302 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899.
ON A COLLECTION OF BIRDS FROM THE VICINITY OF BOGOTA, WITH A
REVIEW OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF SPEOTYTO
AND TROGLODYTES.
SY WITHER STONE.
Through the generosity of Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, President of
the Academy, the institution has come into possession of a collec-
tion of birds made in 1888-89, by the late Dr. J. W. Detwiller
in the vicinity of Bogota, Colombia. So many specimens have been
obtained from this region that a list of the species adds but few to
those already recorded in Bogota collections. The fact, however,
that these specimens, with but few exceptions, are marked with
definite localities renders them of greater importance as throwing
some light upon the distribution of the species.
The principal points at which specimens were obtained are
Honda, on the Magdalena river, seventy miles northwest of Bo-
gota; Ambalema, farther up the Magdalena, about forty miles
from Bogota; Ibague, ninety miles west, on the slopes of the
central Cordilleras, and on the Nevada del Tolima, about twenty
miles west of Ibague. A few were also collected at Villa Vicencia
east of the eastern Cordilleras in the Territory of San Martin,
sixty miles southeast of Bogota, and on the headwaters of the
Meta, a branch of the Orinoco.
The list follows. Unless otherwise stated only one specimen was
secured, and where no locality is mentioned the labels have been
lost.
Merganetta columbiana (DeMurs).
No exact data.
Belonopterus oayennensis (Gmel.).
Plain of Tolima.
Ortalis caracco (Wagl.).
Magdalena river, February 5, 1888.
Zenaida ruficauda (Gray).
Plain of Tolima.
1899.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 303
Speotyto cunicularia tolimae sub. sp. nov.
Five specimens secured May 27, 1889, on the Plain of Tolima,
where they were breeding and had eggs at this date.
Type No. 35,239, Coll. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Q. March 27,
1889.
Smaller and darker than any of the other forms of Speotyto with
less white above, approaching nearest to 8. brachyptera Puchm.,
from Margarita Island, Venezuela. General ground color above
dark Prout's brown to almost sepia, spots on margins of remiges
mainly buff, on coverts and scapulars white. Forehead and throat
pure white. Five narrow buff bands on the tail and narrow buff
tips to the feathers. The bars on the abdomen are somewhat
broken and irregular, and are dark brown edged narrowly with
cinnamon. Length of wing, 6 ins.
There seem to be at least five races of Burrowing Owls in South
America as follows
:
1. S. cunicularia (Molina).
Type locality. Chile 1.
Distributed over the southern part Of the continent from Chile
and Uruguay southward. It differs from all the more northern
forms in its larger size, and in the large amount of white on the
outer tail feathers. In these the ground color is white with rather
narrow brown cross bars. S. patagonica Peale and S. urucurea
Lesson, I take to be synonyms of this form.
All the more northern birds that I have seen are smaller and
darker, with the ground color of the outer tail feathers brown,
marked with white spots on the sides. These spots are sometimes
nearly confluent into bands, but the white never surpasses the brown
in extent as in S. cunicularia.
2. S. c. grallaria (Spix).
(Type loc., Para, Brazil).
Apparently agrees with the characters just given—thus differ-
ing from cunicularia. I have been unable to examine speci-
mens of the Brazilian bird and am forced 1o rely upon descrip-
tions, so that I am unable to show in what respects this differs
from the following. From its geograpical range it is almost
certainlv distinct.
304 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899.
3. S. c. nanodes Berl. and Stolzm. P. Z. S., 1892, p. 388.
(Type loc, Lima, Peru.)
This is the bird identified by Peale and Cassin as grallaria, and
they have been followed provisionally by Ridgway. On geograph-
ical grounds it is extremely doubtful that this is identical with the
Brazilian form, and I think the authors have done well to sep-
arate it.
The U. S. Exploring Expedition specimens are much bleached,
but otherwise agree with Berlepsch's description.
4. S. c. tolimae Stone.
(Type loc., Tolima, Colombia.)
