1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 325 



DESCRIPTION OF A RECENTLY NE"W OYSTER-CATCHER .'H^MA- 

 TOPUS GALAPAGENSIS) FROM THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. 



Br ROBERT RIDCtVAIT. 



Haematopus galapagensis Ridgw. 



f Hcvmatopui, paUiatus SuND., P. Z. S., 1871, 125.— SCL. A Salv. P, Z. S., 1870, 323 



(Indefatigable I).— Salv., Trans. Zool. Soc, ix, pt. ix., 1875, 502 (Indefatigable I). 

 Hcematopus galapagensis Ridgw., Auk, iii, July, 1886, 331. 



Sp. Char. — Somewhat similar to H. paUiatus Temm., but ditifering 

 as follows : Back, scapulars, and wings sooty black, instead of gray- 

 ish brown ; shorter upper tail-coverts entirely black, the longer ones 

 white varied toward tips with blackish (the median coverts barred or 

 transversely spotted) ; under jjrimary coverts chieflj' black ; white of 

 the wing much more restricted. Wing 10.00; tail, 3.80-3.90; culmen, 

 3.12-3.42 ; depth of bill at thickest portion in front of nostril, .50 ; 

 tarsus, 2.12-2.20; middle toe, 1.65. (Type, No. 101,319, U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 Chatham I., Galapagos; Dr. Wm. H. Jones, U. S. K). 



Hab. — Chatham Island, Galapagos group. 



This very distinct species, although much more closely related to 

 H. paUiatus, bears in some respects a greater general resemblance to 

 H. leucopus Garnot, from the Straits of Magellan district. Through 

 the courtesy of the officers of the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, in New York City, and of the Boston Society of Natural History, 

 I am able to make a direct comparison with the latter, and therefore 

 express the diagnostic characters of the two species in a synoptical 

 table, in which is included also the distinctive characters of H. paUiatus. 



a'. Breast white, like abdomen, etc.; bill stout, its greatest depth forward of nostril 

 exceeding .45 of an inch; middle toe, with claw, more than 1.75. 



&'. Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts grayish brown ; uppertail-coverts entirely 

 white; under primary coverts almost entirely white. Wing, 9.75-11.00, 

 culmen 3.00-3.70. greatest depth of bill .48-55 ; tarsus, 2.05-2.55; middle toe 

 (without claw), 1.20-1.55, Hab., Atlantic coast of America, from Nova Scotia 

 to Patagonia, and Pacific coast, from Lower California to Chili. 



H. paUiatus Temm. 



6*. Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts sooty black ; shorter upper tail-coverts 

 entirely black, the larger ones white, varied at ends with blackish ; under pri- 

 mary coverts chiefly black. Wing about 10.00;* culmen 3.12-3.42, greatest 

 depth of bill, forward of nostril, .50; tarsus, 2.12-2.20; middle toe, 1.65. 



Hah., Galapagos (Chatham Island) H. galapagensis Ridgw. 



a*. Breast entirely black. Bill very slender, its greatest depth, forward of the nos- 

 tril, not exceeding. 40 of an inch ; middle toe, with claw, much less than 1.75. 



Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts sooty black, with a slight greenish gloss; 

 uppertail-coverts (except shorter median ones) entirely white; under primary 

 coverts, also the most of the remaining portion of the under side of the wing, 

 uniform black. Wing, 10.00-lO.GO; culmen, 3.00-3.05, greatest depth of bill, 

 forward of nostril, .38-.40; tarsus, 1.75-1.95; middle toe, 1.20-1.30. Hab., 

 Tierra del Fuego H. leucopus Garn. 



* Two of the three specimens are moulting the primaries. 



