| OCR Text |
Show 130 MR. O. SALVIN ON THE BIRDS OF VERAGUA. [Jail. 24, Mr. Gould under the new generic name Oreopyra, as 0. leucaspis, in the 'Proceedings' for 1860, p. 312. In the ' Proceedings' for the year 1853, p. 45, a new species of Toucan (Aulacorhamphus ceeru-leogularis) was defined by Mr. Gould from a specimen collected in Veragua by Dr. Berthold Seemann, who obtained it when travelling as naturalist to H.M.S. ' Herald.' Mr. Gould says this bird was accompanied by other ornithological rarities, of which unfortunately we have no record. In the year 1853, also, M M . Verreaux published their description of Chasmorhynchus tricarunculatus in the ' Revue Zoologique,' p. 193, from an immature specimen transmitted to them from Boca del Toro. The next notice we have is in the ' Annals of the N e w York Lyceum' for 1855 (vol. vi. p. 137), which contains a description by Mr. G. N . Lawrence of the beautiful Hummingbird (Microchera albo-coronata), with notes on its habits by its discoverer, Dr. J. K. Merritt, and also on those of Eutoxeres aquila, Bourc. These birds were obtained in the district of Belen, which lies to the south-eastward of the Chiriqui lagoon, on the Atlantic slope of the Cordillera. Our 'Proceedings' for 1856 contain two papers referring to Veraguan birds. The first is at p. 107, by Mr. Gould, where two new species are described (Trogon aurantiiventris and Odontophorus veraguensis) from specimens collected by Mr. Bridges near David. The second paper, by Mr. Sclater (p. 139), gives a complete list of M r . Bridges's collection, which contained specimens of forty-six species, two of which are described as new, viz. Thamnophilus bridgesi and Geotrygon chiriquensis. In this paper short notes on the habits of each species are supplied by Mr. Bridges. The next paper I have to notice is by M r . G. N . Lawrence, on a collection transmitted to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. F. Hicks from David. This paper, published in the ' Annals of the N e w York Lyceum,' viii. p. 174, enumerates thirty-nine species, three of which are introduced as new, viz. Spermophila collaris, Elainea chiriquensis, and E. semiflava. Lastly, in the same journal (June, 1866), Mr. Lawrence describes what appears to be a very beautiful Pigeon, of the genus Geotrygon, apparently allied to the West-Indian forms G. caniceps, Gundl., of Cuba, and G. cristata, T e m m . (Bp. Consp. ii. p. 70), of Jamaica. This bird was obtained by Dr. Merritt, the discoverer of Microchera albo-coronata, in the district of Belen, and seems to have remained unnoticed in his collection since the year 1852. I now come to Arce's collections, some of the new species of which have been already described in these 'Proceedings' by myself; but as these are incorporated into the subjoined list, I need not refer to them here. There are-twenty-three species of birds included in these collections which have not hitherto been noticed within the limits of the Central American fauna. Nine of these have been described as new from these specimens ; and the rest are South American species, now shown to be of wider range. The new genera introduced are : (Tyrannidce) Colopterus and Serpophaga -, (Trochilidce) Dorifera and Clais; (Cuculidce) Neomorphus ; (Cracidee) Chamcepetes. |