Smaller and darker than the last, as above described. In
nanodes the white on the outer tail feathers generally extends across
as distinct bands and the brown bands are of nearly uniform width
throughout. In tolima, however, the brown bands are wider in
the middle, and confluent along the shaft, separating the white into
rounded spots.
On the middle tail feathers, the buff cross bands are extremely
narrow in tolimie (.10-. 12 in.), and do not reach the outer mar-
gins of the feathers, while in nanodes they are broad (.20-. 25 in. ),
and extend to the margin.
5. S. brachyptera Richm.
(Type loc, Margarita Isl., Venezuela.)
An island form allied to the last.
Megascops brasilianus (Gmel.).
Honda, March 27, 1889.
Rupomis magnirostris (Gmel.).
Honda and Ibague.
Falco sparverius aequatorialis Mearns.
Two specimens. Plains of Tolima.
Brotogerys jugularis (Mull.)
Pionus menstruus (L.).
Ambalema.
Psittacula conspicillata Lafr.
Villa Vicencia, Llanos San Martin, and Ambalema.
Diplopterus naevius (L.).
Ibague.
1899.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 305
Momotus aequatorialis (Gould).
Ibague (Rio Combeima).
Momotus subrufescens Scl.
Ambalema and Honda.
TIrospatha martii (Spix).
Honda, March 17, 1889.
Aulacorhamphus castaneorhynchus Gould.
Rio Combeima, above Ibague.
Galbula ruficauda Cuv.
Honda and Ambalema. Nine specimens.
Chelidoptera tenebrosa Vieill.
Villa Yicencia, Llanos San Martin.
This capture extends the westward range of this bird materially,
and indicates how closely the Venezuelan fauna of the Orinoco
valley approaches Bogota, which lies in the highlands just over the
eastern Cordilleras.
Bucco ruficollis (Wagl.).
Picumnis olivaceus Lafr.
Ibague. Two specimens.
Melanerpes cruentatus (Bodd.)
Villa Vicencia, Llanos San Martin.
Trogon collaris Vieill.
Nevada del Tolima, Rio Cambeima. Two specimens.
Pb.aromacb.arus pavoninus (Spix).
Nevada del Tolima. Two specimens.
Hemiprocne zonaris (Shaw).
Island on Magdalena river, near Ambalema, Aprihl2, 1889.]
Nyctidromus albicollis (Gm.).
Honda, March 29, 1889.
Rhamphomicron heteropogon (Briss.i.
Eriocnemis smaragdinipectus Gould.
Cyanophaia goudoti (Bourc).
Ibague.
20
306 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899.
Metallura tyrianthina (Bodd.).
Lesbia victoriae (Bourc. and Muls.).
Petasphora iolata Gould.
Aglaeactis cupreipennis (Bourc. and Muls.).
Thalurania columbica (Bourc).
Ibague.
Damophila juliae (Bourc).
Ibague.
Rupicola peruviana (Lath.).
Nevada del Tolima.
Manacus manacus abditivus Bangs.
Honda.
Todirostrum cinereum (L.).
Ochthoeca fumicolor Scl.
Leptopogon superciliaris Cab.
Milvulus tyrannus (L.).
Honda, March 17, 1889.
Legatus albicollis (Vieill.).
Ambalenia, April 6, 1889.
Sayomis nigricans (Swains.).
Ibague.
Pyrocephalus rubineus (Bodd.).
Ambalema. Six specimens. April 12-16, 1889.
Thamnophilus multistriatus (Lafr.).
A typical male specimen from Antioquia. Also a female without
locality which resembles it exactly in size of bill and general
proportions, but is uniform rufous above, lighter beneath, with a
lighter collar on the hind neck, obscurely streaked with black ; sides
of face similarly streaked, throat whitish. It looks very much as
if this was the female of this species, though it is said to be barred
below in the British Museum Catalogue.
Dendroplex picirostris Lafr.
Ambalema, April 12, 1889.
