Malurus dulcis Mathews

LeCroy, M., 2008, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 7. Passeriformes: Sylviidae, Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Monarchidae, Rhipiduridae, And Petroicidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 313 (1), pp. 1-287 : 107-108

Malurus dulcis Mathews

Malurus dulcis Mathews, 1908b: 100 (10 miles E. of Alligator River, Arnhem Land).

Now Malurus lamberti dulcis Mathews, 1908 . See Schodde, 1982: 91, and Schodde and Mason, 1999: 85.

SYNTYPES: AMNH 602308 ( Tunney no. 899, WAM no. 1564), adult male, 9 August 1903 ; AMNH 602309 (905, 1563), adult male, 10 August 1903 ; AMNH 602311 (873, 1284), adult male, 3 July 1903 ; AMNH 601312 (869, 1285), female, 3 July 1903 ; AMNH 602313 (877, 1286), female, 4 July 1903 ; and AMNH 602314 (870, 1282), female, 3 July 1903 ; all collected 10 mi east of South Alligator River, 12.15S, 132.24E ( USBGN, 1957b), Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, by J.T. Tunney. From the Rothschild Collection .

COMMENTS: In the original description, Mathews was said to have exhibited three pairs of his new species, collected by J.T. Tunney 10 mi east of Alligator River, Arnhem Land. The type, in the Rothschild Museum , was said to be a male with wing of 1.9 inches, but the collecting date given, 4 July 1903, was that of a female, with no males having been collected on that date. Because the data given for the type do not match data on any of the specimens, all of them are syntypes. Mathews’ (1909a: 113) statement that ‘‘This pretty little species was described from a pair of specimens in the Tring Museum’’ confirmed that he intended both specimens to be types. He then supplied the information that had been omitted in the original description: adult male, South Alligator River, Arnhem Land, 9 August ‘‘1902’’ (error for 1903), J.T. Tunney, ‘‘ Rothschild Museum, No. 1564’’ ; adult female, 10 mi east of South Alligator River, 4 July 1903, J.T. Tunney, ‘‘ Rothschild Museum, No. 1286’’. However , by listing two specimens, he failed to designate a lectotype. Hartert (1920: 457) listed these two specimens (now AMNH 602308 and 602313) as types (5 syntypes), and only these two are marked ‘‘ Type G.M.M [athews]’’ in Mathews’ hand. However, AMNH 602308 alone bears a Rothschild type label ; AMNH type labels have been added to the other five syntypes. Five of the six specimens had only Rothschild Collection labels, but AMNH 602312 bears two Rothschild Collection labels, one of them printed ‘‘ Ex. Coll. G.M. Mathews’ ’. This specimen had been exchanged from Rothschild to Mathews and was entered in his catalog as number 4159 on 20 February 1910. Also entered at this time was number 4158, now AMNH 602309 , the only male in the type series collected on 10 August 1903 .

There are now eight Tunney specimens of this form in AMNH. The other two, AMNH 602310 and 602315, were obtained by Mathews from the WAM and cataloged on 10 September 1910 (his numbers 5259 and 5258), after the publication of the name.

Tunney’s trip to Arnhem Land in 1901– 1903 was jointly sponsored by Rothschild and WAM, and Hartert (1905a) reported on this collection. Each of the labels on Tunney’s specimens bears a unique three-digit Tunney field number and a four-digit temporary number assigned at WAM. Hartert (1905a) listed the WAM number for each of Tunney’s specimens. Mathews (1909a: 113– 114) called these numbers ‘‘Rothschild Museum nos.’’, and Hartert (1920: 457) listed them as ‘‘Tunney numbers’’, but they were neither. The portion of the collection that was later returned to WAM was then given regular WAM catalog numbers (R. Johnstone, personal commun.). Storr (1966) described Tunney’s itinerary.

Mathews (1909a: pl. B, opp. p. 113) included a colored plate of Malurus dulcis . In the title to this article, Mathews referred to the form as ‘‘sp. nov.’’, but the description had already been published earlier.