z% 
S. L. Olson 174 Bull. B.O.C. 1992 112(3) 
Requiescat for 7Wc/w/:mww conJffMrwj, a rail 
that never was 
An unfortunate number of birds were described from a single specimen 
only, never to be found again. A prevalent trend in ornithology has been 
to discount and ignore unique types, yet with proper evaluation of their 
morphology, in combination with careful review of the circumstances of 
(heir acquisition, the species founded on them can often be resurrected, 
adding to our knowledge of previous mvimn diversity (eg. Olson 1986a,b, 
Graves & Olson 1987, Jame* ** af. 1989, Olaon ?* ?f. 1989). 
A discounted species consigned to oblivion for the past 40 years is the 
presumably flightless rail Tricholimnas conditicius Peters & Griscom, 
1928. Recently, however, Walter* (1987), on the basis of circumstantial 
historical evidence, concluded that this was a validly described species. 
To attempt to resolve the issue, I studied both the unique holotype 
and additional historical evidence, but with opposite result, as I have 
concluded that T. conditicius is not, in fact, a valid species. 
Historical review 
Much in the original description and subsequent assessment of 
T. conditicius has been marred by errors of judgement, interpretation, or 
aLObm I?; aaajoc. 1992112m 
procedure, beginning with the spelling of the species' name itself. There 
meema no justification for the orthography "romdMcma", which is surely 
baaed on the Latin verb goads, hide (rather than the adjective corndbw;, 
meaning savory or seasoned), the actual word intended probably being 
conditivus, meaning laid away or preserved, which is certainly applicable 
to the holotype. 
Peters & Griscom (1928) described T. conditicius from a specimen 
skinned from alcohol that had been found "in the Museum of Compara- 
tive Zoology [MCZ] after a period of long oblivion. With it was a label: 
Kingamill Islands, 1861, Andrew Garrett, Collector'" (Greenway 1952: 
1). Peters & Griscom (1928) established that Garrett had been on the 
island of Apaiang ( = Abaiang) in the Kingsmill [ = Gilbert] group in 
1859, whence they assumed the rail had come, the date 1861 being 
surmised as that of the collection's receipt at the museum. 
Peters & Griscom (1928:102) made no comparisons with Tricholimnas 
lafresnayattus of New Caledonia, the type of the genus, but only with 
Sclater's (1870) description and Mathews' (1928) plate of T. sylvestris, 
the flightless 'woodhen' of Lord Howe Island, a species of which they said 
"there is no material available in this country with which to make an 
actual physical comparison". This is curious because the MCZ possesses 
a complete skeleton of T. sylvestris (MCZ 363) that was purchased from 
E. Gerrard, Jr., and received 30 August 1878. It is still the only skeletal 
specimen of the species in any New World museum (Wood & Schnell 
19*6). Rather than making comparisons with this skeleton, Peters & Griscom 
published notes made by G. M. Allen comparing the body skeleton of T. 
conditicius with that of a King Rail Rallus elegans (presumably MCZ 
3316, the trunk of a specimen collected in 1921, the only skeletal material 
of ile&#?M in the MCZ coUectiona). Why dW Allen not compare the 
skeleton of T. conditicius with the specimen of T. sylvestris that had then 
been at Harvard for nearly 50 years? One possibility is that the latter was 
received in alcohol and was not prepared as a skeleton until after 1928. On 
the other hand, given the prioritiem of the day, it is more likely that an 
alcoholic specimen, unless badly damaged (and the skeleton is in excellent 
condition), would have been prepared as a skin. The failure of Peters, 
Griscom, or Allen to consult the MCZ specimen of T. #&**%%*, whatever 
it* manner of preaervation hi 1928, is an overmight that cannot now be 
explained. 
The body skeleton of the unique holotype of T. conditicius, incredible 
as it may seem, was not saved; at least it can no longer be found in the 
MCZ collections. Likewise, the stomach contents of the specimen 
("seeds of two species, the chitinous shell of a small beetle, and an entire 
harvest ny"; Allen in Griscom & Peters 1928: 103) were alao evidently 
discarded, although, as noted by Walters (1987), these might have helped 
to determine the geographical origin of the bird. Harvest fly is another 
term for a cicada (Homoptera) and cicadas are found on Lord Howe 
Island and in the Marshalls and Gilberts (R. Froeschner, pers comm.), so 
this fact does not help to resolve the origin of the specimen. 