Synallaxis snbpudica Sclater.
Ambalema, April 12, 1889.
1899.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 307
Scytalophus griseicollis (Lafr.).
Icterus giraudi Cass.
Ibague.
Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster De Tarr.
Nevada del Tolima. Two specimens.
Ostinops salmonii Scl.
Rio Combeinia, Nevada del Tolima.
Ostinops decumanus (PalL).
Honda (Rio Guali) and Rio Combeima, Nevada del Tolima.
Embernagra conirostris.
Ambalema, April 8, 1889.
Phrygilus unicolor geospizopsis (Bp.).
Sporophila minuta (L.).
Honda, March 29, 1889.
Sycalis flaveola (L.).
Eutheia bicolor (L.).
Ibague. Two specimens.
Rhamphocelus icteronotus Bp.
Ibague.
Rhamphocelus jacapa (L.).
Villa Vicencia, Llanos San Martin, April 9, 1888.
Rhamphocelus dimidiatus Lath.
Ambalema and Ibague, April 8-16, 1889.
Calospiza cyaneicollis granadensis Berl.
Ibague. Two specimens.
Calospiza vitriolina (Cab.).
Ibague.
Calospiza labradorides (Boiss.).
Ibague.
Calospiza aurulenta Lafr.
Ibague.
Calospiza gyroloides (Lafr.).
Ibague.
Dubusia taeniata (Boiss.).
Buarremon pallidinucha (Boiss.).
Arremon spectabilis Scl.
Honda, March 21, 1889.
308 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899.
Piranga rubra (L.).
Honda.. March 21, 1889.
Conirostrum rufum Lafr.
Heleodytes nuchalis (Cab.).
Two specimens, without locality, hare the sandy tint on the nape,
and thus differ from H. pardus Scl., the Colombian form, indi-
cating that the latter may be, as suggested (Brit. Mus. Cat., vi, p.
204) only an individual variation of nuchalis. 1
Troglodytes striatulus Lafr.
Honda, two specimens.
Troglodytes columbae sp. nov.
Type 35,354, Coll. Acad. Nat. Sci. Vicinity of Bogota.
It is with some hesitation that I add another to the long list of
names proposed for South American "Wrens, but this is so different
from any described form that there seems no alternative.
This bird is nearest to T. striatulus, but is darker and more olive
brown above, without a trace of the rufous tints so characteristic
of South American species of Troglodytes. T. striatulus is practi-
cally without rufous tints, but the feathers of the rump or upper
tail coverts as well as the tail are lighter and incline to rufous or
yellowish brown. There is no trace of this, however, in T. colum-
boz, both rump and tail being dark olive brown. The black bands
on the tail are rather more irregular than in striatulus and those on
the back are a little more pronounced. The under surface is quite as
different from T. striatulus as are the upper parts; it is uniform
ochraceous or vinaceous from the chin to the vent without a trace
of white, and no trace of fulvous on the flanks which are uniform
in ground color with the rest of the lower surface. The sides and
flanks are shaded with olive brown and obscurely banded. The
under tail coverts are buffy, with a slight rufous tinge, and are
strongly barred with black. The bars do not quite reach the edges
of the feathers, and are connected down the shaft. The sides of
the head are almost exactly like T. striatulus, but with the ground
color darker. Length of wing, 2.15 ins.
This is the darkest Troglodytes that I have seen from South or
1 It is possible this, as well as some others of the unlabelled specimens,
came from Cartagena. See pp. 312-13.
1899.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 309
Central America, and can be recognized at a glance from any of
the other species.
Though its dark under surface makes it appear very different
from the white-throated and white-bellied T. striatulus, it is evi-
dently most closely allied to that species.
Unfortunately, the label has been lost from the specimen, so that
the exact locality is unknown.
The identification of this bird involved a study of all the South
and Central American species of Troglodytes, and an examination
of the specimens in the collections of the Academy and the U. S.
National Museum, the latter having been kindly loaned me for the
purpose.
