rump. Wing feathers sooty-brown, all of them with buffy-yellow edgings, these widest and most yellow on the greater coverts, narrowest and grayer on the outer edges of the pri- maries. Upper surface of rectrices dusky-brown, higher than the wings, edged with olive-buff. Sides of head and lower parts grayish- buff, more or less spotted with brown, especially on the throat and breast. Some specimens are almost uniformly pale below ; others are thickly spotted. Each feather below has the concealed basal part dark slaty-plumbeous, the marginal part grayish-buff and between these two colors an arrowhead-shaped spot of dark brown. The size and intensity of this spot varies ; when small it is almost entirely con- cealed by the buffy marginal color, and when large it causes the con- spicuously spotted appearance of some specimens. Lower surface of wings and tail brown, paler than above, the primaries and secondaries with pale grayish inner margins. Bill either plain pale yellowish or yellow with the upper mandible clouded with light brownish. Feet blackish-brown. Examples: Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Catalogue Nos. 4349, 4539, 454* > Iguana cove, Albemarle, March; No. 4539, female, James, April; No. 4541, male, James, April. Stage III (a} Toung Males and Females of the Winter Months. — Young birds are mostly in this stage about Tagus Cove during De- cember and January. When the plumage is attained we do not know, for we have no specimens taken earlier than the last of December. Plumage compact and of the same texture as in adult birds, not loose and soft as in Stage II. Upper parts brownish. The cen- tral areas of the feathers dusky-brown, the marginal parts lighter 296 SNODGRASS AND HELLER brown, but not buffy 'as in Stage II ; the pale margins narrowest on the head, widest on the rump. Upper surfaces of wings and tail sooty brown, somewhat lighter than the central parts of the feathers of the dorsum ; the primaries narrowly edged with ashy-gray. The greater coverts rather widely edged with buffy-brown; secondaries and rectrices more narrowly edged with buffy-brown. The buffy edgings on the coverts are duller and not so conspicuously yellow as on birds in Stage II. Below pale grayish with a slight buffy tinge on the belly and sides, the feathers with subterminal arrowhead shaped brown spots producing a streaked or spotted appearance on a pale ground formed by the light marginal parts of the feathers. The spots most numerous on the throat, breast and sides ; the middle of the abdomen plain. Under surface of wings and tail as in last stage. The bill may be entirely yellowish, entirely dusky-yellowish, brownish-yellow with dusky tip, or entirely brownish above and yellowish below or yellow- ish below with the tip dusky. Feet blackish brown. (Examples: Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Cat. No. 3880, female, Tagus Cove, Albermarle, January; No. 4202, female, Tagus Cove, Janu- ary; No. 4194, female, Narboro, April; No. 4194? female, Tagus Cove, January; No. 4106, Iguana Cove, December.) (£) Adult Females. — In plumage the adult female belongs to Stage III, being almost indistinguishable, except by the color of the bill, from young birds in the stage just described. The females, however, differ from young birds in this stage in lacking the buffy margins to the wing coverts, these being narrowly margined with grayish-brown. The bill is in some cases perfectly black as in the male, but it gener- ally has a distinct brownish color rather than black, and in breeding birds the lower mandible may be pale brownish. Feet blackish- brown. (Examples : Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Cat. No. 4369, female, Tagus Cove, March; No. 4392, female, Tagus Cove, March ; No. 4406, female, Tagus Cove, March ; No. 4409, female, Tagus Cove, March — all taken mated with adult males.) Stage IV. Immature Males. — In this stage the males begin to differentiate from the females in the color of the plumage. Birds in this stage are similar in general pattern of coloration to males in the last stage. They differ, however, in having the dusky areas of the feathers of the lower parts much larger, so that below the specimens appear covered with crowded brown spots, especially on the throat and breast. The belly is generally mostly free from spots, but both the belly and sides are strongly shaded with brownish-buff. The bill is generally black, sometimes entirely so, but generally somewhat paler BIRDS 297 beneath or with a pale spot on the gonys. Feet blackish-brown. (Examples : Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Cat. No. 4072, male, Iguana Cove, December; No. 4075, male, Iguana Cove, De- cember; No. 4104, male, Iguana Cove, December.) Stage V. Immature Males {Older than the Last}. — Head all around, throat and breast continuously black. Feathers of the back with dusky centers, but with paler brownish margins, the brown lightest and most extensive on the rump. Upper tail coverts same as feathers of back. Upper surface of wings and tail dusky brown, the primaries and greater wing coverts edged with pale grayish-brown, the secondaries and rectrices edged with light but not grayish brown, as are the feathers of the back. Lower surface posterior to the breast buffy -whitish, streaked with brown along the sides. Lower tail coverts buffy- whitish. Lower wing coverts grayish and dusky. Lower sur- face of wings and tail grayish-brown ; the inner edges of the primaries pale grayish. Bill generally black, but may have some yellowish on either or both mandibles. Feet blackish-brown. This stage in the subgenus Geospiza represents the adult males of the subgenus Camarhynchus, while Stage VI represents the advance of Geospiza and Cactornis beyond Camarhynchus. (Examples of Stage V: Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Cat. No. 4101, male, Iguana Cove, December; No. 5087, male, Iguana Cove, June.) Birds in this stage are rather scarce, a fact perhaps indicating that the stage is quickly passed through. Stage VI. Adult Males. — The most melanistic forms are colored as follows : General color black, deepest anteriorly. The basal con- cealed part of each feather pale slaty-gray, this color abruptly demar- cated from the wide black marginal part ; there is no trace anywhere of a paler brownish margin beyond the black. On the rump the black part of the feathers is narrower so that the color is easily exposed if the feathers are slightly disturbed. The primaries, inner webs of the secondaries, and the rectrices dusky-brownish, somewhat con- trasting with the rest of the dorsum and the exposed parts of the sec- ondaries. Under tail coverts margined on the exposed parts with pale buffy-white. Under wing coverts black. Under surface of wings and tail dark grayish -brown, on the wings contrasting strongly with the black of the under wing coverts. Bill always entirely black. Feet blackish-brown. (Examples: Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Cat. No. 4187, male, Tagus Cove, January; No. 3938, male, Iguana Cove, December — these taken mated with adult females.) 2p8 SNODGRASS AND HELLER This plumage is characteristic of adult males of all species of the subgenera Geospiza and Cactornis and represents the farthest advance toward complete melanism that any of the Geospizce have reached. There are all gradations between Stages V and VI. The black color invades the lower breast, sides and abdomen as the pale margins of the feathers disappear, the latter color remaining longest on the lower abdomen, flanks and under tail coverts, never entirely disap- pearing from the tips of the latter, and most of the blackest birds have the under tail coverts broadly margined with pale rusty or buffy. Also the primaries never become pure black, but in all cases retain a distinct brownish color. Plumage of Nestlings. — Very young birds having yet no wing quills have four groups of very fine plume-like feathers on the head, two on each side. One group forms an oblique line on the dorso- lateral aspect of the head extending from a point above, and a little back of the middle of the eye, backward and downward, ending a little below the upper level of the orbit and over the posterior end of the ear slit. The second group is situated on an oblique line on the lower part of the back of the head on a level with the ear ; it is shorter than the upper, and extends from without downward and inward. On the body and appendages there are eight groups of these plume feathers, arranged in four pairs as follows : a longitudinal row on the posterior edge of the forearm, a transverse line across the back of the middle of the humerus, a transverse line across the back of the femur near its proximal end, a row along each side of the median line of the back on the position of the enlarged part of the dorsal pteryla of later stages. There is no plumage on the ventral surface of the head or body at this age. The young wing quills, in nestlings a little older than those de- scribed in the last paragraph, are of a pure bluish-slate color, tipped with pale .buffy- white. The greater coverts