September 1, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



27; 



the bird was preserved the specimen has prob- 

 ably been either lost or destroyed, and we 

 know it only by the admirable plate which 

 Audubon left and by his description of the 

 little bird.' 



It does not seem probable that other indi- 

 viduals of this species could have escaped the 

 notice of the many competent naturalists who 

 have worked in the area in question since 

 Audubon's time. 



The affinities of this little bird appear 'to be 

 with Regulus satrapa and it now seems prob- 

 able that this was a veritable ' mutation ' that 

 did not survive. 



In dealing with the foreg(jing seven species 

 I have tried to find the simplest solution to 

 account for their presence. In view of the 

 light thrown by the succeeding examples and 

 the data regarding the foregoing, already 

 given, the law of parsimony compels me to 

 consider these forms as mutations (which 

 were not perpetuated) from species still exist- 

 ing which I have, in most cases, been able to 

 indicate. 



We have now to consider the two remaining 

 birds making up the nine North American 

 species. They are Brewster's warbler and 

 Lawrence's warbler. 



Brewster's warbler, helminthophila leuoo- 



BRONCHIALIS (bREWSTEr) . 



The type specimen of Helminthophila leuco- 

 hronchialis'^ was taken by Mr. William Brew- 

 ster at Newtonville, Mass., on May 18, 1870. 

 The bird was a male. It was not until April, 

 1876, some six years afterward, that the bird 

 was named and described by Mr. Brewster. 

 A second specimen" of this species was ob- 



* Cf. Audubon, ' Onitliological Biography,' Vol. 

 I., p. 288, pi. 55, 1832. 



'' ' Description of a New Species of Helmintho- 

 phaga,' by Wm. Brewster, Bulletin of the Nuttall 

 Ornitliological Cluh, Vol. I., No. 1, p. 1, 1876. 

 Original description Avitli colored plate. 



"'Capture of a Second Specimen of Helmintho- 

 phaga leucohronchialis,' hj Spencer Trotter, Phila- 

 delphia, Pa., ibid., Vol. II., No. 3, pp. 79-80, 1877. 

 Mr. Trotter records in a note the capture of E. 

 leucohronchialis,^ by Mr. Christopher D. Wood, on 

 May 12, 1877, near Clifton, Delaware Co., Pa. 



tained on May 12, 1877, near Clifton, Pa. 

 It was also a male. The third recorded indi- 

 viduaF was killed long before this and was 

 discovered in the collection of the Philadel- 

 phia Academy of Natural Sciences labeled 

 ' J. C, October 20, 1862.' The specimen had 

 no history, but was labeled in the hand- 

 writing of John Cassin and presumably was 

 at one time in his collection. 



By the year 1885 twenty-two^ individuals 



The bird was a male. It was identical in appear- 

 ance with the tj'pe. 



^ ' A Third Specimen of Helminthophaga leuco- 

 hronchialis,' by Spencer Trotter, Philadelphia, Pa., 

 ibid., Vol. III., No. 1, p. 44, 1878. Mr. Trotter 

 discovered a specimen of E. leucobronchialis in 

 the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, labeled ' J. C, 20 October, 1862,' 

 and also what he made out to be ' Not from Bell.' 

 No sex was indicated. The bird closely resembled 

 the t,ype. 



' Some Light on the History of a Rare Bird,' 

 by Spencer Trotter, Philadelphia, Pa., ibid.. Vol. 

 IV., No. 2, p. 59, 1879. Mr. Trotter by corre- 

 spondence discovers tliat Mr. Bell, a taxidermist 

 in New York, and also a naturalist, who at times 

 assisted Audubon, recalled the fact that in the 

 spring about 1832, at Rockland, N. Y., he shot 

 what he supposed was a young golden-wing 

 warbler, 77. chysoptera. He finally sold it to a 

 man in Philadelphia. Mr. Trotter concludes that 

 this is the so-called Cassin specimen. Also that 

 the words "' not from Bell ' might mean ' note 

 from Bell.' 



^'The White-Throated Warbler (Eelmintho- 

 pliaga leucobronchialis) in Connecticut,' by Will- 

 iam Brewster, Cambridge, Mass., ibid., Vol. III., 

 No. 2, p. 99, 1878. Mr. Brewster identifies a 

 fourth specimen collected at Wauregan, Conn., 

 ]\Iay 25, 1875. The sex was not determined. The 

 bird closely resembled the type. At this time 

 IVIr. Brewster regards ' The validity of this dis- 

 tinctly characterized species ' ' as established.' 



' Capture of a Fifth Specimen of the White- 

 throated Warbler ( Eelminthophaga leucobronchi- 

 alis) ,' by William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass., 

 ibid.. Vol. III., No. 4, p. 199, 1878. This bird was 

 taken at SufKeld, Conn., July 3, 1875. This is an 

 adult male in worn plumage. It differs somewhat 

 from the type, chiefly in being washed with pale 

 yellow on the pectoral region. The yellow on 

 the wings is also restricted and the wing bars 

 are not almost confluent as in the type. 