While the material is insufficient for a monograph, the results of
the investigation may be of value to those engaged in studying this
rather perplexing group.
The tropical American species of Troglodytes may at once be sep-
arated into two groups, those with distinct superciliaries, sharply
defined against the color of the head, and those with supercdiaries
indistinct. The first are not difficult, and stand as given in the
British Museum Catalogue, Vol. vi, p. 248. The other group is
much more confusing.
From southern Mexico to Panama south of the range of T.
aedon and its races, we have a Wren with rufous-tinted rump and
tail, and vinaceous below, with under tail coverts strongly barred
with black, white and vinaceous. This is T. intermedins Cab. in
Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica (type loc, San Jose) and T.
inquietus Baird, in Costa Rica and Panama (type loc, Panama),
the more southern form differing in larger size.
The two are, however, so close that it seems undesirable to sep-
arate them.
In the vicinity of Bogota we fiud a totally different bird, T.
striatulns, which compared Avith the preceding is olive brown instead
of reddish brown above, and much lighter beneath, being pure white
on the throat and middle of the abdomen. The under tail coverts
are banded with black and white.
Next to this comes the very much darker T. columbce Stone
above described.
The rest of South America is inhabited by various races of one
wide-ranging form, all of which are peculiar in their strongly
310 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899.
rufous tail contrasting with the browner tint of the back and the
strongly rufous under tail coverts and thighs, the former with the
bars much reduced and sometimes nearly wanting.
Many names have been proposed for the birds of this group, of
which the following seem to be recognizable.
1. Troglodytes musculus Naum. Vogel's Deutschlaud, 1823.
T. furvus Wiedii Berl.
T. platensis Wied.
Distribution.—Brazil, Argentine and Uruguay (type loc, Bahia,
Brazil).
This is the darkest form, with obscure bars of blackish on the
back always present. Under surface vinaceous, darker and inclin-
ing to rufous on the flanks and under tail coverts, but not nearly
so tawny as in the west-coast races. Under tail coverts barred or
distinctly spotted with black, in direct Contrast to the nearly uni-
form rufous-coverts of the western races.
This bird has been frequently called T. furvus Gm. , but I agree
with Sharpe and Allen in the impossibility of satisfactorily identi-
fying the " Brown Warbler " of Brown's Illustrations of Zoology,
upon which Gmelin based his name. Berlepsch seems to have
regarded the Guiana bird (rufulus) as true "furvus," and renamed
this form T. f. Wiedii, claiming that although Wied' s description
of T. platensis is unquestionably this form, it is not Sylvia platensis
Lath., which he quotes. T. musculus Naum antedates Berlepsch'
s
name, and must of course be adopted.
2. Troglodytes musculus rufulus Cab. Schomb., Reis. Guian., iii, p. 672 (1848).
T. tobagensis Lawr.
Distribution.—Guiana, Venezuela and N. E. Colombia (type
loc, Roraima, Guiana).
This is a light-colored race banded on the back as in T. musculus,
but much paler and sometimes quite white below.
3. Troglodytes musculus rex (Berl. and Leverk).
Distribution.—Eastern Bolivia (type loc, Samarpata).
A pale form of musculus.
4. Troglodytes musculus homensis (Less.).
T. rosaceus Less.
T. pallida Lafr. and d'Orb.
T. magellanicus Gould.
Distribution.—Chile and Patagonia.
1899.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 311
The Wrens of the Pacific coast of South America are paler than
true musculus, and are .generally without bars on the back, and
with the under tail coverts nearly or quite uniform tawny, the
flanks and rump are also much more conspicuously tawny and the
whole plumage paler. The specimens I have examined from
Patagonia and Chile are darker than those from Callao, Peru,
which seem to be T. m. audax. If this determination is correct,
then T. m. audax is the lightest colored, most rufous of the genus,
and T. hornensis is intermediate between that and T. musculus. If
homensis and audax are both based on pale-colored birds, then
they may have to be regarded as synonyms, and T. magellanicm
revived for the darker more southern birds.