of the primaries are the same as the quills. The middle and lesser primary coverts and all the secondary coverts have long reddish-brown terminal parts. The tips of all the coverts, especially those of the secondaries, bear long and very fine buffy plumes. In older specimens not only the wing coverts but also the feathers of the middle of the back are strongly tipped with reddish-brown. Pterylosis. — The following description of the pterylosis of Geo spiza fulginosa applies to all members of the genus. The dor- sal pteryla runs down the back of the neck as a very narrow band, being much narrower than the cervical part of the ventral pteryla. At BIRDS 299 the middle of the back, however, it expands greatly, forming a large oval patch which extends posteriorly to the anterior part of the lumbo- sacral region. Here the dorsal pteryla again contracts into a narrow median band which extends along the middle of the rump to the oil gland, expanding very slightly back of the acetabula. The ventral tract forms anteriorly a single band along the upper and middle parts of the ventral side of the neck. A little below the middle of the neck it bifurcates and each half runs outward and posteriorly on the side of the neck to the shoulder. Here it gives off laterally a shoulder band which in turn divides into the alar and humeral tracts. The main pteryla3 continue posteriorly on the sides of the breast. The two diverge considerably, each becoming wider and extend along the side of the abdomen to the knee. Here each contracts again and runs down the front of the abdomen to near the anus, the two converging once more. Color of the Pill. — The general development of the color of the bill in the male is as follows : early in the life of the bird, in the be- ginning of Stage II, both mandibles of the bill are yellow. Soon the upper begins to become clouded with dusky, the yellow remaining longest as a spot on the culmen generally near the tip of the mandible. When the upper mandible has attained this coloration the lower be- gins to become dusky, the dark color beginning at the tip and later spreading over the whole mandible, the yellow remaining longest as a spot on the gonys. The dark color of both mandibles is at first brown- ish, later it becomes black. The color is developed in the same man- ner on the bill of the female, but, the acquisition of the dark color takes longer and the final tone is dusky-brown rather than black. The development of the black color on the bill and on the plumage do not always progress at the same rate. Often birds may be found with perfectly black plumage, but with the bill partly yellow; the lower mandible maybe even entirely yellowish. In birds only partly white below, the bill may be slaty-brown above and yellow below. Relationship between Color of Bill and Plumage, and Maturity. — There is apparently no seasonal change of plumage in the males — adults being equally black, whether taken in January, March or June. The height of the nesting season is in March in most places. The following observations on the development of the color of the plumage and bill are based on specimens taken at Tagus Cove, Eliza- beth Bay and Iguana Cove, Albemarle, during the months of January, February, March and June. We were not at the same locality any- where else long enough to make observations on these points else- 3OO SNODGRASS AND HELLER where. From Tagus Cove we have twenty two specimens of males taken in January, two taken in February and fourteen taken in March. All of the clearly immature birds occur in the January and February lot. Most of the January specimens are in the brown plumage, Stage III, four are in Stage IV and two in Stage II. Both of the February specimens are in Stage V. Nearly all of the March speci- mens are in Stage VI or in a condition intermediate between Stage V and Stage VI. This is the typical breeding plumage. One specimen, however, is in Stage V and was taken apparently mated with a female. Another specimen taken mated with a female is actually in Stage III ! This, then, shows that, although the black or nearly black plumage and sexual maturity generally coincide, yet the melanistic phase may be retarded. It is also evident that the males do not be- come entirely dusky until the end of the first year. All the March males have the bill perfectly black. Few of the others, however, have the bill entirely black, most of them having some remnant of the yellow on the lower mandible, either as a definite spot near the tip of the gonys or as a diffusion over the base. Some even with purely black plumage have the lower mandible entirely yellow. Hence the bill does not become entirely black until the end of the first year and may remain partly pale longer than the plumage. The breeding male in plumage Stage III has the bill entirely black, thus resembling exactly the adult female. Hence, sexually mature males may have immature plumage, but we have no case of a breeding bird having an immature bill. From Iguana Cove we have sixteen male specimens taken in Janu- ary and two taken in March. Of the January birds only four are in Stage VI, eight are in Stage V and IV or intermediate between the two, and three are in Stage III. Yet all of these birds except one (this one in Stage III) were ap- parently breeding males. The nesting season had here begun at this season and the males in all stages of plumage had the testes enlarged as if breeding. The breeding season at Iguana Cove begins about two months in advance of that at Tagus Cove. This difference is due most probably to the much greater humidity of Iguana Cove as compared with Tagus Cove. The breeding season lasts at least as long as it does at Tagus Cove, /. £., until April. Hence, it is probable that birds hatched here during the last of a season begin breeding at the first of the season in the following year when they are only ten months old, being in Stage V or even IV, and, hence, before they have had time to acquire the full black plumage. BIRDS 3OI We have thirteen male specimens taken during the second half of February at Elizabeth Bay. The males are mostly in the black plumage and have black bills. Two are intermediate between stages V and VI. One is in Stage V but has the bill entirely black. The nesting season here had apparently just begun at this time. It is probable that it is of short duration as it is at Tagus Cove, and the birds have time to acquire the black plumage before they begin to breed. There is a slight seasonal change in the plumage of the females due to the age and consequent abrasion of the feathers. Specimens taken in March compared with specimens taken in January average darker below with less of the pale color of the marginal parts of the feathers. Only three of our specimens of females taken in March have per- fectly black bills. In some cases the gonys is almost entirely yellowish and this is true of birds taken mated with males. Only two of the January specimens have dusky bills. Hence the bills of the females do not as a rule become black by the end of the first year, and ap- parently seldom become perfectly black, showing a tendency to remain, as does the plumage, in a non-melanistic condition. In this respect they differ from the males, which apparently regularly acquire black bills by the beginning of the breeding season. Nature of the Change from one Phase of Plumage to the Next — Moulting. — The change in color of the males from the young to the adult consists not only of a spreading of the dark color from the head over the posterior parts, but also of a change from brown to black. Of eleven breeding males taken at Tagus Cove in March three are in a plumage that could have been produced from the plumage of January birds in Stage V by abrasion of the pale tips of the feathers. The pale color is very conspicuous below on the belly, flanks and crissum, but less so than in typical examples of Stage V. The black of the other parts, especially of the back and rump is not intense as in birds most typical of Stage VI, but has a very distinct brownish tone. The tail and wing feathers are also much paler and more decidedly brownish than in the most melanistic forms. These brownish-black forms could not pass over into the purely black phase without a moult involving a change of color in the feathers, although they might be produced from Stage V simply through abrasion of the feathers. We have one specimen, taken at Tagus Cove in February, which is in a stage intermediate between Stages V and IV. This specimen is moulting, but the new feathers coming in have the same pale edges and brown subterminal areas as the old ones. 3> Basal Width of Bill . « I| J Maxilla, from Nostril. Tarsus. 3885 Narboro. 