Part 8

The allusion to the small size also points to the geese of Marshall being the _Sarcidiornis_. L'Abbé Dubois in "Les Voyages du Sieur D.B." records the fact that on Bourbon were some wild geese slightly smaller than the geese of Europe but having the same plumage. Their bill and feet were red. It is also probable that wild geese were found on Rodriguez. There is nothing to show what these Bourbon geese were, and as no osseous remains of such birds have been found as yet it is impossible to do more than mention the fact of such birds having been recorded.

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ANAS FINSCHI VAN BENEDEN.

_Anas finschi_ Van Beneden, Journ. Zool. IV, p. 267 (1875); Ann. de la Soc. Geol. Belg. II, p. 123 (1876).

This duck is most peculiar, as it stands intermediate between _Querquedula_ and _Dendrocygna_ in structure, and its nearest known ally seems to be the extinct _A. blanchardi_ of Europe, and of living forms apparently _Clangula clangula_.

Skull nearest to that of _Clangula clangula_ but wider, nostrils more elongated, eye-sockets smaller, and the whole skull more regularly rounded off. _Sternum_ differs from that of _C. clangula_ by having the notch lower, more faint behind and shorter in front. Clavicle and coracoid resemble those of _Fuligula marila_. Humerus larger and stronger than in _F. marila_ and _C. clangula_, as are the femur, tibio-tarsus and tarso-metatarsus, which are almost double as long and thick.

Judging from the shape of its leg-bones this bird must have been a strong runner, and probably at the same time was a poor flyer.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

ANAS THEODORI NEWT. & GAD.

_Anas theodori_ Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII, p. 291, pl. XXXIV, figs 11-17 (1893--Mauritius).

Messrs. Newton and Gadow founded this species on a fragment of a sternum, a pair of coracoids, eight humeri, and a pair of tarso-metatarsi. These are referable to a duck of larger size than _Nettion bernieri_, and somewhat intermediate between _N. punctata_ and _Anas melleri_.

The sternum differs from that of _A. melleri_ by the lesser height of the keel and by the shape and direction of the anterior margin of the latter. The coracoid is longer and larger than in _N. bernieri_, but is much shorter than in _A. melleri_, though agreeing with that of the latter in shape, and by the plain almost ridgeless ventral surface of the shaft. The seven humeri vary in length from 70-78 mm., and agree in size with those of _N. punctata_, thus proving our species to be smaller than _A. melleri_.

The two tarso-metatarsi are in poor condition; the right one measuring 42 mm. in length, thus indicating that _A. theodori_ was a bird with a shorter foot than _A. melleri_.

Habitat: Mauritius.

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CAMPTOLAIMUS LABRADORIA (GM.)

(PLATE 36.)

_Anas labradoria_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 2, p. 537 (1788--"Habitat gregaria in America, boreali." Ex Pennant and Latham.)

_Anas labradora_ Latham, Ind. Orn. II, p. 859 (1790).

_Rhynchaspis labradora_ Stephens, in Shaw's Gen. Zool. XII, 2, p. 121 (1824).

_Fuligula labradora_ Bonaparte, Ann. Lyceum N.Y. II, p. 391 (1826).

_Somateria labradora_ Boie, Isis 1828, p. 329.

_Kamptorhynchus labradorus_ Eyton, Mon. Anat. p. 151 (1838).

_Fuligula grisea_ Leib, Journ. Acad. Sc. Philad. VIII, p. 170 (1840--young bird).

_Camptolaimus labradorus_ Gray, List. Gen. B. ed. 2, p. 95 (1841); Dutcher, Auk. 1891, p. 201, pl. II; 1894, pp. 4-12; Hartl. Abh. naturw. Ver. Bremen XVI, p. 23 (1895).

_Camptolaemus labradorius_ Baird, B.N. Amer. p. 803 (1858); Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Water--B. N. Amer. II, p. 63 (1884); Milne-Edw. and Oustalet, Centen. Mus. d'Hist. Nat., Notice Ois. éteint. p. 51, pl. IV (1893); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXVII, p. 416 (1895).

