37° 



SNODGRASS AND HELLER 



MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT SPECIMENS OF NeSOfnimUS mcla- 



notis nielanotis. 



•^od. NESOMIMUS MELANOTIS PARVULUS (Gould). 



Orphetts parvulus GovuD, Proc. Zool. See. Lend., p. 27, 1837. 



Mimus parvulus Gould, Voy. Beagle, iii. Birds, p. 63 1841 (Albemarle 



Island). — Salvin, Trans. Zool. Soc, ix, p. 472, 1876. — Sharpe, Cat. 



Birds Brit. Mus., vi, p. 350, 1881. 

 Nesomiinus parvulus Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xii, p. 102, 1889. 

 Nesomimus parvulus parvulus Rothschild and Hartert, Novit. Zool., vi, 



p. 146, 1899. 

 Nesomimus affinis KOTnscai-LT), Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, p. 53, 1898. 

 Nesomimus parvulus affinis Rothschild and Hartert, Novit. Zool., vi, p. 



146, 1899. 

 Range. — Albemarle and Narboro. 



We have a large series of Nesomimus from Tagus Cove, Elizabeth 

 Bay and Iguana Cove on Albemarle and from the north and east sides 

 of Narboro, and we cannot discover any character separating the speci- 

 mens from the two islands into two varieties. Rothschild and Hartert 

 have described the Narboro birds as a subspecies of " iV. parvulus." 

 This variety is most closely related to N. m. melanotis of James, 

 from which it is distinguishable by the general smaller size, specially 

 smaller bill and darker coloration of the upper parts. All the char- 

 acters, however, completely intergrade, so that the form cannot be re- 

 tained as a separate species. 



It is evident that the line of development from the Chatham form 

 has been through the Indefatigable form to the James and from the 

 latter to the Albemarle-Narboro form, for all of these are linearly re- 

 lated to one another in the order given. The general tendency has 

 been toward a darkening of the colo r of the upper parts. The Chat- 

 ham specimens have the lightest shade to the feathers of the top of the 

 head and the back, and those of Albemarle and Narboro the darkest. 



