Pachycephala pectoralis whitneyi Hartert

Pachycephalidae, Aegithalidae, Remizidae, Paridae, Sittidae, Neosittidae, Certhiidae, Rhabdornithidae, Climacteridae, Dicaeidae, Pardalotidae, Nectariniidae, And & Lecroy, Mary, 2010, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History Part 8. Passeriformes:, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2010 (333), pp. 1-178 : 31

Pachycephala pectoralis whitneyi Hartert

Pachycephala pectoralis whitneyi Hartert, 1929: 14 (Whitney Island).

Now Pachycephala melanura whitneyi Hartert, 1929 . See Mayr, 1932a: 6–10, Galbraith, 1956: 199, 208, Mayr and Diamond, 2001: 395, Dickinson, 2003: 477, and Boles, 2007: 427.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 219999 , adult male, collected on ‘‘ Whitney Island ,’’ Solomon Islands, on 9 December 1927 by Hannibal Hamlin on the Whitney South Sea Expedition (no. 29865).

COMMENTS: As noted by Galbraith (1956: 199), the type designation and discussion of this form was attached in error to the description of Pachycephala implicata . However, Hartert gave the AMNH number of the holotype in the original description. It is confirmed by the fact that Hartert has so labeled it and marked the end of the Whitney Expedition label in red. The specimen also bears an AMNH type label. In the original description, Hartert gave measurements for three males and three females, apparently all that were sent to him for study. In addition, he gave the Whitney Expedition numbers for the three males that he described in detail (including the holotype), and wrote Pachycephala pectoralis whitneyi on the label. I consider only these six specimens as Hartert’s type series. The five paratypes are: AMNH 219997 (Whitney no. 29813), AMNH 219998 (29814), males ; AMNH 220001 (29827), AMNH 220002 (29825), and AMNH 220004 (29821), females, all collected on 8 December 1927. Other specimens collected on ‘‘Whitney Island’’ or on the nearby small islands of Momalufu and Akiki are not considered paratypes .

The subspecies whitneyi is considered to be of hybrid origin ( Mayr, 1932a: 6–10). Most recently, it has been included in the species P. melanura ( Mayr and Diamond, 2001: 395, and Dickinson, 2003: 477).

The ‘‘Whitney Islands’’ were named by the Whitney South Sea Expedition personnel, but never officially ; the islets that make up the ‘‘ Whitney’ ’ group are described as follows: Dec. 8 [1927]. ‘‘ Stopped at a small island without a name on the chart, so named the group of four or five on two reefs four or five miles to the NW of Momalufu Island the Whitney Islands on suggestion of the Doctor [Frederick P. Drowne, M.D.] and Captain.’’ Dec. 9. ‘‘ Moved across to easternmost of Whitney Islands .…’’ and then the France sailed on the same day to Momalufu Island . ( Beck’s unpublished journal, vol. D, archives, Department of Ornithology ). Momalufu and Akiki were said by Mayr (1932a: 9) to be ‘‘two and a half miles west of Shortland Island, 07.05S, 155.45E (Times Atlas), and eight and a half miles south of Bougainville. ’’