Part 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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HETERORHYNCHUS LUCIDUS (LICHT.)

(PLATE 4, FIG. 2.)

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

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

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

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

Habitat: Oahu.

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PSITTIROSTRA PSITTACEA DEPPEI ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 4, FIG. 3.)

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

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

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

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LOXOPS COCCINEA RUFA BLOXAM.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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CIRIDOPS WILSON.

_Ciridops_ Wilson, Nature 1892, p. 469.

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

We only know one species belonging to this genus.

CIRIDOPS ANNA (DOLE).

(PLATE 4, FIG. 4.)

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

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

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

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SIPHONORHIS SCL.

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

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

SIPHONORHIS AMERICANUS (L.)

(PLATE 5A.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"They are found with the former."

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

Habitat: Jamaica.

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NESTOR PRODUCTUS (GOULD.)

(PLATE 6, head.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Habitat: Philip Island and probably Norfolk Island.

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

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

NESTOR NORFOLCENSIS PELZELN.

(PLATE 6, full figure.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Habitat: Lord Howe's Island (?).

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LOPHOPSITTACUS NEWTON.

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

LOPHOPSITTACUS MAURITIANUS (OWEN).

(PLATE 7.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Habitat: Mauritius.

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ARA TRICOLOR BECHST.

(PLATE 10.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ARA GOSSEI ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 11.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Habitat: Jamaica.

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

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

ARA ERYTHROCEPHALA ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 12.)

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

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

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

"The specimen here described was procured in the mountains of Trelawny and St. Anne's by Mr. White, proprietor of the Oxford estate." No specimen now known.

Habitat: Jamaica.

Mr. Gosse also relates that the Rev. Mr. Coward, in 1842, saw two large Macaws flying near the foot of the mountains in the parish of St. James, near the centre of the island. These birds were said to have been blue and yellow; if so, probably they were my _Ara erythrura_, whose precise island home is unknown.

ARA MARTINICUS (ROTHSCH.)

(PLATE 14.)

_Les Aras_ Père Bouton, Rel. de l'étab. d. Français dep. 1635, en l'ile Martinique pp. 71. 72 (1640).

_Anadorhynchus martinicus_ Rothsch. Bull. B.O.C. XVI, p. 14 (1905); Proc. IV Orn. Congr., p. 202 (1907).

Père Bouton says, "Les Aras sont deux ou trois fois gros comme les Perroquets et ont un plumage bien différent en couleur. Ceux que j'ai vus avaient les plumes leleucs et orangées."

No specimen preserved.

Habitat: Martinique. {54}

ARA GUADALOUPENSIS CLARK.

_Les Arras_ Du Tertre, Hist. gen. des Antilles Vol. II p. 248 (1667).

_Ara Rouge_ D'Aubenton, Pl. Enl. 12 (1779).

_Ara guadaloupensis_ Clark, Auk, XXII, p. 272 (1905).

Du Tertre gives the following description:--"The Arras is a sort of Parrot bigger than all the others. This is proved because those of Guadaloupe are larger than all the other Parrots, both those from the Islands as well as from the Mainland; while this Arras is larger than these by one third. It has the head, the neck, the belly and the back of the colour of fire; its wings are a mixture of yellow azure, and crimson feathers; while the tail is entirely red and a foot-and-a-half long."

Macaws of this colouration are mentioned by Du Tertre, De Rochefort, and others of the older authors as being found on Guadaloupe, Dominica and Martinique, and Mr. Clark has united them under one name. This I feel sure is wrong, and I believe each of the three islands had a distinct species of Red Macaw, so I confine this name to the Guadaloupe form.

Habitat: Guadaloupe.

No specimen existing.

ARA ERYTHRURA NOM. NOV.

(PLATE 15.)

De Rochefort, Histoire Nat. & Mor. des Iles Antilles, &c. (1658), p. 154, Art. IX (Des Arras).

_Anadorhynchus coeruleus_ (non Gmelin) Rothsch., Bull. B.O.C., XVI, p. 15 (1905).