9 H5 63 41 13 6-7 6.3 8.7 8 19 3988 ii < < 118 64 42.5 ii 6 6 8-3 7-7 18.5 4440 a ii 112 61 37 13 7 7 7-5 8-5 17-5 4448 ii " 122 64 37 12.3 6-5 7 7 8.5 l8-5 4618 South Seymour. $ II9 63 36 14.3 6-5 6-7 8.7 19 4633 ii 124 60 39 13-3 7 7 8.5 8-3 19 4645 ii I23 65 39-5 13 7 7 8.5 8 19 4678 «i 126 65 38 13-5 7 7 9-5 9 18.5 4652 « 124 60.5 38.5 13 6-5 7 7 8 J9 4630 i< I23 64 39 13-7 7 6.5 8.7 8.7 x9-5 4662 ii 120 61 40 13.5 6-5 6-5 8.5 8-5 18.5 4639 ii H5 63 36.6 12.5 6.5 7 8-5 8 18 4617 ii 125 60 39 13 6.3 6.7 8-5 J9 4677 ii 123 62.5 39 13.5 7 8.5 7-5 16 4631 11 117 63 37 12.5 6 7 8-5 8 J9 4688 " 123 63 38 13 6.5 6.5 8.7 8.7 20 4699 " 1 2O 64 38 13-5 7 7 9 8.7 19 4636 " 120 62 37 14-3 6-5 7 9-5 8.7 18 4676 « 125 64 38 12.5 6-5 6.7 8.3 8.3 18 4610 ii 120 63 36 13.3 6-3 6-5 8.5 8 19 4641 9 133 60 30 13.7 7 6-7 8.5 8.7 18 4673 ii "3 60 38 12 6.5 6-3 8 8.5 17 3899 ii 120 60 37-5 13 6.5 6.5 9 8.5 18.5 4611 ii 106 59 36 14 7-5 7 8-5 18 4697 « 118 59 34-5 13 6.5 6.5 8.5 8.5 18 4657 " in 60 39 13-3 6.5 7 8-5 8.5 J9-5 4651 < < 116 58.5 33 13 7 6.7 8 8.5 18 4964 Harrington. cT 1 20 60 35 14 7 7 8.7 20 4971 i 123 63 39-5 13 6.7 6.7 8.5 8-5 18 4970 i 14 119 62 38.5 13 7-5 6.5 8 8.5 18.5 4948 i (« 123 61 37-5 13 6.7 7 9 8.7 18.7 4940 ' II 117 60 38 13 7 6-7 8-5 8.5 18 4944 1 (( H3 61.5 37 13 6.5 7 8.7 8 18.5 4946 4 9 116 59 35 13-7 6.5 6-5 8-3 8.3 *9 4937 1 ii 116 59-5 37-5 13 6.3 6 7-5 8.5 17-3 4936 « 11 H5 58.5 34 12.5 6 6-5 8-5 8 T7-5 4698 Indefatigable. $ 60 38 12.7 6 6.5 8.5 8 18 4661 < a 112 63 38 13 6 6.5 8-5 8.5 T9 4663 1 < t 116 62 39 13 6.7 6.7 8.5 8.3 19 4706 1 it 1 20 63 4i 12.5 6.3 6-3 8-3 8 19 4671 ' " 120 62 4i 13 6.5 6.7 8.5 8 *9 4674 i " 120 62 38.5 12.3 6-3 6.5 8 8 J9 4534 James. ii 116 64 44 13.3 7 6.5 8.5 8.5 20 4556 * 9 112 58 37 12.3 6-3 6.3 7-3 8 *9 4507 ' ii 116 62 42 14 6-5 6-5 8 9 I9-5 4737 Cha les. $ 122 64 38 13.7 7 6.7 8.5 20 4881 < 11 — 62 38 12.5 6.5 6.5 8-5 8 18.5 4710 < 9 120 60 38 12.5 6.5 6.5 8.5 8 18 473i ' 1 10 61 36 12.5 6.7 6.5 8 8.3 J9 4885 ' ii 120 59 35 13 6.6 6.5 8 8.3 19 314 SNODGRASS AND HELLER MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF GeOSptZd fuliginosa parvula. — Continued. jl Locality. 1 49 1 u »4 bO n t Culmen. CO a o O asal Width i of Bill. 3 & Tarsus. «& m PQ S 4855 Charles. 9 122 60 42 13,3 7 6.5 8.5 9 18 4866 " 1 2O 1 62 38 12 7 6.5 8.7 8 18 4744 Hood. * 1 2O 63 36 13-5 7 7 10 q 18 47i6 — 61 40 13 6.5 6.5 8.5 8-5 18.5 4850 120 62 39 13.5 7,3 6.5 9 8.5 18.5 4624 Duncan. 115 58 35 13 6.5 6.7 9,5 8,3 18 4608 120 64 39,5 13,3 7 7 9,5 9 19 4714 117 6i.5 36 13 6,3 7 9 8 18 4614 9 116 61 35 12.5 7 6.5 9 8.3 19 4622 118 56 40 13 7 6.5 8 8-7 18 473° ' 123 59 36 13 7 6-3 8 8-5 18 dom included in the nest material. There is no special lining. Some nests have a somewhat finer material on the floor than elsewhere, but the floor is generally more compactly and more solidly formed than the other parts. Three of the nests from Tagus Cove contained eggs — two sets of four each and one set of three. The eggs of set No. i have the usual pale greenish-white ground color of all the Geospiza eggs, spotted and heavily blotched about the larger end with brownish, vinaceous and rusty-brown, and sparingly spotted with brownish over the rest of the surface. Measurements: 19.5 x 14.5; 19.5 X 14, 19.5 X 14.5 ; 19 X 14.5. Set No. 2 has the same ground color as the first, but is finely and nearly uniformly spotted with vinaceous so thickly as nearly to obscure the ground color; one of the specimens, however, is spotted only about the large end. Measurements : 19 X 14 ; 19.5 X 14 ; 18 X 13.5 518x13.5. Set No. 3, of three eggs, is like the firs tin coloration. Measurements of two specimens: 18.5 X 14.5; 18.5 X 14. These Geospiza eggs greatly resemble the eggs of Spizilla pustlla but are much larger. Some light-colored eggs of Junco hyemalis thurberi are very much like them in coloration. Several nests and two sets of three eggs were collected at Iguana Cove in the latter part of December. The eggs are like those from Tagus Cove in size and are similar in coloration. One set has a paler ground color and is considerably more spotted with rusty-brown. The nests do not differ from those taken at Tagus Cove. One set of three eggs was taken at Elizabeth Bay, Albemarle, in February. The eggs of this set are somewhat larger and more ovoid BIRDS 315 in shape than any of the specimens taken either at Tagus Cove or Iguana Cove. Measurements: 19.5 X 15; 18.5 X 15; 19 X 15. The following pairs were taken mated : Nos. 4662-4673, 4633- 4657, 4187-4182, 4341-4349, 4400-4359, 4377-4402, 4394-4364, 4403-4401, 4391-4395, 4368-4392, 4408-4409, 4378-4406- 4384- 4369, 4389-4367, 4397-4388, 4366-4376, 4325-4308, 4307-4330: 3938-3950- 626. GEOSPIZA FULIGINOSA FULIGINOSA Gould. Geospiza fuliginosa GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc., p. 5, 1837 (Chatham). Geospiza parvula RIDGWAY (not of GOULD), Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 529, 1896. Geospiza fuliginosa fuliginosa ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 161, 1899. Range. — Chatham Island. In the collection from Chatham Island there are twelve specimens of this species. As a series these differ considerably from the G. fuliginosa of other authors from James, Albemarle, Narboro, Inde- fatigable, Duncan, Charles, Harrington and Hood. The bill is longer and more slender with the basal depth about the same and the wing averaging slightly larger. Two of the specimens are scarcely distin- guishable in shape and size of bill from G. f. acutirostris. This form approaches closely in size of bill to G. dentirostris but the wing is considerably less than sixty-eight millimeters. This species was found abundantly on Chatham in May and gener- ally distributed. The song consists of two notes, zee* urr, repeated twice. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF GeOSptZa fuliginosa fuliginosa. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. d $ 4 3 bib q £ d • H Culmen. tfi >> I Basal Width of Bill. X QM 1* 1 Maxilla from Nostril. Tarsus. 4717 4829 4821 4856 47H 4786 4715 4895 4749 Chatham. locality. B to O •J 1 j3 0 eft O «* a*5 to 03 *»3 w 5 O 1 1 0 H 0 p Q *• 4201 Albemarle, Tagus Cove. $ 137 73 49 17 8.5 9-5 13 1 1.5 21 4006 1 138 75 49 18.5 10 9-7| 14 12 21 3980 ' ii 125 68 48 17.5 9 9-7i 12.5 12 20.5 3978 ' ii 132 70 42 16.5 8.5 9-5 13 II 20.5 4132 ii 131 71 49 17 8.5 10 13-5 1 1. 5 21 4294 ' 11 135 72 42.5 18 9-5 10.3 14.5 12 23 4322 ii 142 74 44 17 9 9-5 13.3 12 22 4208 ii 140 75 44 18 9-5 10.3 13-5 12.5 22.5 4039 ii 115 71 4i 17.7 97 9-7 13 12 22 4393 ii 118 70 39 16.5 — 9 12 II 21-5 437i " 127 70 43 17-5 9 9-5 12 12 2I-5 4176 " 117 66 39 16 8 8-3 II 10.5 20 4407 9 138 71 42 18.5 9-5 ii 14 13 21 4133 128 66 39 15-7 8.5 8-5 1 1-5 10.5 20 4142 " 127 68.5 44 17 8-3 9 14 II 22 4181 »« 118 67 38.5 16.7 8.5 8-7 12 II.5 20.7 3958 " 125 70 42 19 10 ii 14 12.3 23 4028 " 128 72 49 18.5 9 10 13 I2.5|20.5 4U7 " 127 68 49 17 8-7 9-3 12.3 II.72I.5 4390 " 131 65 40 16 8.5 9 12 II 20 4387 " 1 20 64 34 16 8 II II 21 4370 i *< 118 65 38.5 16.5 8.5 8.5 II.3 II 2O 4264 t < " 120 66 40 15 8.5 8.3 II.5 10 19.5 4463 Narboro. $ 136 70.5 41-5 16.5 8.5 10 12.5 12 19.7 4419 14 " 133 71 42.5 16.5 9 10 13 11 -5 20.5 4459 II 11 140 72.5 44 17 10 9-7 13 12 21 4440 " 11 122 66 38 16.5 9 9-5 12 1 1-5 2I-3 3933 " " 131 70 42 16.7 9-7 12.5 II £ 20 3971 " 11 I30 72 43 16.7 8.5 9-3 12 ii-3 21 4006 " *« I30 73 42 17 8.5 9-5 12.5 11.5 21 3952 14 " 133 70 44 17 9 9-5 11.7 "•3 20.5 4464 41 it 139 38 17 9-5 10.3 13.5 12 18.5 4870 Charles. «« 135 68 5 43 16.5 9-3 J3 II 2O 4833 1 11 130 69 41.5 16 8 8-5 ii 10.5 19 4722 1 ** 140 73 43 16.7 8-7 9-5 12 ii 2I-5 4717 i ** 134 70 40 17 8.5 9-7 12 ii 20.5 4892 ' 9 136 70 43 17 8.5 9-5 13 ii 21 4725 ' 128 67 40 16 8 8.7 n-5 10.5 19 4723 1 (t 130 66 40 16 8.3 8.5 ii-5 10.5 20.5 4878 ' 11 — 68 43 17.7 9-3 9-7 13 12 4867 i «« 139 73 42 18 9-7 9-5 13-3 12 20 4702 Indefatigable. $ 130 70 43 17 9 9 12.5 II 20.5 4707 " 11 131 69 35 17.5 9 10 12.7 12.5 21.5 4667 " 11 132 68 4L5 17 8.7 8.7 12.3 II-5 2O 4644 South Seymour. 9 135 68 39 17 9 9-5 12 u-3 20.5 4601 James. $ 128 70 40 17 9 10 13 ii 21.5 4535 " " 135 72 44 18 9-3 10 13-3 11.5 21 4476 11 11 124 70 42 17-5 10 13 11.5 21.5 4510 " " 128 74 44 17 8-5 9-5 12.3 ii 22 45oi " " 134 44 16 8-3 9 12.5 10.7 21 BIRDS 325 MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF GeOSptZd fortlS fo rtis . — Con tin ued. n ,c ^ 1 *s Locality. | 1 I '3 d B 1 Sd ^S % 2~ «'S s g CO g s§ i-T 5 0 w'o 3 I 1 £ 4458 James. g 122 73 44 18.5 10 10 14 12.5 20.5 4506 « 123 7i.5 5° 16 8 8.3 ii IO 20 4504 i " 133 70.5 46 18 q 10 12.5 ii 21 4503 i 9 123 67 4i 16 8.5 8-7 ii II 20.3 4515 « u 120' 68 45 17 9 9 12.3 1 1.3 20 4555 4 it 133 1 67 45 16.5 8-3 9.5 12.5 10.7 22 ever did the bird make any variation. Another male bird of the same species was observed flying about in the neighborhood of a tree in which was a large Geospiza nest with eggs uttering continually these same notes. No female, however, was ever to be seen about or in the nest and the eggs were always cold so she had probably been killed, yet the male remained in the neighborhood singing as if the female were still on the nest. During March a bird at Tagus Cove was heard singing tee'up- twee'u. At Iguana Cove in December one bird was observed singing a song resembling twee'-ur'r'r, twee'-ur'r'r. This was uttered generally twice in succession, often only once, sometimes three times. (The representatives of the species at Iguana Cove belong to the subspecies G. f. platyrhyncha . ) On James Island about James Bay the relative numbers of Geospiza fuliginosa parvula and G. fortis fortis were just the reverse of what they were at Tagus Cove, Albemarle. Here on James the G. fortis was the commonest species of Geospiza. Their song very much re- sembled the common song of the individuals at Tagus Cove, sound- ing somewhat like teu'-we, teu'-iue. On Charles Island one song of Geospiza fortis fortis almost ex- actly resembled the song of G. fuliginosa parvula of Tagus Cove. The accent was always on the first syllable and may be represented thus : teur'-ivee, teur'-tvee — no difference was noticed that could be described tyy alphabetical sounds. The same birds, however, sang numerous different songs. Two nests collected at Tagus Cove in March were placed in bushes, and are of the same shape as the nests of G. fuliginosa described. Both were composed almost wholly of grasses, but were very Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1904. 