Greenway (1952) discovered an unpublished communication from 
Garrett stating that on Apaiang: "There is only one species of land bird 
and this I never saw but obtained one of its tail feathers which I send you. 
I think it is a species of Hawk." Greenway could not find this feather but 
hypothesized that because migrant hawks had been reported from Palau, 
much m stray may have reached Apmimng. Ameraoc (1969: 229) hma more 
plausibly suggested that this feather likely came from the widespread 
migrant cuckoo Urodynamis taitensis. Regardless, Garrett's note 
provides conclusive evidence that the rail in question was not obtained on 
Apaiang. 
Greenway (1952) compared the type of T. conditicius with a series of 
T. sylvestris and found no differences other than slightly smaller size, 
which he attributed to immaturity, as Allen had stated that the skeleton 
indicated the specimen was obviously an immature. Greenway (p. 3) 
considered that "the weight of evidence points to [the type of 
T, conditicius] having come from Lord Howe Id. It is probable that 
it found its way into Andrew Garrett's collection by an exchange, or 
perhaps through the good offices of a whaling friend." Greenway 
regarded T. conditicius as a probable synonym of T. sylvestris, and the 
species accordingly sank into oblivion. 
Recently, however, Waiters (1987) revived the issue by reviewing 
Garrett's itinerary and suggesting that the type of T. conditicius could 
have been obtained on the island of Ebon in the southern Marshall 
group, where Garrett also landed. Although he did not examine the 
specimen, his review of documentary evidence led him to conclude that 
T. conditicius was a validly described species. 
The specimen evidence 
I examined the hoktype of 7Tr6Ao8**o* awwGdaw* (MCZ 21943) and 
made comparisons directly with two specimens of T. sylvestris lent for the 
purpose (AMNH 545298, 545345). I later compared the entire large 
series of T. sylvestris at the American Museum of Natural History with 
colour photographs of the type of T. conditicius. The latter was diagnosed 
as being "similar to Tricholimnas sylvestris of Lord Howe Island but 
much smaller; wing coverts less conspicuously chestnut" (Peters & 
Griacom 1928:102), but I could find abeolutely no consistent differences 
in plumage. The size is small, and the proportions of the bill are aomewliat 
different from adults of T. sylvestris, but are almost exactly duplicated by 
two immature birds of that species (AMNH 545297, 545318). 
One possible character that has never been mentioned is that the feet 
in the type of T. conditicius are orangish in colour whereas in most speci- 
mens of T. sylvestris they are a dark brownish leaden colour. There is 
some variation, however, and certain specimens have a more reddish or 
orangiah cam* to the fee*. In (me individual of T". syAwdrw (AMNH 
545363) the feet were distinctly orangish, just as in the type of 
T. conditicius. Interestingly, this specimen had also been prepared from 
spirits. 
Thus, like Greenway, I was unable to find any morphological features 
by which Tricholimnas conditicius could be separated from T. sylvestris, at 
any level. 
ALOw* i?7 aaaac. 19*21*%3) 
The evidence against a Micronesian origin for T. conditicius 
To begin with, it a* hardly conceivable that two flightless species 
could evolve independently on imlmndm some 4500 km apart and show no 
morphological differentiation from one another. Secondly, Ebon atoll is 
nearly as poor a candidate to have been home to a large flightless rail in 
1859 as was Apaiang. An overlooked early report on the natural history of 
Ebon is that of Rev. E. T. Doane (1861: 322), die ornithological portion; 
of which are quoted here in full: 
This atoll is the home for a few varieties of birds. But in this 
feature of the island, the contrast is as wide between the "low coral" 
island and the "high volcanic" one?as between their natural 
features. The high islands of Micronesia are largely supplied with 
the feathery tribe,?but this atoll can claim only a few birds?and 
with two or three exceptions these are all water fowl. There are a few 
Columbidae, Carpophaga [Ducula] oceanica, which manage to elude 
the keen search of the natives. These birds are occasionally heard 
cooing away in the tops of some quite isolated bread-fruit tree. A 
Cuculus [doubtless Urodynamis taitensis] gives forth occasionally 
its sharp whistle?and these, with the addition of another land bird 
whose species I have not been able to learn?are all the feathery 
songsters this atoll can claim. 
