Ortygospiza atricollis minuscula C.N.M. White

Ortygospiza atricollis minuscula C.M.N. White, 1946: 218 (Balovale).

Now Ortygospiza atricollis muelleri Zedlitz, 1911 . See White, 1963: 209; Mayr et al., 1968: 350– 351; Dickinson, 2003: 731; Fry and Keith, 2004: 383–386; and Payne, 2010: 300–301.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 348055, adult male, collected at Balovale, 13.30S, 23.06E (Times atlas), Zambia, on 19 September 1943, by C.M.N. White.

COMMENTS: In the original description, White said that the type was in his collection, a male collected on 19 September 1943 at Balovale, and that he examined 9 specimens. AMNH 348055, bearing White’s type label, was donated to AMNH with four additional specimens from the type series. Paratypes in AMNH are: AMNH 348056, male, Balovale, 11 July [1943]; AMNH 348057, female, north of Boma, Balovale, 29 July 1943 ; AMNH 348058, male, Ndungu, Balovale, 28 July 1943 ; AMNH 348059, male, Ndungu, Balovale, 1 August 1943 .

Fry and Keith (2004: 383–386) considered muelleri a subspecies of the separate species O. fuscocrissa, but Payne (2010: 300–301) gave reasons for combining fuscocrissa with O. atricollis, pending further study. He considered minuscula intermediate between muelleri and fuscata but synonymized it with muelleri.