326 SNODGRASS AND HELLER unequal in size. One was about the size of an ordinary G. fuligi- nosa parvula nest, the other was much larger, larger even than the nest of G. strenua. In the smaller nest were four eggs. These do not differ, except in their larger size, from eggs of G.fuliginosa parvula. The ground color is pale greenish-white, finely spotted with brownish and vi- naceous, the spots forming blotches about the larger end. They measure as follows: 21 x 16.5; 21 x 16; 21 x 16; 21 x 16. The following pairs were taken mated: Nos. 4371-4390, 4361- 4503-4503- 633. GEOSPIZA FORTIS FRATERCULA (Ridgway). Geospiza fratercula RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 363, 1894, and xix, p. 525, 1896; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 504, 1901. Geospiza fortis fratercula ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 161, 1899. Range. — Abingdon and Bindloe. Our series of specimens of this subspecies from Abingdon and Bind- loe show no difference in the shape or size of the bill from specimens of typical G. f. fortis from Charles. The wing, however, averages smaller and the body is smaller in proportion to the size of the bill than in G.f. fortis and these appear to be the only distinguishing characters of this form. MEASUREMENTS OF Geosptza fortis fratercula. ,c -2 a Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Locality. x £ to a bio a '& d Op MM | w.dth Qf ABm 14-5 15-5 15-5 13-5 12.3 12.5 Maxilla from Nostril. in 3 CO £ 22 21.5 21.7 21-5 2l'5 21-5 4244 4346 4290 4295 4298 4296 Albemarle, Elizabeth Bay. 9 12.5 13 12.5 12.5 10.7 10.7 11.5 These specimens undoubtedly bridge over the difference between the former species G. fortis and G. dubia. 6$d. GEOSPIZA FORTIS DUBIA (Gould). Geospiza dubia GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., v, p. 6, 1837. — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Mat. Mus., xix, p. 518, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, p. 501, 1901. Geospiza dubia dubia ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 160, 1899. Range. — Chatham, Barrington and Duncan. BIRDS 329 The bill of this form is shaped much like that of Geospiza strenua, being the longest of all the G. fortis bills except G. f. bauri, and has a strongly curved culmen. All of the specimens of G. fortis that we obtained on Chatham be- long to this variety, although G. f. fortis is recorded from Chatham by Rothschild and Hartert. We have four adult males, one adult female and two immature males taken in May. The immature males are in Stage IV ; each is moulting slightly. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF GeOSptZd fortis dubtd. .a « S Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. ri u C/5 Length. M a S 1 Culmen. 1 is xn O 1o || Tarsus. M M ^ 4790 Chatham. £ 134 73 42.5 18.3 9-5 II 15 12.5 22 4894 " " 138 77 46.5 19 10 II-5 15-5 13 22 4760 M 14 153 75 46 19 10 1 1. 5 16.3 13 23-7 4851 " *< 150 76 48 18 10.3 10.7 14 12.5 22 " M 145 44-5 18.3 9-5 1 1. 3 15 13 23 4712 II 9 140 68 18 9-5 II 14 11.7 22.5 63*. GEOSPIZA FORTIS SIMILLIMA (Rothschild and Hartert). Geospiza dubia simillima ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 161, 1899 (Charles Island). Geospiza simillima RIDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, Pt. i, p. 502, 1901. Range. — Charles Island. This form is described by Rothschild and Hartert from one adult male and four immature birds as differing from G. f. fortis of Albe- marle (comparisons probably made with specimens from Villa Mil at the southeast part of Albemarle) in having the wing from two to three millimeters longer. If this is a valid species really different from G. f. fortis on Charles, we have one immature male that is probably referable to it. This specimen measures as follows : length 130; wing 75 ; tail 49; culmen 20; gonys 10; basal width ojf bill 11, basal depth of bill 15.5 ; maxilla from nostril 13 ; tarsus 22. It was taken in May and is moulting. 637. GEOSPIZA FORTIS BAURI (Ridgway). Geospiza bauri RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 362, 1894 (James Island), and xix, p. 518, 1896 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 500, 1901. Geospiza dubia bauri ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 161, 1899. 330 SNODGRASS AND HELLER Range. — James Island. This variety is known only from three specimens taken on James Island by Baur and Adams. We have not seen specimens of it. According to Rothschild and Hartert, who examined Baur and Adams' specimens, it is subspecifically related to G.fortis dubia, dif- fering from the latter only in having a larger beak. It, then, possesses the largest bill of the G. fortis series, approaching nearest to G. strenua. 64. GEOSPIZA DARWINI Rothschild and Hartert. Geospiza darwini ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 158, 1899 (Culpepper Island). — RIDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, p. 500, 1901. Range. — Culpepper Island. We did not procure any specimens of this form. The measure- ments of the beak given by Rothschild and Hartert are included within the dimensions of the bill of G. strenua. The adult male differs, however, from that of G. conirostris, G. strenua and G. magnirostis, according to the describers, in having the " feathers of the breast, ab- domen and back slightly edged with olive " and in having the rump conspicuously olive. " Bill compressed and rounded, as in G. coni- rostris, but, unlike the other species of Geospiza, abruptly narrowed three millimeters from the tip and elongated sharply to the point." 65. GEOSPIZA STRENUA Gould. Geospiza strenua GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 5, 1837, and Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 100, pi. 37, 1841. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 155, 1899. — RIDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, p, 496, 1901. Geospiza pachyrhyncha RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvm, p. 293, 1896 (Tower Island) ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, p. 498, 1901. Range. — James, Bindloe, Abingdon, Tower, Indefatigable, Jervis, Duncan, Barrington, Albemarle, Narboro and Wenman. Our collection contains one adult male and one adult female from Narboro, taken in January and March ; five adult males and one adult female taken on James in April ; and nine adult males and three adult females taken on Abingdon, Bindloe and Tower in June. Be- sides the adults there are numerous young specimens from James, Abingdon, Bindloe and Tower. The adult males are exactly the same in plumage as adult males of G.fuliginosa and G.fortis. The specimens are all moulting ex- cept those taken on James in April. They were taken on Narboro BIRDS 331 in April and on Abingdon, Bindloe and Tower in June. This shows that with the adults there is a moult after the breeding season. The adult females resemble those of G.fuliginosa and G.fortis in color of plumage, but the bill is generally more or less pale below. Females taken in April and June are moulting; the one taken on Narboro in March is not. All of the young birds in the collection except one were taken in June. All of these, except one male from Tower, are in Stage II. The one that is not is in a condition between Stages IV and V ; the upper mandible is black ; the lower mandible is black on the sides, yellowish below. One young female from Narboro was taken in January. It has the plumage of the adult, but the lower mandible is pinkish-yellow. A nest of this species containing a set of five eggs was secured on Narboro April 5. It was placed a few feet above the ground in the forks of a small bush. In shape it resembles the nests of other Geo- spizce already described. It is composed exteriorly of plant stems in- terwoven with lichens and a few grasses, and is lined scantily with bark fibers, finer grasses and a few lichens. The height of the nest is one hundred and fifty millimeters, its width one hundred and sixty, the depth of the interior one hundred and twenty, and the diameter of the entrance five. The eggs have a pale greenish-white ground color, with a few grayish shell marks and numerous brownish blotches, heaviest about the larger end. Dimensions: 23 x 17.5, 23 x 17, 23.5 x 17, 23.5 x 17, 23.5 x 17. The song of this species was not often heard. One bird was ob- served singing at James Bay on James Island. The song had a very pleasing sound, differing considerably from the ordinary Geospiza notes. It may be represented as follows: teuw ~e It-leur. The first greatly prolonged syllable was indistinctly divided into two parts, the second one with the ^-sound being the part specially pro- longed. The sound of the first syllable was smooth and continuous, but the second syllable was abruptly different from the preceding. It was slightly prolonged, had a very pure tone, and ended with a rising inflection. The following table shows that the specimens from Narboro have a somewhat smaller bill and smaller wing than most of the others. More specimens from this island might indicate a separate subspecies for Narboro. 