The shores of the reef at low tide, and the bare rocks, are a little 
enlivened by the brown and white Heron. Small flocks of snipe 
(Scolopax) gather on the sand bars?or single individuals are 
running along the beach picking up food. An occasional plover 
(CaaraSnas) is to be seen. Sea swallows ( A*ra@ fto&da and &f*raa 
minuta) are skimming the waters of the lagoon, or resting on the 
beach. A booby (faia [*&-&da]) now and then is seen sailing over 
the island. His home is unknown to the natives. His want of caution 
is clearly seen in the easy way a native will ascend a tree in which the 
bird is roosting, and with a slip-noose capture him. An interesting 
explanation of the origin of the single variety of the Canda: is given 
by the natives?so skillful has this bird been in concealing its birth- 
place. As the natives And it only full grown they say that it is bom 
and nourished in the clouds and (alls to the earth of full size. [The 
Long-tailed Cuckoo is a migrant in Oceania that breeds only in New 
Zealand.] 
This appears to be a reasonably accurate and perceptive report. The 
unknown land bird mentioned is almost certainly the fruit dove Ptilinopus 
mar*AaMaaa* coincidentally described by Peters & Griacom (1928) in the 
same paper as Tricholimnas conditicius from a single specimen, still 
unique, obtained on Ebon by the missionary B. G. Snow in "the late 
fifties or early sixties of the last century", but not forwarded to the MCZ 
until 1876 (Harbour in Peters & Griscom 1928: 99). Doane's list adds 
considerably to the previously recorded native avifauna of Ebon, which 
according to Amerson (1969) consisted only of the AMwqpw* and the 
noddy Anous tenuirostris. The Reverends Doane and Pierson established 
a mission on Ebon in 1857 (U.S. Hydrographic Office, Bureau of 
S. L. Olson 178 Butt. B.O.C. 1992112(3) 
Navigation, 1870, Marshall Group, North Pacific Islands, 1:33 [original 
not seen]). Doane's report was communicated from Ebon on 16 August 
1860 and thus covered the period of Garrett's visit in 1859. Had 
Garrett obtained a flightless rail on Ebon, either himself or through the 
missionaries, this fact would hardly have been unknown to Doane or have 
gone unmentioned by him. 
Green way (1952) assumed that Garrett obtained the type of T. 
conditicius from another source, who in turn had obtained it from Lord 
Howe Island. However, I believe that the nature of the man and the 
supposed timing of acquisition of the specimen militate against any 
association between Andrew Garrett and T. conditicius. 
Green way (1952), although acknowledging Garrett's genius as a 
scientist, in referring to him as a dealer may have given an impression of 
Garrett as an indiscriminate accumulator of natural history objects for 
commerce. Although Garrett certainly sold specimens to support his 
collecting activities, he was, in fact, a dedicated marine biologist who 
made many serious contributions to the scientific literature of fishes and 
marine invertebrates (Thomas 1979, Clench 1979). He had little personal 
interest in birds, however. We must ask, therefore, why Garrett would 
have been involved in an exchange for a specimen of bird that he never 
bothered to call to the attention of any ornithologist. 
Garrett supposedly obtained the type of T. conditicius about 1850 
and certainly prior to 1861?fully a decade before specimens of the 
Lord Howe Island woodhen, T. sylvestris, were obtained and formally 
described (see Bennett 1870, Sclater 1870). In reviewing some of the 
literature on the natural history of Lord Howe Island, it would appear 
that most, if not all, traffic in natural history specimens from Lord Howe 
was through naturalists in London via Sydney (e.g. Hindwood 1940, 
I redale 1940). It makes no sense that Garrett, based then in Hawaii, could 
have obtained, during or shortly after his collecting trip to the Gilberts in 
1859, a specimen of a bird from Lord Howe Island ten years before an 
example of the same species reached London. 
I conclude that the entire problem is probably traceable to an early 
curatorial error at the MCZ in which a fluid-preserved specimen of 
Tricholimnas sylvestris from Lord Howe Island was wrongly associated 
with an old label from one of Garrett's collections. In this connection it is 
worth noting that other early specimens of T. sylvestris were originally 
supplied in spirita. I have already alluded to the MCZ skeleton possibly 
having been originally in alcohol. Likewise there are three dataless skins 
from the Rothschild collection that are marked as having been prepared 
"from spirits" (AMNH 545363-5). 