The adult male and a young male, both in my museum, are represented on plate 36, but the young bird became too rufous, through the colour type reproduction, and should be somewhat more mouse-gray. Though first technically named by Gmelin in 1788, this duck was first described in 1785 by Pennant, in the Arctic Zoology II, p. 559, as follows:--

"Pied Duck. With the lower part of the bill black, the upper yellow, on the summit of the head is an oblong black spot; forehead, cheeks, rest of the head and neck, white; the lower part encircled with black; scapulars and coverts of wings white; back, breast, belly, and primaries, black; tail cuneiform, and dusky; legs black. The bill of the supposed female? resembles that of the male, head and neck mottled with cinereous brown and dirty white; primaries dusky; speculum white; back, breast, and belly clouded with different shades of ash-colour; tail dusky and cuneiform; legs black. Size of a common Wild Duck.

"Sent from Connecticut, to Mrs. Blackburn. Possibly the great flocks of pretty Pied Ducks, which whistled as they flew, or as they fed, seen by Mr. Lawson in the western branch of Cape Fear inlet, were of this kind."

The Labrador-Duck is one of those birds, the disappearance of which is not easily explained. As Mr. Dutcher truly said, "we can speculate as to the cause of its disappearance, but we have no facts to warrant a conclusion." Formerly _Camptolaimus_ was of regular occurrence along the northern Atlantic shores of North America, in winter south to New Jersey and New York. It has often been sold on the markets of New York and Baltimore, and nobody anticipated even fifty years ago that they might become extinct, but they {106} appear never to have been very numerous, at least we have no proof of this. It is true that Professor Newton tells us that this duck used to breed on rocky islets, and that "its fate is easily understood," since "man began yearly to visit its breeding haunts, and, not content in plundering its nests, mercilessly to shoot the birds." This, however, seems to be mere conjecture, as we do not know for certain where the breeding haunts of this Duck have been, and that anyone has ever visited them. All information known about the breeding of this bird is that of Audubon, who says that his son was shown empty nests on the top of bushes, which a clerk of the fishing establishment told him were those of the Labrador Duck. This information is certainly too uncertain to draw any conclusions from, but the breeding places might just as well have been much further to the north, and probably were.

The number of specimens extant is 48.

Amiens, Town Museum: 1 [male] ad. (Auk. 1897, p. 87).

Berlin Museum: 1, bought from Salmin (Hartl. p. 23).

Paris: [male] adult, presented 1810 by M. Hyde de Neuville.

London, British Museum: 2, a [male] ad. and a [female] ad., neither of them with exact locality or date.

Liverpool: 2 [male] ad., 1 [female], 1 [male] jun.

Cambridge: 1 [male]

Dublin: 1 fine mounted [male] (Dr. Scharff in litt.)

Tring: 1 [male] ad., 1 [male] jun. (See below.)

Brussels: 1 [male] ad.

St. Petersburg: 1 [male] ad., purchased from Salmin.

Heine Museum in Germany: 1 poor specimen.

Munich: The Museum possesses a male from the collection of the Duke of Leuchtenberg.

Dresden: 1 [male] and two doubtful eggs--the latter doubtless wrong I should say.

Vienna: 1 [male] ad., exchanged from Baron von Lederer in 1830. Locality New York; 1 [female] ad., bought from Brandt in Hamburg in 1846, for 4 Gulden!

Leiden Museum: [male] [female], from the Prince of Wied.

American Museum, New York: 7, three of which formerly belonged to George N. Lawrence.

Long Island Historical Society, Brooklyn: 1 [male] ad.

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. York: 1 [male] ad.

New York State Museum, Albany: [male] [female] ad.

Cory collection: [male] [female] ad.

University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont: 1 [male] ad.

Philadelphia: 2 [male] jun., 1 [female]

U.S. National Museum, Washington: 2 [male], 1 [female], 1 [male] jun.

Collection of Mr. William Brewster: 1 [male] jun., 1 [female]

Boston Society of Natural History: 1 [male] jun.

Collection of Dalhousie College, Halifax: [male] [female]

This makes a total of 48 known specimens. {107}

The last specimens killed were those shot in May, 1871, at Grand Manan Island, the date of which is absolutely certain, and the specimen bought from a Mr. J. G. Bell in 1879, for the Smithsonian Institution, which is said to have been shot in 1875, but this date seems not quite certain (Cf. Auk, 1894, p. 9). That several other specimens were shot later than 1852 is perfectly certain. As the specimen of 1875, or thereabouts, is a young male, Mr. Lawrence's question about the old birds is certainly justified. As, however, no Labrador Duck has been recorded later than 1871 or 1875 we may suppose that it is now extinct.