332 SNODGRASS AND HELLER MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF g jd T3 Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. M i ta S bib R I Culmen. ! •S . ** 03 O ft 1* Maxilla am Nosti Tarsus. « H R 5168 Tower. £ 170 86 55 24.5 12.5 16 22 17 23.5 5226 " " 162 84 25.5 13.5 16 22 17 25 5243 " ii 160 86 53 24-5 12.5 16.5 21-5 16 24 5239 " o 155 81 5° 25.5 13 17 22 16.5 23 5213 f " 172 87 57 24.5 16.3 22 17 25 4590 James. $ 160 82 23-3 12 15 2O 15-7 24 4516 " a 160 86 52 24 H-5 15-5 21 16 25 4511 " ** 162 85 50 23 II-5 15.5 21 15-7 25 4580 " " 158 85 52 25 12.5 15.5 22.5 17 25 4529 11 9 163 83 50 23 12 16 20 16.3 24 5051 Bindloe. $ 1 60 81 44 24 12.5 15-5 21 16.3 24 5136 " " 163 81 50 23 H.5 14 19-5 16.7 24-3 5067 Abingdon. 11 1 68 80 24 12.5 15 21.5 16.5 25 4917 ii <* 168 80 47 23 12 15 20.3 16 25 5206 M ii 161 81 45 23 12.5 15 21 15 24 4969 " ii 160 79 22.7 15 19-5 15 24.7 5107 " 9 155 77 47 22.7 12.5 15 19.5 15 23 4414 Narboro. $ 160 78 50 22.7 14-5 19.5 16 23 4444 " 9 159 77 48 20.5 II 13 18 15 23.5 66. GEOSPIZA MAGNIROSTRIS Gould. Geospiza magnirostris GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 5, 1837 (Charles Island), and Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 100, pi. 36, 1841. — RIDG- WAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 512, 1896; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, 495, 1901. Range. — Charles Island. The specimens from which this species was described were collected by Darwin on Charles Island. No expedition since then has obtained specimens of the species from any of the islands of the archipelago. Rothschild and Hartert give the following measurements of the three adult males in the British Museum: " Culmen 26.5, 27, 27 mm.; height of bill at base 23.5-24 mm. ; wing 91, 91, 95 mm. ; tarsus 25 mm. These measurements show that G. magnirostris has both a larger bill and longer wing than any specimens of G. strenua yet ob- tained, and that the bill is much larger than that of the average G. strenua individual. This ends the side branch begun with G. fortis fortis from G. fuliginosa parvula leading up to the largest-billed forms of Geospiza with the adult females in Stage III. We will now go back to the continuation of the series leading from G. fuliginosa through its varieties and through G. debilirostris and G. septentrionales into the subgenus Cactornis, where the females as well as the males acquire a melanistic plumage when adult. BIRDS 333 67. GEOSPIZA DEBILIROSTRIS Ridgway. Gcospizadebilirostris'9j.VGWtCit Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 363, i894,and xix, p. 533, 1896 (James Island); Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 508, 1901. — ROTHSCHILD ANDHARTERT, Novit. Zool. , vi, p. 163, 1899. Range. — James Island. This species is slightly larger than G. fuliginosa, the wing of adult males measuring, according to Rothschild and Hartert, sev- enty-one to seventy- three millimeters. The basal depth of the bill does not exceed ten and one-half millimeters and is generally less than ten, while the culmen is about sixteen. The bill is, hence, but slightly larger than the bill of G. fuliginosa difficilis. On the other hand, the size of the bill and wing in G. debilirostris is identical with the measurements of smaller specimens of G. septentrionalis and the two species are separable only by the color of the under tail coverts, which, in the second named species, are of a distinct chestnut tone. Hence, in shape of the bill G. debilirostris is intermediate between G. fuliginosa dijficilis and G. septentrionalis, and therefore between the former genera Geospiza and Cactornis. It is probable that if more specimens of G. debilirostris could be examined the size of the bill would be found to intergrade with that of G. f. dijficilis. The dif- ference in length of wing, however, is considerable, so that it is pos- sible that this may be found a specific character. We have two immature specimens taken in April at James Bay, on James Island, that we refer to this species. 68. GEOSPIZA SEPTENTRIONALIS (Rothschild and Hartert). Geospiza scandens septentrionalis ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 165, 1899 (Wenman and Culpepper Islands). — RIDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. i, p. 510, 1901. Range. — Wenman and Culpepper. This form is more distinct from those nearly related to it than was in- dicated by its describers. The bill in the smallest billed specimen is not different from that of the last species, G. debilirostris, and on the other hand the bills of the larger specimens intergrade in size with those of the next species, G. scandens. In shape the bill resembles more nearly than does that of any other species the beak of G. conirostris propin- qua. One Culpepper specimen has an unusually large bill, the cul- men measures eighteen millimeters, the width at the base is seven and three tenths millimeters, the greatest depth at the base nine and one half millimeters. "The smallest billed specimen of G. c. propin- qua has a culmen of eighteen and one half millimeters. The width 334 SNODGRASS AND HELLER of the bill is ten millimeters and the greatest depth thirteen millime- ters. One adult male has a deep groove on each side of the culmen running from the nostril, parallel with the curvature of the culmen, to the tomium, exactly as does one of the specimens of G. c. propinqua from Tower. Some of the others have less distinct grooves. Hence in the shape of its bill this species might be related in three different directions with the G. fuliginosa series through G. debili- rostris, with the G. scandens series (both of these being very close), and finally, but not so closely, with G. conirostris through G. c. pro- pinqua. The adult males differ from the other species of Geospiza in having the pale marginal parts of the under tail coverts of a very decided rusty or even chestnut color. This is the only character by which the form can be specifically separated from either G. debilirostris or G. scandens. We have no females which are surely adults. All of the female specimens in the collection have yellowish bills, or yellowish with dusky at the base and at the tip. They are plain brown above with the feathers edged with buff ; below heavily streaked with dark brown except on the middle of the abdomen, which is plain buffy whitish. All of these have prominent wide rusty almost chestnut edgings to the middle and greater wing coverts. Two other clearly young specimens, one a female and the other a male, having purely yellow bills, have the spots below mostly confined to the breast and the region in front of it. The abdomen is whitish in the middle, strongly shaded with buff on the sides and on the flanks. The wing coverts have bright chestnut borders. Two adult males of G. conirostris propinqua, including the speci- men of this species from Culpepper, have a slight tinge of chestnut on the under tail coverts. The fact of the similarity of shape between the bills of G. septen- trionalis and G. conirostris propinqua, the occasional occurrence of grooves on the sides of the upper mandible in each, and the exceptional presence of a chestnut color on the under tail coverts of the latter spe- cies — a marked characteristic of the former — might be taken as evi- dence of a derivation of G. conirostris direct from G. septentrionalis. But since the bills of some specimens of G. conirostris propinqua can almost be duplicated by bills of G. scandens rothschildi, which stands at the top of the G. scandens series, and since the dark color of the adult females and young in G. conirostris is simply the maximum of the tendency shown by the whole G. scandens series, we think it most logical to regard G. conirostris as following naturally G. scan- BIRDS 335 dens rothschildi. The gradation in size and shape of the bill from G. septentrionalis into G. scandens through G. s. scandens is com- plete. Hence we begin G. scandens with this subspecies. MEASUREMENTS OF Geospiza septentrionalis . Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. M S 1* S ti B ? 1 Culmen. d h a o O Basal Width of Bill. A fti PS tn O Maxilla from Nostril. Tarsus. 