Vol. 5, p. 141-144. January 30, 1925. 



Occasional Papers 



OF THE 



Boston Society of Natural History. 



A REVIEW OF THE LIMPKINS (ARAMUS Vieillot). 

 BY JAMES L. PETERS. 



This paper is the outgrowth of a systematic identification of 

 the Limpkins in the collection of the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology. Early in the work it became apparent that the gen- 

 erally accepted ideas as to the nomenclature and subspecific de- 

 termination of the races, particularly of the northern species, 

 would have to be revised, and the loan of specimens from Porto 

 Rico, Mexico and Central America, by the United States Biologi- 

 cal Survey and the United States National Museum but confirmed 

 these conclusions. 



I take this opportunity to express my thanks to Dr. E. W. Nel- 

 son and Dr. C. W. Richmond for the loan of important specimens 

 from the collections under their respective care, and to Mr. T. E. 

 Penard of Arlington, Massachusetts, for permission to make use 

 of his Surinam material. All measurements given are in milli- 

 meters; colors are according to Ridgway's 1912 standards. 



The genus Aramus comprises two species: one is- found in ex- 

 treme southeastern United States, the Greater Antilles, and from 

 central Mexico southward to Panama; the other is confined to 

 South America from the Cienega Grande r Colombia, to eastern 

 Argentina. Both species appear to be local in their distribution, 

 rather shy and difficult to secure, and for this reason it is hard to 

 assemble a representative series of either species from all parts of 

 their range. 



The synonymy of the genus is unusually clear, but two names 

 having been proposed for it directly, though established names 

 belonging to totally different genera have been utilized by some of 

 the older authors. 



Aramus Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, p. 58. Type, by monotypy, Courlili 

 Buffon = Ardea scolopacea Gmelin. 



Notherodius Wagler, Syst. Avium, 1827. Type, by monotypy, Nother- 

 odius gvarauna Wagler = Ardea scolopacea Gmelin. 



Aramus scolopaceus scolopaceus (Gmelin). 

 [Ardea] scolopacea Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 647. "Habitat 

 in Cayenna" (ex Courlan ou Courlili Buffon, Hist, Nat. des Ois., vol. 7, p. 442, 

 and PI. Enlum., pi. 848). 



Notherodius guarauna Wagler, Syst. Avium, 1827. "Cajenna, Brasilia, 

 Paraguaya." The measurements given indicate that the description refers to 

 the small race from northern South America, to which I hereby restrict the 

 name. 



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