232 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 2 



The race was named in honor of Charles W. Richmond. 



Deignan (U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 221, March 17, 1961, p. 172) and 

 Phillips (Anales Inst. Biol. Mex., vol. 32, 1961, publ. March 30, 1962, 

 pp. 336-338) have brought to attention the following history of an 

 overlooked name in the synonymy of this darker race of Vaux's 

 swift. George N. Lawrence (Ann. New York Acad. Sci., vol. 2, 

 March 1882, p. 246) in his discussion of a swift that he named 

 Chaetura gaumeri, now recognized as Chaetura vauxi gaumeri, re- 

 marked that he had on loan all the material of the species in the U.S. 

 National Museum. He noted that "among those sent me from 

 Washington, is one specimen from Guatemala (Duenas), collected by 

 Mr. Salvin, Feb. 6th, 1860, and labelled by him as C. Vauxi, also one 

 from Mexico (Tehuantepec), collected by Prof. Sumichrast. . . . 

 Both are a little darker than those from Yucatan, but I consider that 

 they are the same." It appears that Lawrence had planned to name 

 these darker birds, as he returned them to Washington with the name 

 "Chaetura similis Lawr." in his handwriting on the labels. But in 

 the end he did not carry out this intention. 



Salvin and Godman (Biol. Centr.-Amer., Aves, vol. 2, Jan., 1893, 

 p. 376) in their account of C. vauxi, write that "Mr. Lawrence at one 

 time referred a Duenas specimen to his C. gaumeri, and associated 

 with it an example from Tehuantepec, and these birds he seems 

 afterwards to have discriminated under the name of C. similis. When 

 due allowance is made for small individual differences in size, and for 

 the wear and tear of the plumage, we do not think it possible to 

 define these southern birds as distinct from the true C. vauxi." In a 

 footnote these authors add "Probably the same bird is referred to by 

 Mr. Ridgway as C. affinis (Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. ix, p. 158). We have 

 not been able to find any description of it or of C. similis." However, 

 they listed "Chaetura similis, Lawr." under the heading Chaetura 

 vauxi (loc. cit., p. 375). The 2 specimens concerned, in the collections 

 of the U.S. National Museum, both bear the name similis, written 

 by Lawrence. The 1 from Guatemala has the word "Type" on the 

 same label, written also by Lawrence. Ridgway (Proc. U.S. Nat. 

 Mus., vol. 9, Sept. 25, 1886, p. 158) appears to have had this in mind 

 in comments on a swift from Tlascala, Mexico, collected by Ferrari- 

 Perez. 



Deignan in his list of types in the U. S. National Museum includes 

 Chaetura similis "Lawr.," with Salvin and Godman as authority, and 

 as type specimen U. S. National Museum no. 30840, the specimen 

 from Duenas, Guatemala. He remarks that "The name Chaetura 



