Birds of North and Middle America, part V/Genus 4. Taraba Lesson

by Robert Ridgway

 

Genus TARABA Lesson.

Taraba Lesson, Traité d'Orn., 1831, 375. (Type, Thamnophilus major Vieillot.)

Tabara (error) Sclater, Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 172.

Diallactes Reichenbach. Av. Syst. Nat., 1850, pi. 71. (Type, Thamnophilus major Vieillot.)

Large Formicariidæ (length about 200 mm.) with very stout but much compressed, strongly hooked bill, crested pileum, and white under parts, the adult males black above with white markings on wings, adult females chestnut or tawny brown above.

Bill nearly as long as head, very strong but compressed, strongly hooked; culmen nearly straight for most of its length, rather abruptly decurved terminally, the tip of maxilla strongly uncinate; maxillary tomium nearly straight, conspicuously notched subterminally; gonys moderately convex, strongly ascending terminally, prominent basally; mandibular tomium straight or slightly concave toward tip, slightly notched subterminally; width of bill at frontal antiæ about three-fourths its depth at same point. Nostril exposed, broadly longitudinally oval, with distinct internal tubercle. Rictal bristles obvious but small, the loral feathers with thickened bristly shafts. Wing moderate or rather short, excessively rounded, with longest primaries very little if any longer than secondaries; second, third, and fourth, or third, fourth, and fifth primaries longest and equal, tenth (outermost) about three-fifths as long as longest, the ninth very much, eighth slightly, shorter than secondaries. Tail three-fourths to more than five-sixths as long as wing, much rounded (graduation about equal to distance from nostril to tip of maxilla), the rectrices (12) rather broad, rounded terminally. Tarsus more than one-third as long as wing, distinctly scutellate, the elongate- quadrate plantar scutella in two longitudinal series; middle toe, with claw, decidedly shorter than tarsus; outer toe, without claw, reaching to or slightly beyond middle of subterminal phalanx of middle toe, the inner toe slightly but decidedly shorter; hallux about as long as inner toe but much stouter; basal phalanx of middle toe united for most of its length to outer toe, for about half its length to inner toe; claws moderately developed, that of the hallux decidedly shorter than the digit. Plumage blended, very full, that of rump much developed and lax; pileum with a conspicuous decumbent crest of distinctly outlined, rather narrow feathers.

Coloration. — Under parts (except, sometimes, thighs and under tail-coverts), including malar region, immaculate white; upper parts black in adult males, rufous-brown or chestnut in adult females, the wing-coverts tipped with white (primaries sometimes edged with white), the tail sometimes transversely spotted with white.^[1]

Range. — Southern Mexico to Argentina. (About four species and subspecies.)

TARABA TRANSANDEANA TRANSANDEANA (Sclater).

HOLLAND'S ANTSHRIKE.

Adult male. — Entire upper parts, including sides of head (down to upper margin of malar region) and sides of neck, black, relieved by conspicuous white tips to all the wing-coverts^[2] and white edges to alula, the terminal portion of remiges duller blackish or more slaty; interscapulars with concealed basal portion extensively white; under parts, including malar region, plain white (sometimes tinged with buffy), passing into grayish on flanks; tibial feathers black basally, extensively white terminally (the posterior side of thighs sometimes uniform black); under tail-coverts black, often (irrespective of locality) tipped or barred with white, rarely mostly white; bill black; iris carmine red; legs and feet dusky (bluish gray in life ?); length (skins), 179-205 (194); wing, 87-99 (92.1); tail, 64-79 (71); culmen, 26-31.5 (28.5); tarsus, 33-37 (34.2); middle toe, 20-23.5 (21.3).^[3]

Adult female. — Above plain chestnut, darker on pileum, paler and duller on rump, the tail and primaries more brownish chestnut; loral and orbital regions dusky, passing into chestnut on auricular region; under parts (including greater part of malar region) plain white (sometimes tinged more or less with buffy), passing through pale buffy grayish into pale buffy brown or cinnamon on flanks; under tail-coverts light chestnut; thighs mixed light chestnut and buffy whitish; bill varying from horn brown to nearly black; iris carmine red; legs and feet horn color or dusky (bluish gray in life ?); length (skins), 169-220 (190); wing, 83-96 (89.4); tail, 64.5-75.5 (70.2); culmen, 25-30.5 (28.1); tarsus, 32-36.5 (34.2); middle toe, 20-23.5 (21.8).^[4]

Immature male. — Similar to the adult male but wing-coverts without white tips (the greater coverts sometimes narrowly tipped with rusty brown or buffy), white at base of interscapulars more restricted, and feathers of chest (at least lateral portions) narrowly margined terminally with black.