3847 Culpepper. Ad. $ 130 73 45 17 9 77 9-7 II 22 3848 140 73 47 16 9 7-3 10 10.7 23.7 3849 145 70.5 44 16 8.5 7 9-3 10.5 22 3850 148 74 45-5 16.5 8.7 77 9 II 22 3892 145 72 48 17 9 7.3 9 "•3 22 3901 154 74 48 18 9-5 7-5 9-3 12 22 3851 Im 9 143 69 45 16 8.7 7-3 9-5 10.5 22 3873 Wenman. Ad $ 125 72 44 16 8.5 6.7 10 22 3875 130 74 47 15 8.5 7-3 8.5 9-7 22 3863 135 72.5 46 17 9-5 7 8 11.5 22 3864 135 7i 49 16.5 9 7-5 9 ii 22 3857 143 69 47 16.5 9 7-3 9-3 ii 23 3870 Im 9 137 70 44 16.5 9 7 8.7 ii 21.5 3856 140 69 42 15 8.7 7 7.5 10 21.5 3867 122 69 42 15 8 7-3 IO 21 3874 *33 67-5 42 157 8.7 6-7 8 II 20.7 3865 130 68 45 16 8-7 7 8.5 II 20.7 3871 64 16.5 8 7 8.3 10.5 22 3872 i76 68 43 16 8.5 6.5 9 10.5 20 Subgenus Cactornis Gould. Cactornis GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 6, 1837. (Type, Cactornis scandens Gould.) Geospiza Gould (in part). Adult males same in color as adult males of Geospiza proper. Sexes dissimilar. Adult females and young blackish, either in plumage corresponding with Stage IV of young males of Geospiza and Camarhynchus or in Stage V. Bill various, either elongate and slender or thick and conical. This subgenus was formed by Gould for slender billed Geospizce such as G. scandens. However, a distinction between Geospiza and Cactornis based on the bill does not hold, but the type of Gould's Cactornis can be retained as the type of a distinct group based on color as given in the last paragraph. The adult females are con- tinuously dusky over the upper and anterior parts, and the abdomen is heavily streaked with dark brown. Young birds in the first plumage resemble the adult males except that they have the rufous wing bands 336 SNODGRASS AND HELLER invariably characterizing birds of the age of Stage II of the other sub- genera. 69. THE GEOSPIZA SCANDENS SERIES. The variation in the shape and size of the bill in this series amounts to but little. We begin with the smallest billed variety which follows naturally G. septentrional is, and end with the largest billed form, G. scandens rothschildi, which leads easily into G. conirostris pro- pinqua, and this into the again conical billed form, G. conirostris conirostris. The plumage of the varieties of G. scandens differs from that of any of the forms so far described in that the adult females and the young present a strongly melanistic phase. Adult females instead of being pale brown spotted forms as in G.fuliginosa and G.fortis are continuously dusky over the back, head, and throat, corresponding with Stage V of immature males of G. fuliginosa instead of with Stage III as do the adult females of this species. Young birds of both sexes soon after leaving the nest acquire the same dusky plumage of the adult females except that they have the rufous borders to the wing coverts characteristic of birds of their age. The varieties from Abing- don and Bindloe present the maximum of this melanistic tendency in the female and young reached by any forms of the species. The next species, however, G. conirostris, is still blacker in these forms and represents the farthest advance toward complete melanism attained by the genus. The forms now included under the species G. scandens were regarded by Gould as constituting a distinct genus, Cactornis. The intergra- dations at each end with other forms, however, are, as has already been recognized by Ridgway and by Rothschild and Hartert, unbroken. Rothschild and Hartert regarded Camarhynchus pallida as being intermediate between the genera Camarkynckus and Geospiza. This may be true of the bill, but, as we have already shown, the plumage of C. pallida separates it widely from any species of Geospiza, and especially from those which it most resembles in the shape of the bill. 690. GEOSPIZA SCANDENS SCANDENS (Gould). Cactornis scandens GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 7, 1837 (James Island) ; Zool. Voy. Beagle, Birds, p. 104, pi. 42, 1841. f Cactornis assimilis GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 7, 1837 (? Charles Island according to Rothschild and Hartert, Bindloe Island according to Gould which cannot be correct) ; Zool. Voy. Beagle, Birds, p. 105, pi. 43, 1841. BIRDS 337 Geospiza intermedia RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 361, 1894 (Charles Island), and xix, p. 535, 1896. Geospiza scandens RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 534, 1896 (James Island) ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, Pt. I, p. 509, 1901. Geospiza scandens scandens ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., xi, p. ' 164, 1899 (James Island). Geospiza scandens intermedia ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 164, 1899 (Charles Island). Range. — James and Charles. We cannot distinguish any difference between the specimens of this species from Charles and those from James. The measurements of the bills in the two sets are the same. The smallest ones intergrade in size with the bills of G. septentrionalis. Our collection contains ten males in black plumage and two adult females taken on Charles in May, and seven adult males and five young birds taken near James Bay on James Island in April. The adult females are very dark, being continuously dusky over the back, head, throat and breast. The young birds from James are in Stage I. They were taken April 22. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF GeOSplZd SCandenS scandens. Cat. No. j M 8 i 08 l«f a| en Stan. Univ. Locality.
  • d u "iN 4 a Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. 1 ! a % '1 I 3 o 1 \ 3 5086 Tower. 3 116 52 38 II-3 7 18 5230 II 108 53 38 11.5 8.3 19 5132 II 114 55 4i ii.5 8 20 5130 II 109 53 37 H.5 8 2O 5199 " H3 54 39 12 8 19 5186 ? 114 55 40 12 8.5 19 5123 tl 105 52 37 12 8.5 19-5 3855 Culpepper. $ no 55 39 1 1-5 8.3 19.7 3852 « no 5i 38 II-5 8 19 3854 9 5o 33 II 8 19 3853 it H3 50 36 II 8 19 354 SNODGRASS AND HELLER We have nine specimens from Tower Island taken in June and four from Culpepper taken in December. We can discover no difference whatever between the two sets of specimens either in color or in pro- portion. The series as a whole can be distinguished from the six Abingdon-Bindloe specimens of C. o. fusca by the slightly darker, more brownish and less olivaceous upper parts. The distinction, how- ever, is very slight. Hence, we combine C. o. mentalis (Ridgway) and C. o. drouonei (Rothschild) into one variety. 73/. CERTHIDEA OLIVACEA BECKI (Rothschild). Certhidea becki ROTHSCHILD, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, vn, p. 53, 1898 (Wenman Island). — RIDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, Pt. n, p. 767, 1902. Certhidea olivacea becki ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 149, 1899. Range. — Wenman Island. This form does not differ in color from C. olivacea mentalis of Tower and Culpepper. According to Rothschild it should be lighter below than C. olivacea droivnei (Rothschild) of Culpepper, but our specimens from these two islands show absolutely no difference and, as before stated, do not differ in color from the Tower specimen. The bill of the two Wenman specimens, however, is shorter than the bill of C. olivacea mentalis, and apparently the subspecies may be retained on this character. Males have a distinct rufous tinge on the throat, a pale superciliary stripe and an entirely black bill. We have only two specimens, taken in December on Wenman. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Certhidea olivacea becki. Cat. No. Maxilla Stan. Univ. Locality. Sex. Length. Wing. Tail. Culmen. from Nostril. Tarsus. Mus. 3876 Wenman. c? 107 52 39 10 7-3 18 3866 <( I09 53- 36 10.5 7-5 18 74. THE CERTHIDEA CINERASCENS SERIES. 740. CERTHIDEA CINERASCENS CINERASCENS (Ridgway). Certhidea cinerascens RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xn, p. 105, 1889 (Hood Island), and xix, p. 503, 1896; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, Pt. II, p. 768, 1902. BIRDS 355 Certhidea cinerascens cinerascens ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 151, 1899. Range. — Hood Island. Almost no olivaceous shade anywhere. Upper parts, including the wings and the tail, brown, sometimes with an almost inperceptible shade of olive on the rump and upper tail coverts. Feathers of the head and back with grayish shafts. Wing feathers all edged with grayish. Below dull, dirty grayish, tinged with buff on the throat and middle of the breast, slightly washed with brownish along the sides and on the flanks. Auriculars light brown. Superciliary stripe gray. Bill of adults entirely black. This variety, together with the next, form a well marked species distinguished from C. olivacea by the pallid grayish color. We have fourteen adult males and three immature males of this form taken on Hood and the neighboring small Gardner Island in May. We did not obtain a female. The birds were very abundant about Gardner Bay on Hood. The young associated with one another in small flocks, much resembling thus in habits and appearance the Bush Tits {Psaltriparus} of California. Although the breeding season was over, the adults were still singing a great deal. Their or- dinary notes consisted of monosyllabic twits. The adult males were generally found solitary, not associating with the flocks of young. One song that they sang resembled tweet" tYtt-tweet' . . tweet . . . tweet, the second and third syllables being short and but briefly sepa- rated from the one before. The first and fourth syllables were ac- cented, while the fifth and sixth were separated by successively longer intervals. Another song resembled tweet' fi-twee-u. