TYPE SPECIMENS OF BIRDS 19 



were probably not issued before Sept. or Oct. & are noted among *new publi- 

 cations' in the Orn. & Ool. for Oct. 1889." He suggests further that the 

 date "March 4, 1889" on p. 40 of the Contributions to Science "may be the 

 date of publ. of the 0. & 0. article!" 

 Sula rubripeda Peale 



U.S. Exploring Expedition 8 (Mamm. and Orn.) : 274, "pi. LXXlil," 



1848. 

 =Sula sula rubripes Gould. See Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Water birds 



of North America 2 (Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. 13) : 182, 1884; Mathews, 



Birds of Australia 4: 212-216, 1915. 



15611. Adult male. Wake Island (lat. 19° 15' N., long. 166°30' E.), 

 Oceania. Original number 716. U.S. Exploring Expedition (1838- 

 1842). 



15612. Immature (sex not indicated). Honden Island=Pukapuka 

 Island (lat. 14^56' S., long. 138^48' W.), Tuamotu Islands, Oceania. 

 August 21, 1839. Original number 716. U.S. Exploring Expedition 

 (1838-1842). 



15619. Immature (sex not indicated) . Same data as No. 15612. 



15620. Subadult male. Same data as No. 15612. 



15621. Immature male. Honden Island or Wake Island, Oceania. 

 Original number 716. U.S. Exploring Expedition (1838-1842). 



The number of specimens in the original series is uncertain. Peale de- 

 scribed all stages of plumage from natal down to old-adult dress and made 

 definite reference to two localities, Honden Island (August 21, 1839) and 

 Enderby's Island (January), as places where the species was found breed- 

 ing. Cassin, however, stated that "numerous" specimens from "various" 

 localities were in the collection (his MS. list indicates that he had in fact 

 five) and referred to several other places where the bird had been seen, if 

 not collected, by Pickering. 



The museum register has seven entries of specimens under this name. 

 Of these, five are listed above; No. 15617, an immature male from Honden 

 Island, August 21, 1839, is now No. 75688 of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology; No. 15581 cannot now be found but is only doubtfully a Sula, for 

 the original number 225, if correctly given, would indicate that the specimen 

 was in truth an example of Lamprotornis fusca Peale. 



Richmond's opinion (MS.) was that the type must be a white adult from 

 either Honden Island or Enderby's Island. There is no good evidence that 

 a specimen fulfilling these requirements was ever in the collection! Peale 

 wrote of this bird as "the most common species of Booby, that occurs in the 

 Pacific Ocean. It appears to be confined to the intertropical regions, but 

 ranges from the shores of America to those of Asia." His references to 

 Honden and Enderby's Islands are really brought forward only in relation 

 to his observations on breeding; his statement that, at Honden, "we took as 

 many as were wanted, in different stages of plumage" does not necessarily 

 mean that a white adult was collected there, for "amongst many hundred 