My young male was bought in the Fulton Market, New York, about 1860, and probably came from Long Island. It was mounted by John Bell, a bird-stuffer, through whose hands several Labrador Ducks have gone, and is in the finest possible condition. I bought this bird from the late Gordon Plummer, shortly before his death. He died at his home in Brookline, Mass., in November, 1893. (Cf. Auk, 1891, p. 206.)

My adult male is the one of which the history is given in Auk, 1894, p. 176. It is described there in detail and then added: "Shot in the bay of Laprairie this spring (1862) by a habitant, and purchased by Mr. Thompson of this city, who has kindly placed it at my disposal for examination." Mr. William Dutcher of New York City bought this specimen from the widow of the Mr. Thompson, mentioned in the above note as the original owner, and I purchased it from Mr. William Dutcher, who informs me that "the Bay of Laprairie" is simply a name given to a wide part of the River St. Lawrence, just south of Montreal, Quebec. The name is found on good maps of Quebec.

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"BIZIURA LAUTOURI" FORBES.

_Biziura lautouri_ Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 188 (1892--nomen nudum).

Dr. Forbes, unfortunately, gives no description whatever of this bird. It would be interesting to know something about it, and especially if its powers of flight were impaired, as it seems to have been the case in so many extinct birds.

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ARDEA MEGACEPHALA MILNE-EDWARDS.

_Butors Leguat_, Relation du Voyage (1708).

_Ardea megacephala_ Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) XIX, 1874, p. 10.

Leguat's description, here translated, is as follows:--"We had Bitterns as big and as fat as capons. They are tamer and more easily caught than the 'gelinotes.'" He also says, "The lizards often serve as prey for the birds, especially for the Bitterns. When we shook them down from the branches with a pole, these birds ran up and gobbled them down in front of us, in spite of all we could do to prevent them; and even if we only pretended to do so they came in the same manner and always followed us about."

Milne-Edwards remarks, among other notes, that "This bird is not a true Bittern, but its head is so large and its feet so short that it is easy to understand that Leguat should have called it so."

The bony structure of the head is remarkable on account of its massive and thick proportions; the skull itself is strongly enlarged posteriorly, and the temporal fossae are bordered by very pronounced ridges, especially those on the occipital region. The upper side of the skull is hardly convex, and the interorbital region is large, but only slightly depressed along its middle line. The bill is stout, almost straight, a good deal enlarged at its base and rounded beneath. The nostrils are large and preceded by a large groove, which extends very far towards the tip.

It is impossible to confound this skull with that of any Bittern, the latter having the beak relatively slender and only barely exceeding the skull in length. These also have the skull much constricted at the temporal region. The fossil skull from Rodriguez therefore presents characters essentially those of a Heron, but differs from all known species in its massive appearance. In the Grey, Purple and Goliath Herons, as well as in the Egrettes, the head is narrower, more elongated, the bill less conical and less strong. In _Ardea atricollis_, now inhabiting Madagascar, the beak much resembles that of our extinct species, but it is longer and less enlarged at the base. The interorbital area is much wider, while on the other hand the hinder portion of the skull is narrower and more elongated, which gives to the skull a totally different aspect.

The feet relatively to the head are extremely short, and from this I conclude that we know no species of Heron which can be compared to that of Rodriguez. Nevertheless, the tarso-metatarsus presents all the characters {112} of _Ardea_, and is far removed from that of _Botaurus_. The tibia is big and short; it surpasses in length the tarso-metatarsus by about a third, as is usual in the Herons; but the femur on the contrary is strongly developed, being quite as large as in the _Ardea cinerea_; which shows us that the body of this creature was of large size, and that the reduction in size of the feet had only taken place at their extremities.

The sternum is puny and small as compared with the creature's size. It is clearly that of a bird not furnished with powerful wings, and is even much less elongated than in the Bittern, but the coracoidal bones are very long and slender. The wings also were short and feeble, the humerus being hardly as big as in _Butorides atricapilla_. It is conspicuously slenderer and shorter than in the Bittern. The main body of the bone is slightly curved on the outside, and the lower articular condyle is large and flattened. I have not been able to examine any bone of the "manus," but the metacarpal bone shows exactly the same proportions for the wing as does the humerus, as it also barely reaches the size of that of _Butorides atricapilla_. The measurements are as follows:--

_Skull._

Total length 154 mm. Length of upper mandible 94 " Width of upper mandible at base 22 " Width of interorbital region 22 " Space between the mastoid apophyses 40 " Width of skull at level of postorbital apophyses 40 " Length of lower mandible 147 "