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Certhidea cineras- cens cinerascens. Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. locality. 1 1 s bio a i Culmen. ll to 3 4861 4873 4904 4846 4848 4835 4804 4901 4836 Hood. $ 108 109 108 104 1 08 105 108 106 107 53 54 53 52 5i 5i 50 37 39 38 36 39 38 37 10.7 II-5 ii 10.7 10.5 ii ii ii 8 7-7 8 8 7-5 8 8 8.3 18 19 18.7 19 18.7 18 19 19-5 18.7 356 SNODGRASS AND HELLER 74<5. CERTHIDEA CINERASCENS BIFASCIATA (Ridgway). Certhidea bifasciata RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 359, 1894 (Barrington Island), and xix, p. 304, 1896; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, Pt. u, p. 768, 1902. Certhidea cinerascens bifasciata ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 151, 1899. Range. — Barrington. This form is similar to the last but is paler above and below, almost whitish below with a faint tinge of buff, and with a distinct olive tone above. The tips of the middle and greater wing coverts are specially pale in some specimens forming two fairly well marked bands on the wing. This form was very numerous on Barrington in May. The young birds, as did those on Hood, remained banded together in small flocks, flying about in troops from one bush to another, continually uttering short c/itp-like notes. We have two adult males and two adult females taken on Barring- ton in May. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Certhidea cinerascens bifasciata. a Cat. No. Stan. Univ. Mus. Locality. X I Length. bi> fl 9 t Culmen. i 1* 1 I s 4992 Barrington. $ 108 51 32 12 8.3 20 4998 i< il in 53 38 II 8 19 4987 ii 9 108 52 37 II 8-3 18.5 4996 ii 14 "3 So 35 II 8 17-5 Genus Dendroica Gould. Dendroica GRAY, List Gen. Birds, App. in, p. 8, 1842. 75. DENDROICA PETECHIA AUREOLA (Gould). Sylvicola aureola GOULD, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 86, pi. 28, 1841. Dendroica aureola SCLATER AND SALVIN, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. , p. 323, 1870. — RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 493, 1896. — ROTHS- CHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 147, 1899. Dendroica petechia aureola RIDGWAY, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, Pt. II, p. 521, 1902. Range. — Coast of Ecuador and Peru, Cocos and Gorgona Islands and every island of the Galapagos Archipelago. We found this species generally distributed on all the islands from sea level to the tops of the highest mountains. It was most abundant BIRDS 357 in the mangrove swamps of Albemarle and Narboro. On March 4 a nest was obtained at Iguana Cove, Albemarle, situated a few feet above the ground in the horizontal fork of a small bush. It contained four slightly incubated eggs. The nest is very compactly made and well shaped. The outside is composed of dead, grayish plant stems, green grass and a considerable' quantity of cotton ( Gossypium) . The interior is lined with fine brownish rootlets and a few feathers. The dimensions are as follows: height 55, diameter 10, depth of cavity 33, diameter of interior 45. The eggs are broadly oval in shape, resembling those of Helmith- erus vermivorus, which they equal in size. The ground color of two of the specimens is light buff ; this is heavily spotted and blotched, chiefly in the form of a wreath about the larger end, with umber, chestnut, lavender gray and black. The other specimen (one was broken) is more finely spotted with the same colors on a creamy white ground. They all measure 17 x 14. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Dendroica -petechia aureola. Cat. No. j bi) a B |: a Stan Univ. ! locality. 6 a a "3 j •2 to £ Mus. CD i> 9 r^ "3 r^ o CS H o •I H 3 4200 Albemarle. $ 144 67 52 12.5 9.3 21 4070 " 142 69 54-5 12.5 8.5 20.5 3970 " 9 140 62 51 13 9-3 20 4053 '* " 135 63 49 12.3 9 21 4148 ii 11 144 66 54 12.3 20.5 4305 ii " 142 63 49 12.5 8.7 2O 4329 ii 11 126 64 12.5 2O 3869 Wenman. " 132 63 48 12.5 8.7 20.5 3868 " g 136 67 52 12.7 9-3 20.7 4088 Narboro. 148 67 55 12 9 21 3920 " " 145 66 12.5 9 2O 3904 " 9 144 64 51 13 9 20.5 4487 James. 9 133 66 49 13 9-5 21.5 4560 " " 137 65 12.5 9 21 4637 4736 Seymour. Charles. ii '36 146 64 48 48 13 12 9-3 9] 20.5 20 4765 Chatham. ii 153 68 54 12 9J 21 5084 Bindloe. 11 145 62 5° 12.5 9 21 Another nest was found on June 27 near Tagus Cove, Albemarle. This nest contained two incubated eggs, only one of which was pre- served. The nest was situated on a horizontal limb of a mangrove tree (Avicennia) about twelve feet above the water of the swamp. Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1904. 358 SNODGRASS AND HELLER It is more solidly constructed than the last, being composed outwardly of closely woven plant fibers, stems, cotton and egg cocoons of spiders. The interior is deep and lined with fine grass, and feathers of the Galapagos duck (Pcecilonetta}. The one egg preserved is much like those of the other set in shape and coloration. It has a creamy ground color and is blotched, mostly in the form of a wreath about the larger end with chestnut, umber and lavender-gray. The specimen measures 17 x 14. The notes of this bird are much like those of any other Dendroica. One common song resembled tu-wer, tu-ivee, tu-wee-u, uttered rather rapidly. Another sounded like tul-tivee-tivee-tivee. The first syllable of this was somewhat prolonged and separated from the second by a space greater than that between the others. We have eighteen adult specimens of this species from Albemarle, Narboro, James, Seymour, Charles, Chatham, Bindloe and Wenman. We observed it on all the other islands except Jervis which we did not visit. Family TROGLODYTIDJE. Genus Nesomimus Ridgway. Nesomimus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xu, p. 102, 1890, footnote. (Type, Orpheus melanotis Gould.) Generic Characters. — (From Ridgway.) "Similar to Mimus Boie, but bill longer and more compressed basally, and tarsus much longer (nearly twice as long as middle toe instead of only about one third longer)." Whether these characters may be considered sufficient for generic distinction or not, the group is certainly a natural one and it is most convenient to recognize it as such by a generic name. Nesomimus is peculiar to the Galapagos Archipelago where it has been taken on every island except Duncan. It is now apparently extinct on Charles, but specimens were taken on this island by Darwin. 76. NESOMIMUS TRIFASCIATUS (Gould). Orpheus trifasciatus GOULD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 27, 1837 (Charles Island). Mimus trifasciatus GRAY, Zool. Voy. Beagle, in, Birds, p. 62, pi. 16, 1841 (Charles Island). Nesomimus trifasciatus RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 483, 1896. — ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 143, 1899 (Gardner Island, near Charles). Range. — Gardner (near Charles). Extinct on Charles. This species was taken on Charles by Darwin, but has not been seen BIRDS 359 by any subsequent collectors on this island. It was taken on the small Gardner Island, near Charles, by the Harris expedition in 1897. Rothschild and Hartert give the following description of JV. trifas- ciatus: "This species is easily recognizable by its large size and broad blackish-brown band across the chest, interrupted and concealed in the middle. There are, however, not two bands, as one might ex- pect from Ridgway's 4 key.' The wing coverts have very conspicuous large white spots. The wing of the male is 128-130 mm. long, the tail 123 (about — most specimens being in worn plumage with the tails much abraded), tarsus 40, exposed culmen 26-27 mm- The same measurements in the female are: Wing 116—120, tail 115 (ap- proximately), culmen 25-26, tarsus 38—40 mm. 4 Iris seal-brown, tarsi, feet and bill blackish.'" (Novit. Zool., vi, p. 143, 1899.) We obtained no specimens of this species, but we did not visit the Gardner Island in the neighborhood of Charles. 