T. hornensis is usually described as very pale and rufous, in
which case I cannot separate it from T. audax of Callao. Sharpe
(Cat. Bds., vi, p. 207) seems to regard T. audax as not deter-
minable; if this view is followed then probably hornensis and
magellanicus should be adopted as above.
The darker Chilean birds which I here regard as T. hornensis
are lighter than musculus with more tawny tail, under tail coverts
with but few spots and back without bars.
5. Troglodytes musculus audax (Tschudi).
Distribution.—Coast of Peru (type loc, Peru).
Palest of the group; rump, flank and tail very bright tawny,
and dark bars on the tail indistinct and suffused with the prevail-
ing tawny tint. No bars on the back.
6. Troglodytes musculus tecellatus (Lafr. and d'Orb.).
(?) T. murinus Less.
Distribution.—Peru (type loc, Tacna).
This is a darker bird with distinct cross bars on the back differ-
ing in this respect from all the other trans-Andean forms. From
musculus it differs in being much mox-e rufous both above and below.
The tail is very distinctly barred Avith black, presenting a very
different appearance from that of T. audax. Mr. Ridgway states
that the specimens in the Lafresnay collection labelled as the
types of this species are in reality T. brwineicollis of Mexico.
The labels must have been confused, however, as the description is
certainly not from that bird.
312 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899.
7. Troglodytes musculus puna (Berl. and Stolz.).
Distribution.—Highlands of Peru (type loc., Queta).
Larger than T. musculus and color below not at all rufescent.
Under tail coverts with very few spots.
8. Troglodytes musculus albicans (Berl. and Tacz.).
Distribution.—Ecuador (type loc. , Guaquil).
Throat and middle of abdomen pure white, paler and grayer above
than musculus and sides more rufescent.
The last two and T. m. rex I have not seen, and am therefore in
much doubt as to the forms from Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. If
tecellata, puna and audax all occur in Peru, and are perfectly
separable, they must occupy very different geographic areas.
The confusion of the tropical American Wrens in the published
Avorks is very perplexing. The Biologia Centrali Americana
recognizes but two forms of the group here treated, i. e., T.
intermedins of Central America and T. furvus of South America!
The British Museum Catalogue is much better, but it is difficult to
imagine how Dr. Sharpe can unite the Wrens of Panama and
Bogota under T. striatulus and separate T. intermedins. The
Panama birds which I have seen are scarcely distinguishable from
T. intermedins, while the true striatulus from Bogota is very
different.
Cinclus leuconotus Lafr.
Bogota, January 5, 1889.
Mimus gilvus Vieill.
Plain of Tolima.
Merula ignobilis Selater.
Rio Totare, Plain of Tolima and Ibague.
Merula gigas (Frazer).
Bogota, March 28, 1888.
A few specimens were obtained by Dr. Detwiller on the north
coast of Colombia near Cartagena. These are as follows:
Chrysolampis moschatus (L.).
Four specimens.
1899.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 313
Cyanophaia goudoti (Bourc).
Three specimens doubtfully referred to this species. They are a
little smaller than the specimen from Ibague mentioned above,
which is evidently an adult male; and also differ in having the
lower part of the abdomen and flanks grayish white, and the back
more bronze tinted, one specimen especially showing brilliant
coppery reflections. The under tail coverts are greener than in
the Ibague specimen, which is exactly the reverse of the supposed
females described in the British Museum Catalogue, xvi, p. 235.
While these may be females or young of C. goudoti, it seems quite
likely that they represent a northern race of this bird.
Synallaxis candsei Lafr. and d'Orb.
Base of La Popa, Cartagena, January 23, 1888.
Arremon schlegeli Bp.
Two-thirds up La Popa, 600 feet elevation, Cartagena, January
23, 1888.
Ccereba luteola (Cab.).
Base of La Popa, Cartagena, January 23, 1888.