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Show BIRDS. (i3 6. Mntus PARVULUS. G. R. Gmy. PLATE XVIII. Orplwns parvulus. Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. PELrt v. 1837, p. 27. M. 1iertice, nuclta cauddque intensefuscis, kujus 1·ectricibus ad ap1·cem albo notatis; a/is .fuscis secundm·iis tect1·icibusque nola albd apicali fascias duas lnmsversas Jacient ibus; lm·o plttmisque auricztlaribus nig1·escentibus; gula, colli lateribus, pectore, et abdomine albescentibus; plum is late rum no tis fuse is per medium lougitudinaliler e.vcurrentibus. Long. tot. Bl uno.; 1"0Bt. I; alw, a a; cauda', 3!; tarsi, I!· The vertex, the nape of the neck, and the tail intensely black ; with the tips of tile tail feathers marked with white; the wings brown with the secondaries and coverts tipped with white marks, giving the appearance of two transverse bands ; the lores and the feathers of the ears black ; the throat, the sides of the neck, breast, and the abdomen white ; the flanks marked longitudinally with brown. Habitat, Albemarle Island, Galapagos Archipelago. (October.) It will be seen, that the three last species of the genus Mimus, were procured from the Galapagos Archipelago; and as there is a fact, connected with their geographical distl'ibution, which appears to me of the highest interest, I have had these three figured. There are five large islands in this Archipelago, and several smaller ones. I fortunately happened to observe, that the specimens which I collected in the two first islands we visited, differed from each other, and this made me pay particulm· attention to their collection. I found that all in Charles Island belonged to JJI. tri-fascialtts; all in Albemarle Island to JJ-f. parvulus, and all in Chatham and James's Islands to M. rnelanotus. I do not rest this fact solely on my own observation, but several specimens were brought home in the Beagle, and they were found, according to their species, to have come from the islands as above named. Charles Island is distant fifty miles from Chatham Island, and thirty-two from Albemarle Island. This latter is only ten miles from James Island, yet the many specimens procured from both belonged respectively to different species. James and Chatham, which possess the same species, are seventy miles apart, but Indefatigable Island is situated between them, which perhaps, has afforded a means of communication. The fact, that islands in sight of each other, should thus possess peculiar species, would be scarcely credible, if it were not supported by some others of an analogous nature, which I have mentioned in my Journal of the Voyage ofthe Beagle. I may observe, that as some naturalists may be inclined to attribute these differences to local varieties ; that if birds so different as 0. trifasciatus, and |