Young male (nestling). — Above wholly dull black, with very indistinct narrow vermiculations of rusty brown on tips of some of the feathers; throat and chest dull grayish, broken by broad bars of black (most distinct on chest) and more narrowly barred with light buffy brown; sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts nearly uniform dull black, but showing very indistinct vermiculations of light brown, especially the under tail-coverts; breast and abdomen mostly white, or grayish white, broken by broad subterminal bars of black, the tip of each feather, narrowly, pale buffy brownish.^[5]

Southern Mexico, in States of Vera Cruz (Orizaba; Santecomapám; Playa Vicente; Omealca; Buena Vista; San Andres Túxtla) and Tabasco (Teapa), and southward through Guatemala (Choctúm; Chiséc; Cobán; sources of Rio de la Pasión), Honduras (Omoa; San Pedro; San Pedro Sula; Céiba; Julian), Nicaragua (Greytown; Los Sábalos; Rio Escondido; San Emilis), Costa Rica (Tucurríqui; Jiménez; Las Trojas; Pacuare; Pozo Azúl de Pirrís; El Pozo de Térraba; Pozo del Rio Grande; Boruca; Paso Reál; Bolsón; El Hogár; Rio Sícsola; Guácimo; Barranca de Puntarenas; Lagarto; El Generál; Sipúrio), Panamá (Davíd; Mina de Chorcha; Divala; Agua Dulce; Lion Hill; Panamá; Sabana de Panamá), and north- western Colombia (Rio Lima; Rio Barratoro; Turbo) to Ecuadór (Guayaquíl; Babahoyo; Santa Rita; Sarayacu; Chimbo; Vinces; Foreste del Rio Peripa).^[6]

The very large series of Mexican and Central American birds examined in this connection shows very clearly the absence of anything like corellation between geographic distribution and the coloration of the under tail-coverts, and, therefore, in the absence of other characters (that I can discern) I am forced to recognize a single form only.

Thamnophilus transandeanus Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., xxxiii, April 11, 1855, 18 (Guayaquíl, w. Ecuadór; coll. Brit. Mus.); 1858, 210 (monogr.); 1860, 278 (Babahoyo, w. Ecuadór), 294 (Esmeraldas, w. Ecuadór); Edinb. Philos. Journ., new ser., i, 1855, 233; Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 172 (Babahoyo, w. Ecuadór); Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, 1890, 185 (Tuciuríqui, Costa Rica; Mina de Chorcha, Verágua; Panamá; Babahoyo, Santa Rita, Guayaquíl, and Sarayacu, Ecuadór; Remédios, prov. Antioquía, Colombia). — Cassin, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1860, 188 (Turbo, Colombia). — Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., vii, 1862, 293 (Lion Hill, Panamá). — Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1864, 355 (Lion Hill; crit.); 1879, 524 (Remédios and Nechi, Antioquía, Colombia). — Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1867, 144 (Davíd, Panamá; crit.). — Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 324 (Peru); Orn. du Pérou, ii, 1884, 3. — Berlepsch and Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1883, 564 (Chimbo, w. Ecuadór). — Zeledón, Anal. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica, 1887, 114 (Jiménez, Las Trojas, and Pacuare, Costa Rica). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., Aves, ii, 1892, 198 (Tucurríqui, Jiménez, Las Trojas, and Pacuare, Costa Rica; Davíd, Mina de Chorcha, and Lion Hill, Panamá; Turbo, Colombia; Ecuadór). — Cherrie, Expl. Zool. Merid. Costa Rica, 1893, 41 (Palmár, Boruca, and Buenos Aires, s. w. Costa Rica). — Hartert, Novit. Zool., v, 1898, 491 (Chimbo, n. w. Ecuadór). — Salvadori and Festa, Boll. Mus. Zool., etc., Torino, xv, no. 362, 1899, 27 (Vinces and Foreste del Rio Peripa, w. Ecuadór). — Bangs, Proc. New Engl. Zool. Club, ii, 1900, 24 (Loma del León, Panamá); Auk, xxiv, 1907, 296 (Boruca, Pozo del Rio Grande, Lagarto, and Barranca de Puntarenas, Costa Rica). — Thayer and Bangs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., xlvi, 1906, 216 (Sabana de Panamá). — Carriker, Ann. Carnegie Mus., vi, 1910, 601 (Costa Rica; habits).

D[iallactes] transandeanus Cabanis and Heine, Mus. Hein., ii, Aug., 1859, 18, footnote.

[Thamnophilus] transandeanus Sclater and Salvin, Nom. Av. Neotr., 1873, 69. — Sharpe, Hand-list, iii, 1901, 10.

Thamnophilus melanurus (not of Gould) Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1856, 142 (Davíd, Panama); 1857, 203 (Santecomapám, Vera Cruz); 1859, 57 (Omoa, Honduras), 383 (Playa Vicente, Vera Cruz). — Sclater and Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 119 (Omoa, Honduras; crit.).