In summary, all available morphological and historical evidence points 
to the type of Tricholimnas conditicius Peters & Griscom, 1928, being The 
former name should thus fall back into synonymy. 
Acknowledgements 
For access to the holotype of T. conditicius and other specimens at the Museum of 
Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, I continue to be 
indebted to Raymond A. Paynter, Jr. I am also grateful to the American Museum of 
Natural History, New York, especially Mrs Mary LeCroy, for access to and lending of 
specimens. Comparisons were facilitated by colour photographs supplied by Beth Miles and 
&6.aw? !79 JWI.a.O.C. 1992112(3) 
Richard Flint. Ms Mary S. McCutchcon kindly supplied information on Ebon from the 
Biogeography Files at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. 
Richard Froeachner (Dept. of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, 
Smithsonian Institution) checked on the distribution of cicadas in the Pacific. For 
comments on the manuscript I thank Helen F. James. 
References: 
Amerson, A. B. 1969. Ornithology of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Atoll Research Bull. 
127. 
Bennett, G. 1870. [Letter on collections from Lord Howe Island]. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 
1*69:471-472. 
Clench, W. J. 1979. A biography of Andrew Garrett, early naturalist of Polynesia: Part 2. 
Catalogue of molluscan species and bibliography. Nautilus 93: 96-102. 
Doane, E. T. 1861. Remarks upon the atoll of Ebon, in Micronesia. Amer.Journ. Science and 
Xr*sar. 2,31:318-323. 
Graves, G R. & Olson, S. L. 1987. Chlorostilbon bracei Lawrence, an extinct species of 
hummingbird from New Providence Island, Bahamas. Auk 104:296-302. 
Greenway, J. C, Jr. 1952. Tricholimnas conditicitu is probably a synonym of Tricholimnas 
sylvestris. Breviora 5: 1?4. 
Hindwood, K. A. 1940. The birds of Lord Howe Island. Emu 40: 1-86. 
Iredale, T. 1940. Marine molluscs from Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Australia and 
New Caledonia. Australian Zoologist 9: 429-443. 
James, H.F., Zusi, R. L. & Olson, S. L. 1989. Dysmorodrepanis munroi (Fringillidae: 
Drepanidini), a valid genus and species of Hawaiian nnch. Wilson Bull. 101:159?179. 
Mm*h*ws,G.M.19217Tkaa^qf#a^sma*Wlan#ffosw^ 
London. 
Olson, S. L. 1986a. An early account of some birds from Mauke, Cook Islands, and the 
origin of the "Mysterious Starling" Aplonis mavornata Bullet. Notornis 33:197-208. 
Olson, S. L. 1986b. Gallirallus sharpei (Biittikofer) nov. comb., a valid species of rail 
(Rallidae) of unknown origin. Gerfaut 76: 263-269. 
Olson, S. L., Balouet, J. C. & Fisher, C. T. 1989. The Owlet-nightjar of New Caledonia, 
Aegotheles savesi, with comments on the systematics of the Aegotheiidae. Gerfaut 77 
(for 1987): 341-352. 
Peters, J. L. & Griscom, L. 1928. A new rail and a new dove from Micronesia. Proc. New 
majfsWZmnf. CM 10:99-106. 
Sclater, P. L. 1870. [Description of Ocydromus syhestris, new species, from Lord Howe 
Island]. fW.ZW. Jar. ZamaW 1869:472-473. 
Thomas, W. S. 1979. A biography of Andrew Garrett, early naturalist of Polynesia. Part 1. 
Waudao 93:15-28. 
Walters, M. 1987. The provenance of the Gilbert Rail Tricholimnas conditicius (Peters & 
Orsscom). fa*& 6hf. Or*. CL107:181-184. 
Wood, D. S. & Schnell, G. D. 1986. Revised World Inventory of Avian Skeletal Specimens, 
1986. American Ornithologists* Union & Oklahama Biological Survey, Norman, 
Oklahoma. 
Address: Storrs L. Olson, Dept. of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural 
History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. 20560, U.S. A. 
* British Ornithologists' Club 1992 
Correction. The penultimate sentence was guillotined by the printer 
after proof stage and should have read: "... being identical with 
THcAdbwaf fyfwean'j (Sclater 189Q."