_Tarso-metatarsus._

Total length 95-162 mm. Width at proximal extremity 14 " Width at distal extremity 13.5-14 " Width of shaft 6.2-7 "

_Tibio-tarsus._

Total length 140-210 mm. Width at distal extremity 12-13 " Width at proximal extremity 13-14 " Width of shaft 6-6.5 "

{113} _Femur._

Total length 90-92 mm. Width of distal extremity 15-16 " Width of proximal extremity 14-16 " Width of shaft 6.2-7 "

_Sternum._

Total length 64-88 mm. Width in front 35-48 " Width behind costal facets 26-36 " Width at posterior border 27-35 "

_Coracoidals._

Total length 59-67 mm. Width at lower extremity 17-18 "

_Humerus._

Total length 118-180 mm. Width of proximal extremity 20-27 " Width of distal extremity 16.5-24 " Width of shaft 7-11 "

_Metacarpals._

Total length 62-98 mm. Width of proximal extremity 12-17 " Width of distal extremity 7-11 " "

The anonymous author of the manuscript "Rélation de l'île Rodrigue" (see Ann. Sci. Nat. (6) II p. 133 et seq. 1875) about the year 1830 mentions this bird as follows:--"There are not a few Bitterns which are birds which only fly a very little, and run uncommonly well when they are chased. They are of the size of an Egret and something like them."

Habitat: Rodriguez Island.

2 Humeri, 2 Femora, 2 Tibiae, and 2 Metatarsi in the Tring Museum. {114}

ARDEA DUBOISI NOM. NOV.

_Butors ou Grands Gauziers_ Dubois, Les Voyages faits par le Sieur D.B. (1674) p. 169.

L'Abbé Dubois is the only author who has, as far as I can ascertain, told us that the Island of Réunion also had a large almost flightless Heron as well as Mauritius and Rodriguez; and so feeling sure that it, like most other birds of this island, was distinct I name it after him.

The translation of his original description is as follows:--"Bitterns or Great Egrets, large as capons, but very fat and good. They have grey plumage, each feather spotted with white, the neck and beak like a Heron, and the feet green, made like the feet of Poullets d'Inde (_Porphyrio_, W.R.). This bird lives on fish."

Habitat: Réunion or Bourbon. {115}

ARDEA MAURITIANA (NEWT. & GAD.)

_Butorides mauritianus_ Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. XIII, p. 289 (1893).

The bones on which this species is founded are a pair of ulnae, one radius, four metatarsi, and one coracoid. The description is as follows:--"The bones in question are all considerably shorter than the corresponding bones of _A. (Nycticorax) megacephala_. The metatarsi agree otherwise in every detail with those of the latter species; this relative stoutness indicates that they belonged to a Night-Heron or Bittern like _A. megacephala_. The two ulnae cannot, unfortunately, be compared with those of _A. megacephala_; their length, 110 mm., compared with the length of the humerus of _A. megacephala_, 119 mm., shows, however, likewise that they were those of a considerably smaller bird. The single left coracoid agrees in all the features of its dorsal or scapular half with _A. megacephala_, but its ventral or sternal half differs considerably, first by the much more strongly marked ridge of the _linea intermuscularis_ on its ventral surface, secondly by the almost straight instead of inwardly curved margin between the _processus lateralis_ and the lateral distal corner of the sternal articulation, thirdly by a very low but very distinct and sharp ridge, which arises from the median margin of the coracoid, a little above its median articulating corner. This roughness or prominent ridge is entirely absent in _A. megacephala_ and in all other Herons which we have been able to examine, but at least a slight indication of it occurs in an individually varying degree in _Nycticorax_ and _Botaurus_. That this coracoid bone belonged, however, to an Ardeine bird is clearly indicated by its whole configuration, notably by the shape and position of the precoracoid process, the various articulating facets at the dorsal end, and the prominent lip on the visceral or internal surface of the median portion of the sternal articulating facet."

The following are the measurements:--

Length of ulna 111-112 mm. Length of metatarsus 81- 87 " Length of coracoid 48 "

Habitat: Mauritius.

Although _megacephala_ and _mauritiana_ have been placed in _Ardea_ and _Butorides_ respectively, from the short, stout legs and general build, I am inclined to think that all three of these Herons belong to the genus _Nycticorax_.

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PROSOBONIA BP.

