The Auk/1/1/Descriptions of Several New Birds from Santo Domingo
DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVERAL NEW BIRDS FROM SANTO DOMINGO.
by Charles B. Cory.
Fam. SYLVICOLIDÆ.
Group Geothlypeæ.
Synopsis of Genera.
a. Bill slightly depressed and distinctly notched; rictal bristles very short, sometimes wanting; wings short and rounded, about the length of the tail; first primary shorter than fourth; tail long. rounded or graduated legs short: tarsus as long as the head: belly yellow: legs yellow.
b'. Bill elongated, somewhat depressed, distinctly notched at tip: rictal bristles short; wings rounded and equal in length to the tail; tail long and rounded; legs and feet stout; tarsus not as long as the head; belly and legs not yellow.
Ligea[1] palustris gen. et sp. nov. Plate I.
Adult male: Crown. nape, and upper portion of back slaty-plumbeous; rest of back and upper surface of wings and tail yellowish-green: throat, breast, and sides grayish-plumbeous, showing a dull orange tinge on the sides, darkest on the flanks; middle of the throat with a slight grayish tinge, and the middle of the belly distinctly white; outer webs of primaries, and most of the secondaries yellowish-green, giving to the wing a general greenish appearance; inner webs of primaries dark brown, apparently slate color in some lights; under surface of tail dull green; eyelids white.
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Length, 5.50; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.50; tarsus, .75; bill, .50; middle toe, .40.
Female: General appearance of the male, but differs from it by underparts being tinged with olive, mixing with the gray and top of the head green, showing the slate color faintly.
Hirundo sclateri, sp. nov.
Adult male: Above bright bluish-green, showing a golden color in some becoming decidedly blue on the forehead; upper stu-face of wings and tail showing a tinge of dull blue, brightest on the tail; underparts pure white primaries brown bill and legs veiy dark brown.
Length, 5.25; wing, 5.75 tail, 2.00.
The present species differs decidedly from Hirundo euchrysea from Jamaica, that species having that upper parts bright golden-green, and lacking the blue on the forehead entirely. The Santo Domingo bird is also larger, and the bill is apparently somewhat more slender.
Dr. Bryant mentions the present bird in his list as "H. euchrysea (var. dominicensis?)," stating that on account of its smaller bill it might be a variety, but he gives no description by which it can be identified.
I have named this species in compliment to P. L. Sclater, Esq., of London, England. The following species were described by me some months since, but having lately received other species, I redescribed them and add descriptions of the female and young. I have also raised one of them to the rank of a new genus.
Fam. TANAGRIDÆ
Calyptophilus,[2] gen. nov.
The present genus has the general appearance, at first glance, of Phænicophilus, but is easily separated from it by the following characters:
a. Tail short, about four-fifths as long as the wing; middle toe about two-thirds of tarsus: tail square, slightly emarginate..jpg)
Calyptophilus frugivorus.
Phænicophilus frugivorus Cory, Journ. Boston Zoöl. Soc., II. No. 4, Oct. 1883: p. 45.
Male: Top of the head brown, shading into ashy on the neck, behind the eye; rest of the upper parts, including back and upper surface of wings and tail, brownish-olive; throat white; breast white, becoming ashy upon the sides: flanks brownish-olive, the olive mixing with white upon the crissum; primaries and secondaries olive-brown. the inner webs edged with very pale brown: a patch of bright yellow under the base of the wing. extending upon the carpus; eye encircled by a very narrow line of bright yellow, and a spot of yellow in front of the eye at the base of the mandible; upper mandible dark brown; lower mandible yellowish-brown, darkest at the base.
Length, 8.00; wing, 3-50; tail, 3.50; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, .82; bill, .70.
The female is perhaps somewhat duller, and some specimens appear slightly smaller, but otherwise resembles the male.
Rupornis ridgwayi.
Rapornis ridgwayi Cory, Journ. Boston Zoöl. Soc., II, No. 4, Oct. 1883, p. 46.
Female: Top of the head and neck brownishi-ash, becoming darker on the back; the feathers of the back and tertiaries edged with rufous; underparts dark rufous, the feathers narrowly handed with white; thighs showing the rufous much brighter, the feathers banded with very fine pale lines; crissum white, with rafous bands near the tips; under part of breast slaty, shading into dull white on the throat: the shafts of the leathers on the throat and breast dark brown, showing in hair-like lines; wings and tail dark brown, imperfectly banded with white, and showing various shadings of dull rufous; all the primares imperfectly banded with white, gradually becoming fainter on the outer webs, until just perceptible on the sixth; the rest of primaries and secondaries with the outer webs dark brown and the inner webs thickly banded with white, showing traces of rufous.
Length, 14.50; wing, 10.00; tail, 6.30; tarsus, 2.75; bill, 1.25.
Male: Since the above description was written I have received two mates from the same locality. In general plumage they are similar to the female, with the exception that there is much less rufous on the underparts, where this color is replaced by a slaty cast; the thighs have the rufous somewhat brighter, and the bird, as would be expected, is smaller.
Length, 13-75; wing, 9.00; tail, 6.00; tarsus, 2.75; bill, 1.20.
Immature male: In general appearance much like Buteo pennsylvanicus; underparts dull white, the feathers slightly tinged with rufons, the centre of the surface feathers showing a stripe of brown, giving the body a striped appearance: thighs rufous, but paler than in the adult; above much resembling the adult; the white wing and tail bands replaced by rufous bands on the terminal half of the feathers. I have named this species in compliment to Robert Ridgway, Esq., of Washington, D. C.
Œdicnemus dominicensis.
Œdicnemus dominicensis Cory. Journ. Zoöl. Soc., II, No. 4, Oct. 1883, p. 46.
Male: Top of the bead, back, wing-coverts, and tail brown; feathers with very pale edgings, giving a mottled appearance to the back; the tail feathers showing a band of dull white, succeeded by a broad black tip: breast slaty, becoming dull white on the throat; abdomen white, tinged with very pale rutous; a line of black passing from the top of the eye along the sides of the head to the neck; under surface of wings white, becoming dark brown at the tips; the shafts of the feathers on the breast and throat dark brown, forming numerous hair-like lines on the surface of the plumage; legs and feet greenish-yellow: upper mandible black; under mandible green at the base, shading into black at the tip; iris yellow.
Length: 14.50; wing, S. 5o; tail, 3.75: tarsus, 3.75; bill, 1.50.
The sexes appear to be similar.