77. NESOMIMUS MACDONALDI Ridgway. Nesomimus macdonaldi RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. , xii, p. 103, 1890, fig. i (Hood Island), and xix, p. 484, 1896. — .ROTHSCHILD AND HAR- TERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 143, 1899. Range. — Hood and the neighboring Gardner Island. This species departs widely from all the other species of Nesomimus in the great size and curvature of the bill. The culmen varies from 33 to 37 in length, an excess of 6 over the culmen of N. trifasciatus. Otherwise its closest relationship is with this species on account of the brownish-buff band that crosses the breast. It is also related to N. adamsi of Chatham through the spots on the sides of the breast, and, in fact, stands intermediate between N. trifasciatus and N. adamsi. Description of a Typical Specimen. — (No. 5308, adult male, Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum. Hood, May 15, 1899.) Above dusky brown and brownish-gray, the former color occupying the central areas of the feathers, the latter the margins; palest on the rump where the dark central areas of the feathers are the least promi- nent. „ Wings and tail blackish-brown, the quills narrowly edged with buffy grayish, the coverts with wide whitish margins, forming three poorly defined bands across the wing. The rectrices with very indistinct pale areas on the inner margins of the tips of the inner webs. Postocular region of head grayish-buff, continuous with an indistinct superciliary line of the same color. Auriculars blackish anteriorly, buffy posteriorly. Lores black. An indistinct blackish subocular line from the lores and a similar maxillary stripe on the side of the 36° SNODGRASS AND HELLER throat, inclosing a buffy space between them. Sides of neck buffy. Lower parts buffy whitish, tinged with brownish across the breast, with a few brown spots on the sides of the breast, and darker brown spots along the sides of the abdomen and on the flanks. Under tail coverts whitish, under wing coverts whitish with dark brown centers. Under surface of primaries, secondaries and rectrices paler than above, the primaries and secondaries fading into buffy gray on their inner margins. Female. — Like the male. Immature. — Similar to the adults, but whiter below and thickly spotted across the breast ; under tail coverts buffy ; wing coverts and tertials widely bordered with bright buff and white ; terminal spots on rectrices larger, paler and much more conspicuous. We found the species abundant in May about Gardner Bay on Hood and on the adjoining Gardner Island. The Gardner Island on which N. trifasciatus was taken by the Harris expedition is another island of the same name lying near Charles. Our collection contains five adult males, five adult females and several immature birds of both sexes. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF macdonaldi. Cat. No Stan. Univ. Locality. 1 i o bio JO •3 g 1 l! 1 Mus. v2 S i g 1* 1 1 4882 Hood. $ 280 120 108 34-5 24 38 4832 274 123 107 34 23-5 39 4900 ' 280 123 H5 36.5 25-5 40 4888 4 280 124 no 35 24-5 5308 ' 280 123 III 35 26 39 4872 9 250 108 97 33-5 21 38 4816 275 115 105 34 23-5 38 4813 ' 256 112 107 33-5 23 37-5 4808 260 110 102 33 21 39 4826 1 262 112 100 33 22.5 38 78. NESOMIMUS ADAMSI Ridgway. Nesomimus adamsi RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 358, 1894 (Chatham Island) ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 485, 1896.— ROTHS- CHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 145, 1899. Range. — Chatham. Description of a Typical Adult. — Back and scapulars light brown, in some specimens almost rusty brown, the feathers with darker cen- BIRDS 361 ters. Rump paler brownish, with indistinct darker central areas to the feathers. Feathers of top of head with wide grayish-brown mar- gins, narrow, elongate, dusky central parts. Hind neck with a light brownish-gray collar. A pale supraorbital stripe of the same color as the nuchal collar reaching to the latter from back of the nostril. Lesser and middle wing coverts light brown with pale brownish- gray edgings. Greater wing coverts darker brown with narrow buffy edgings and wider ashy tips. Primaries dusky brown with narrow edgings of pale grayish -brown ;tips with slightly wider edgings of ashy. Secondaries lighter brown with narrow pale brown edgings. Tail dusky brown, feathers with very narrow pale brownish borders, ashy toward the bases. Under surface of feathers paler, slaty. All the rectrices except the middle pair with a terminal spot of white on the inner web; spots of outermost feathers largest, about twenty millimeters in length, decreasing successively in size on the other feath- ers toward the middle ; spots of feathers next the middle pair always very small, gone entirely when these feathers are much worn. Lores, suborbital and auricular regions brownish-black. A white line just below edge of under eyelid. A narrow dusky malar stripe. Entire under parts dull whitish. Sides and flanks with dark brown streaks. Sides of lower breast with a few rather large spots of brown on the centers of the feathers ; these spots rounded in outline behind, emarginate anteriorly. A slight brownish tone on feathers of lower part of breast, forming an indistinct band connecting the spotted areas of each side. In coloration, especially in the presence of the spots of the sides of the breast, this form resembles the Hood race JV. macdonaldi more than it does any other. The spots in the Chatham form, however, are not invariably present ; in one specimen that we have they are en- tirely absent. The species is separated specifically from N. macdon- aldi by the smaller size of the bill. This species is very closely related also to the form inhabiting Inde- fatigable, but is always distinguishable from the latter by the pres- ence of the maxillary stripes. In the color of the back JV. adamsi is paler than any other form of Nesomimus on the archipelago, but in this respect it intergrades with N. melanotis dierythru*. It is in- termediate between the forms having spotted breasts and those whose breasts are plain, and thus has given rise to two lines of differentia- tion. Along one line the dark maxillary stripes have been retained and the back has taken on a dusky rather than a brown tone ; along the other the brown tone of the back has been retained but the maxil- 362 SNODGRASS AND HELLER lary stripes are lost. The first branch includes the races inhabiting Tower, Abingdon, Bindloe and Culpepper ; the second those races in- habiting Indefatigable, Barrington, Wenman, James, Albemarle and Narboro. We have four adult specimens from Chatham taken May 23. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF Nesomimus adamsi. a Cat. No. IJ fl bD d 3 Stan. Univ. Locality. I a .5 °3 S Mus. S fr H s a 1* S S 4854 Chatham. $ 240 in 105 25 17 37 4858 U 254 114 104 25-7 18 36.5 4806 (1 U 253 in 105 25 17-5 39 5705 If 9 102 93 23.5 16.5 36 Average. 249 109 1 02 24.8 17-5 37.6 79. THE NESOMIMUS PERSONATUS SERIES. Rothschild and Hartert have grouped all the forms of Nesomimus ex- cept N. trifasciatus, N. macdonaldi and N. adamsi under one species N. melanotis. We think, however, that two groups instead of one can be distinguished, of which one, N. personatus^ inhabits the more northern islands of the archipelago — Tower, Abingdon, Bindloe and Culpepper ; while the other, N. melanotis, inhabits the central islands — Barrington, Indefatigable, Jervis, James, Albemarle and Narboro, and also Wenman, lying to the north. The differences between N. personatus and N. melanotis are slight, but the former is characterized by a blackish tone to the central areas of the feathers rather than a brownish. In some cases the general shade of the upper parts in N, personatus may be even lighter than in N. melanotis, but the light color is due to the marginal areas of the feathers, the central parts in such cases being blackish. N. personatus is represented by a different subspecies on each island where it occurs. Of these the one on Abingdon was described first and hence must give its name to the group. The Tower sub- species, however, resembles the Chatham species, N. adamsi, more than does any of the others, so with it we begin the species. 790. NESOMIMUS PERSONATUS BAURI (Ridgway). Nesomimus bauri RIDGWAY, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvn, p. 357, 1894 (Tower Island) ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xix, p. 492, 1896. Nesomimus melanotis bauri ROTHSCHILD AND HARTERT, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 145, 1899. Range. — Tower. BIRDS 363 This species has been regarded by Rothschild and Hartert as a sub- species of JV. melanotis. It cannot, however, be made a variety of this form because all the specimens possess well developed black maxillary stripes, a character not recorded on any specimen from James or Albemarle. The same character relates the form to N. adamsi of Chatham but it is separable from this species by the color of the back and by the slightly longer bill. N. bauri differs from N. adamsi as follows : color of central parts of feathers of head blackish rather than brown, edges of some feathers grayish rather than brownish ; central areas of feathers of back dusky brown instead of reddish-brown ; wing and tail feathers decidedly more blackish and the pale edgings of the same wider and whiter ; lores, suborbital and auricular regions black instead of brownish-dusky ; sides of lower part of breast distinctly clouded with buff but not form- ing an entire band across the breast ; no spots on the breast in any adult specimens. In the collection are seven adult specimens from Tower, taken June, 1899. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF NeSOmintUS ^personatus bauri. a Cat. No. jj 9 tfl t