This genus is, in the Catalogue of Birds, placed in a section with somewhat long tarsus, the latter being longer than the culmen, containing in addition to _Prosobonia_ the genera _Tringites_, and _Aechmorhynchus_ (see afterwards), and it differs from the latter by its long hind toe, from the former by its square tail. The position of this singular bird is, however, not quite certain. The late Henry Seebohm placed it in the genus _Phegornis_, though the latter has no hind toe whatever, and it has even--but doubtless wrongly--been suggested that it belonged to the _Rallidae_, rather than to the _Charadriidae_. We know only one species. It is true that Dr. Sharpe bestowed a new name on the figure of Ellis, which is said to have been taken from an Eimeo-specimen, but it is hardly creditable that it belongs to a different species. Latham appears to have had three specimens, which were all three different from each other. Both Forster and Ellis, in their unpublished drawings in the British Museum, as well as Latham, evidently considered all three to belong to the same species, and it is not advisable now to over-rule their verdict, given with the specimens before them, merely on account of the different plumages, since we all know that most waders, and especially brightly-coloured ones, differ considerably in plumage, according to age and seasons. We are convinced that "_P. ellisi_" has been a younger bird. Sharpe attaches importance to the different habitat, but this is no argument in this instance, because Eimeo is, at the nearest point, not more than seven and a half miles from Tahiti,[2] and it is quite against all precedents among _Charadriidae_ and beyond all plausibility that two such closely situated islands have closely allied forms of a Wader.

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PROSOBONIA LEUCOPTERA (GM.)

(PLATE 35.)

_White-winged Sandpiper_ Latham, Gen. Syn. III, pt. 1, p. 172, pl. LXXXII (1785--Otaheite and Eimeo).

_Tringa leucoptera_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 678 (1788--ex Latham!); Westermann, Bijdr. Dierk. I, p. 51, pl. 15 (1854--Figure of the type).

_Totanus leucopterus_ Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat. (Ed. II) VI, p. 396 (1817).

_Calidris leucopterus_ Cuvier, Règne Anim. I, p. 526 (1829).

_Tringa pyrrhetraea_ Lichtenstein, Forster's descr. anim. p. 174 (1844--Otaheiti).

_Prosobonia leucoptera_ Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. XXXI, p. 562 (1850); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIV, p. 525 (1896).

_Tringoides leucopterus_ Gray, Handl. B. III, p. 46 (1871).

_Phegornis leucopterus_ Seebohm, Geogr. Distrib. Charad. p. 452 pl. 18 (1888).

_Prosobonia ellisi_ Sharpe, Bull. B.O.C. XVI, p. 86 (1906--"Eimeo").

Dr. Sharpe's description, made from the type in the Leyden Museum, is as follows: "Adult. General colour of upper surface blackish brown; the lower back and rump ferruginous; centre tail-feathers blackish, the rest rufous, banded with black, less distinctly on the two next the middle pair; wing-coverts blackish, with a white spot near the carpal bend of the wing, formed by some of the lesser coverts; crown of head blackish, the hind-neck browner, mixed with black; sides of face brown, the lores and ear-coverts slightly more reddish, behind the eye a little white spot; cheeks and under surface of body ferruginous red, the throat buffy white. Length 6.7 inches, culmen 0.9, wing 4.45, tail 2.15, tarsus 1.3 (Mus. Lugd.)"

We know nothing of this bird, but the one specimen in the Leyden Museum, which is the type, or at least one of the types. As no other specimens have been obtained for nearly a century and a quarter, there is every reason to fear that this bird is extinct. My plate has been made up by Mr. Lodge from the unpublished drawings of Ellis and Forster in the British Museum.

Habitat: Tahiti, and the adjacent islet of Eimeo.

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AECHMORHYNCHUS COUES.

This genus appears to be closely allied to _Prosobonia_, but has a much shorter hind toe. Its colouration is very different, and quite that of a Sandpiper, while the pattern of _Prosobonia_ is most singular. Seebohm placed _Aechmorhynchus_, together with _Prosobonia_, in the genus _Phegornis_.

We know only one species.

AECHMORHYNCHUS CANCELLATA (GM.)

(PLATE 35.)

_Barred Phalarope_ Latham, Gen. Syn. III. pt. 1, p. 274 (1785--Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean).

_Tringa cancellata_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 675 (1788--ex Latham).

_Tringa parvirostris_ Peale, U.S. Expl. Exp., Birds p. 235, pl. LXVI, 2 (1848--Paumotu) Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 321, pl. 38, 2 (1858--Paumotu).