Myiothera leucophrys Wied, 1831: 1075

LECROY, MARY & SLOSS, RICHARD, 2000, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 3. Passeriformes: Eurylaimidae, Dendrocolaptidae, Furnariidae, Formicariidae, Conopophagidae, And Rhinocryptidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2000 (257), pp. 1-88 : 48-49

Myiothera leucophrys Wied, 1831: 1075 (no locality given).

Now Formicivora grisea grisea (Boddaert, 1783) . See Allen, 1889b: 252, Cory and Hellmayr, 1924: 184, and Ridgely and Tudor, 1994: 299.

SYNTYPES: AMNH 5341, adult male, and AMNH 5331, adult female, collected in southeastern Brazil, by Maximilian, Prince of Wied. From the Maximilian Collection.

COMMENTS: Allen’s (1889b: 252) account of this taxon and the following one contain errors in AMNH number citations that make them hard to follow. Allen had six (not five) specimens that he considered types of the two Wied taxa. The two specimens listed above are apparently the two he considered the types of Myiothera leucophrys , which he believed to be a Lichtenstein manuscript name.

The male, AMNH 5341 (once referred to by Allen on p. 253 as AMNH 5331) has the original Wied label. It contains the following: Formicivora grisea Bodd. ; Myiothera leucophrys Vieill. ; nigricollis Sw; Ellipura Cab. ; [the female symbol is cut off]; Le grisin de Cayenne Buff.; Brasilien M.R.; Ƌ. In Wied’s manuscript catalog he added Myiothera leucophrys Wied. Allen (1889b: 253) noted that this is a thick-billed specimen.

Wied (1831: 1075–1078) described both a male and a female under this name with a question mark and considered them as probably identical to his previous species, Myiothera superciliaris “Lichtenstein ,” except that the bill was thicker, longer, and stronger. However, he credited the description of M. leucophrys to Lichtenstein as well. It is possible that this name is a Lichtenstein manuscript name as Allen (1889b: 252) thought, but it seems more likely to have been a lapsus for Myrmothera leucophrys Vieillot, 1817 , because Vieillot’s name is on the label (in the genus Myiothera ) and no Lichtenstein name is listed. If that is the case, these specimens are not types. However, because of the questions associated with them, they are retained in the type collection.

Female AMNH 5331 lacks a Maximilian label but is a dismounted bird similar in “make” to his specimens. Allen (1889b: 253) said that this bird had a Verreaux label misidentifying it as Myrmotherula melanogastra , apparently through a transposition of labels, and this is how it was cataloged. There is no Verreaux label on the specimen today. Allen (1889b: 253) noted that this specimen “is also a thick-billed bird, and has the upper and lower parts as described by Wied, in contrast with the female of his M. superciliaris . ”

Cory and Hellmayr (1924: 184) have synonymized Myiothera leucophrys Wied , Myiothera superciliaris Lichtenstein , and Myrmothera leucophrys Vieillot with Neorhopias (= Formicivora ) grisea grisea , but (on p. 191) considered Wied’s Myiothera superciliaris (not of Lichtenstein) to be a synonym of Neorhopias (= Formicivora ) melanogaster (see below). We believe that this is correct.

Myiothera superciliaris Wied

Myiothera superciliaris (not of Lichtenstein) Wied, 1831:

1072 (Sertong Prov. Bahía).

Now Formicivora melanogaster ssp.?. See Cory and Hellmayr, 1924: 191, contra Allen, 1889b: 253.

SYNTYPES: AMNH 6826, adult male, AMNH 5347, adult male, AMNH 5340, immature male, and AMNH 5343, adult female, collected in Bahia, by Maximilian, Prince of Wied. From the Maximilian Collection.

COMMENTS: Because there are a number of errors in Allen’s (1889b: 252–253) citation of AMNH numbers, details of label information are given below.

AMNH 6826 (not 6862): This specimen has an original Wied label containing the following names— Formicivora rufatra Lafr.d’Orb.; Myiothera superciliaris Licht.Wied. ; Brasilien, M.R. It contains both male and female symbols, but the female symbol has been scratched out.

AMNH 5347 (not 5374): This specimen also has an original Wied label containing the same information as the specimen above. It is much darker above and has a less heavy bill than the previous specimen. It is the one that Allen called “an old male in very worn plumage, with the white flank feathers nearly all lacking.” It is identified, in a hand not Allen’s, as F. m. melanogastra .

AMNH 5340 has no original Maximilian label but has an AMNH Maximilian Collection label.

AMNH 5343 is a female-plumaged bird without an original Wied label but with a Maximilian Collection label. This bird is identified, in a hand not Allen’s, as F. m. bahiae.