Thamnophilus melanurus? Moore, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1859, 57 (Omoa, Honduras; crit.). — Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1859, 383 (Playa Vicente, Vera Cruz).

(?) [Diallactes] melanurus Heine and Reichenow, Nom. Mus. Hein. Om., 1890, 128 (Colombia).

Thamnophilus melanocrissus Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1860, 252 (Santecomapám, Orizaba, Vera Cruz, Mexico; coll. P. L. Sclater). — Cat. Am. Birds, 1862, 172 (Choctúm, Guatemala); Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xv, 1890, 184 (Sources Rio de la Pasión and Choctúm, Guatemala; Panamá?). — Salvin, Ibis, 1866, 203 (Guatemala). — Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. N. Y., ix, 1868, 107 (Costa Rica). — Frantzius, Journ. für Orn., 1869, 305 (Costa Rica). — Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H., i, 1869, 556 (tierra caliente of Vera Cruz, up to 1,000 m.); La Naturaleza, v, 1881, 248 (Omealca, Vera Cruz). — Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1870, 837 (San Pedro, Honduras). — Boucard, Liste Ois. réc. Guat., 1878, 38. — Nutting, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vi, 1883, 405 (Los Sábalos, Nicaragua; habits; food). — Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xiv, 1891, 471 (San Pedro Sula, Honduras). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., Aves, ii, 1892, 197. — Richmond, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xvi, 1893, 500 (Rio Escondido, Nicaragua; habits, notes, etc.).

[Thamnophilus] melanocrissus Sclater and Salvin, Nom. Av. Neotr., 1873, 69. — Sharpe, Hand-list, iii, 1901, 10.

D[iallactes] melanocrissus Cabanis, Journ. für Orn., 1872, 234 (Mexico; crit.).

[Diallactes] melanocrissus Heine and Reichenow, Nomencl. Mus. Hein. Orn., 1890, 129 (Mexico).

Thamnophilus transandeanus + Thamnophilus melanocrissus Bangs, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., xxxix, 1903, 150 (Céiba, Honduras; crit.).

Thamnophilus hollandi Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., viii, 1867, 180 (Greytown, Nicaragua; colL U, S. Nat. Mus.). — Salvin, Ibis, 1874, 310 (crit.).

(?) D[iallactes] granadensis Cabanis, Journ. für Orn., May, 1872, 234 (Bogotá, Colombia; coll. Berlin Mus.?).

(?) Thamnophilus transandeanus granadensis Menegaux and Hellmayr, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, ser. 9, viii, 1906, 25 (Bogotá and Antioquía, Colombia; Mérida, Venezuela; crit.).

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1. Thamnophilus rohelei Berlepsch, of Paraguay, referred to this group by Dr. Sclater, has the under parts black in the adult male with the breast varied with white. This species I have not seen and therefore do not know whether it is really a member of this genus or not.
2. Sometimes a few of the primaries are narrowly edged with white.
3. Forty-seven specimens.
4. Thirty-six specimens.

   Locality.	Wing.	Tail.	Culmen.	Tarsus.	Middle toe.
   males.
   Three adult males from Colombia (Rio Barratoro)	92.5	73.3	27.8	34.7	21
   Ten adult males from Panamá	89.6	69.9	28.1	35	22
   Ten adult males from Costa Rica	93.7	71.6	29.2	35.7	22.9
   Six adult males from Nicaragua	92.5	70.9	29.2	34.7	21.8
   Seven adult males from Honduras	92.5	70.7	27.8	34.3	21.1
   Six adult males from Guatemala	91.2	70.5	28	34.7	21.2
   Five adult males from southern Mexico	93.7	72.8	29	35	21.3
   females.
   One adult female from Colombia (Rio Lima)	88	68	25	33	21.5
   Two adult females from eastern Panamá (Loma del León)	87.22	66.2	26.2	34.5	21.7
   Eight adult females from western Panamá (Chiriquí)	87.3	68.9	26.3	34.4	21.2
   Ten adult females from Costa Rica	91.6	70.7	29	34.6	22.5
   Six adult females from Nicaragua	91	71.4	29.2	34.3	21.7
   Two adult females from Honduras	86.5	67.2	28.5	33.2	21.2
   Four adult females from Guatemala	87.9	72	28.4	34.6	22
   Three adult females from southern Mexico	91.2	73	29.3	34.7	21.5

5. Described from no. 28866, Carnegie Museum; Boruca, Costa Rica, Aug. 7, 1907; M. A. Carriker, jr. (Sex given as female, but almost certainly an error.)
6. I have not seen a specimen from Ecuadór, and therefore can not be sure that they are quite identical with those from Central America. Neither have I examined specimens from the vicinity of Bogotá or the State of Antioquía, Colombia, which have been separated by Menegaux and Hellmayr as Thamnophilus transandeanus granadensis.