Cinclosoma castanotum dundasi Mathews

Mary, Croy, History, Bulletin Of The American Museum Of Natural, At, Central Park West, Street, Th, York, New & Ny, 2005, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 6. Passeriformes: Prunellidae, Turdidae, Orthonychidae, Timaliidae, Paradoxornithidae, Picathartidae, And Polioptilidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2005 (292), pp. 1-132 : 59-60

Cinclosoma castanotum dundasi Mathews

Cinclosoma castanotum dundasi Mathews, 1912a: 330 (West Australia (Lake Dundas)).

Now Cinclosoma castanotum subspecies? See discussion below.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 585213 , adult male, collected at Lake Dundas , 850 ft, 328359S, 1218509E ( USBGN, 1957), Western Australia, Australia, on 16 July 1905, by ‘‘F. L.W. ’’ From the Mathews Collection (no. 5149) via the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: The Mathews catalog number of the holotype was given in the original description. In addition to the original label, this specimen bears Mathews and Rothschild type labels and the yellow ‘‘Figured’’ label, indicating that it was pictured in plate 424, lower figure ( Mathews, 1921: opposite p. 188, text on pp. 188–189). The collector’s initials refer to F. Lawson Whitlock ( Whittell, 1954: 765–769). Many of his specimens from Western Australia went to the WAM in Perth, and this specimen and the paratype were cataloged by Mathews in 1910 as having come from the ‘‘Perth Mus.’’ The number ‘‘8002’’ that appears on the original label is probably a WAM number.

A paratype, cataloged by Mathews as no. 5150, is AMNH 585214, adult female, collected at Lake Dundas on 8 March 1905 by Whitlock. The number ‘‘7306’’ on the original label may be a WAM number. Someone has written on the label ‘‘?juv.!’’. It does not match any females or immature males of C. castanotum in AMNH. It is similar to the type on the back, but with a warmer brownish wash overall.

Ford (1981) and Schodde and Mason (1999: 420–421) have discussed this species and its subspecies. Ford (1981:190) recognized two subspecies, a southern subspecies ( castanotum ) and a desert subspecies (clarum). Schodde and Mason (1999: 420–421) recognized three subspecies, new fordianum from southwestern Australia, castanotum from southeastern Australia, and clarum from desert areas, depicting a large area of clinal changes. Because there are no locality names on the distribution map in Schodde and Mason (1999: 420), it is difficult to tell the exact extent of the range of pure fordianum. AMNH 811159, a male collected by Ford at Norseman (328159S, 1218479E, Times Atlas, near the north end of Lake Dundas, the type locality of dundasi), would appear to be within the range of pure fordianum as shown on the map. I measure the extent of chestnut on the dorsum of this specimen as 62 mm and that of the type of dundasi as 67 mm, well within the range given for specimens taken between Norseman and Balladonia, Ford’s (1981: 188) locality 14. This measurement is difficult to take accurately and may vary considerably depending on the ‘‘make’’ of the skin. In coloration, these two specimens are also very similar. AMNH does not have specimens from the south Western Australia coast (14 km N Middini Beach is the type locality of fordianum).

Schodde and Mason thought dundasi showed intergradation with clarum based on Mathews’ plate 424 and his description (1921: opposite p. 188, and pp. 188–189). Condon’s (1962: 356–357) statement that ‘‘Mathews’ figure (1921, pl. 424) is hardly recognizable’’ points out the difficulty of using hand­colored plates as a diagnostic tool. This plate in the copy in the AMNH Library quite closely matches the holotype of dundasi, with which I compared it. Further studies may show that the older name, dundasi, should be applied to these darker southwestern Australian birds.

Samuela cinnamomea todmordeni Mathews Samuela cinnamomea todmordeni Mathews, 1923: 35 (Todmorden, Central Australia).

Now Cinclosoma cinnamomeum cinnamomeum Gould, 1846 . See Hartert, 1931: 48, and discussion below.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 585186 , adult male, collected at Todmorden , 278049S, 1348499E (Times Atlas), South Australia, Australia, in July 1914, by Samuel A. White (no. 1771). From the Mathews Collection via the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: When naming this form, Mathews (1923: 35) referred back to his description in Mathews (1921: 198) of a male from Todmorden, collected in July 1914, and a female from Macumba, collected on 5 August 1913. These were depicted in plate 425 (opposite p. 196), which is labeled Samuela marginatum . They were described on page 198, but no name was applied. The name todmordeni, based on the earlier description, was first used in Mathews (1923: 35), where it was noted as ‘‘a very pale form’’. The above specimen is the only Mathews specimen of this form from Todmorden. The Macumba female, depicted in plate 425 and stat­ ed to have been collected on 5 August 1913, is a paratype, AMNH 585184. There are two additional paratypes, both males, collected at Macumba on 5 August 1913: AMNH 585182 and 585183. I did not find these specimens listed in the Mathews catalog.

The birds identified as Samuela cinnamomea todmordeni in Mathews’ plate 425 are depicted as paler than Samuela cinnamomea , which is shown in plate 426 (opposite p. 198). The type of todmordeni matches specimens from the Birdsville area, near the type locality of Cinclosoma cinnamomeum tirariense Schodde and Mason (1999: 424–425) , and further studies may show that todmordeni, as the older name, should be applied to these paler birds. Schodde (personal commun.) called my attention to the incorrect spelling, tirariensis, in the original description; and this has also been noted in corrigenda 2.1 for Dickinson (2003: 453).

The holotype has the two central tail feathers missing.