"TVpr 



v ' '* 





NOTES ON LITTLE KNOWN SPECIES OF SOUTH 



AMERICAN BIRDS WITH DESCRIPTIONS 



OF NEW SUBSPECIES. 



BY CHARLES B. CORY. 



Nyctipolus hirundinaceus hirundinaceus (Spix.). 



Caprimulgus hirundinaceus Spix, Av. Brasil, II, 1825, p. 2, pi. Hi, 



fig. i, ("in sylvis fl. Solimoens"). 

 Nyctipolus hirundinaceus Oberholser, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 86, 



1914, p. 97 in text. 



The history of this little known species may be briefly stated as 

 follows: 



Spix described the bird which he claimed to have taken "in sylvis 

 fl. Solimoens" the old name for that part of the Amazon River 

 from the mouth of the Rio Negro to the Maranon and Ucayali. The 

 type specimen is still preserved in Munich, and according to Hellmayr*, 

 it is labeled "Caprimulgus hirundinaces Sp. Amazon Str. Spix." For 

 many years it was considered to be the same as Chordeiles acutipennis 

 (Bodd.), the name being included in the synonomy of that species, 

 but in 1906 Hellmayr (I.e.) corrects the error and states that it is a 

 well-marked species which approaches nearest to Setopagis parvulus 

 (Gould), and in addition to Spix's type he examined three skins from 

 the Vienna Museum (which were purchased by Natterer in 1840 from 

 dealers in London and Liverpool, and labeled "Bahia") and (in foot- 

 note) says he also examined a series of specimens of this species which 

 were collected by Reiser in Bahia and Piauhy, and that the Tring 

 Museum possesses a specimen which undoubtedly came from Bahia. 

 He therefore concludes that there is no doubt the species is an in- 

 habitant of eastern Brazil and that the type locality given by Spix 

 is wrong. 



In addition to a very full description of the type specimen Hellmayr 

 gives an illustration of the four outer primaries and according to both 

 illustration and description, the three outer primaries have no white 

 on the outer webs. 



* Abh. k. Bayer. Akad. Wiss., Munchen, XXII, 1906, p. 636 



3 



