Cinclocerthia Walteri Thayer

LeCROY, M. A. R. Y., 2003, TYPE SPECIMENS OF BIRDS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. PART 5. PASSERIFORMES: ALAUDIDAE, HIRUNDINIDAE, MOTACILLIDAE, CAMPEPHAGIDAE, PYCNONOTIDAE, IRENIDAE, LANIIDAE, VANGIDAE, BOMBYCILLIDAE, DULIDAE, CINCLIDAE, TROGLODYTIDAE, AND MIMIDAE, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 278 (278), pp. 1-156 : 129

Cinclocerthia Walteri Thayer

Cinclocerthia Walteri Thayer, 1925 , (south–eastern foothills of the Grand Bonhomme, St. Vincent, B.W.I.).

Now Cinclocerthia ruficauda tenebrosa Ridgway, 1904 .

See Bangs, 1929: 41, Hellmayr, 1934: 344, and Brew­ er and MacKay, 2001: 242.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 185485 , adult male, collected in the southeastern foothills of the Grand Bonhomme , St. Vincent, Lesser Antilles, West Indies, in late April 1924, by Gerald H. Thayer.

COMMENTS: According to information on the type label, this taxon was described in a newspaper, ‘‘The Sentry’’, Kingston, St. Vincent Island, on 13 March 1925, by Gerald H. Thayer. Bangs (1929: 41), in a paper describing a new subspecies of C. ruficauda , called attention to this newspaper description and placed the taxon in the synonymy of C. r. tenebrosa from St. Vincent, described by Ridgway in 1904. There was no copy of this description in AMNH, but thanks to Alison Pirie, I received a copy from the files at MCZ. Because of its extreme rarity, I quote Thayer’s description here:

‘‘For the St. Vincent Trembler ( Cinclocerthia ) therefore I now propose the name:— Cinclocerthia Walteri , Walter’s Trembleur (or Trembler).

‘‘Description of type, from the south­eastern foothills of the Grand Bonhomme, St. Vincent, B.W.I., late April, 1924. Male adult in breeding condition:—

‘‘Top of head dusky cinereous, sides of head slightly paler and more ashy, but with upper ear coverts even darker, lores almost black, and a short, obscurely dusky maxillary stripe; chin and throat dull pale brownish gray, with a slightly streaked appearance; upper breast and sides of neck darker grayish brown with a tinge of ash; lower breast more tinged with rufous, shading into pronounced rufous on the flanks and under tail coverts, and into very much paler brownish buff on the abdomen; upper back of a dull ash­tinged rufous brown, distinctly different from colour of crown, shading into stronger rufous on the rump and wing­coverts; tail, tail­coverts and folded wing of a decided rufous tint, brightest on tail­coverts; remiges dusky brown on major portion of inner webs; lining of wings including coverts pale brownish rufous; iris vivid corn yellow; tarsi and feet olive brown, paler on soles; bill black. Length (fresh) 10 inches; bill 1.20, wing, 4; tarsus, 1.’’