BIRDS. 
63 
6. Mimus parvulus. G. R. Gray. 
Plate XYIII. 
Orpheus parvulus. Gould , in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part v. 1837, p. 27. 
M. vertice , nucha caudaque intensb fuscis, hujus rectricibus ad apicem albo notatis; alis 
fuscis secundariis tectricibusque nola alba apicali fascias duas transversas facienti- 
bus ; loro plumisque auricularibus nigrescentibus ; gidd, colli lateribus, pectore, et 
abdomine albescentibus ; plumis laterum notis fuscis per medium longitudinaliter ex- 
currentibus. 
Long. tot. 8| unc . ; rost. 1 ; alee, Sg; caudce, 3f ; tarsi , 1| ; . 
The vertex, the nape of the neck, and the tail intensely black ; with the tips of the 
tail feathers marked with white ; the wings brown with the secondaries and 
coverts tipped with white marks, giving the appearance of two transverse 
bands ; the lores and the feathers of the ears black ; the throat, the sides of 
the neck, breast, and the abdomen white ; the flanks marked longitudinally 
with brown. 
Habitat, Albemarle Island, Galapagos Archipelago. {October.) 
It will be seen, that the three last species of the genus Mimus, were procured from 
the Galapagos Archipelago; and as there is a fact, connected with their geographi- 
cal distribution, which appears to me of the highest interest, I have had these three 
figured. There are five large islands in this Archipelago, and several smaller ones. 
I fortunately happened to observe, that the specimens which I collected in the two 
first islands we visited, differed from each other, and this made me pay particular 
attention to their collection. I found that all in Charles Island belonged to M. tri- 
fasciatus; all in Albemarle Island to M. parvulus, and all in Chatham and James’s 
Islands to M. melanotus. I do not rest this fact solely on my own observation, 
but several specimens were brought home in the Beagle, and they were found, ac- 
cording to their species, to have come from the islands as above named. Charles 
Island is distant fifty miles from Chatham Island, and thirty-two from Albemarle 
Island. This latter is only ten miles from James Island, yet the many specimens 
procured from both belonged respectively to different species. James and Chat- 
ham, which possess the same species, are seventy miles apart, but Indefatigable 
Island is situated between them, which perhaps, has afforded a means of commu- 
nication. The fact, that islands in sight of each other, should thus possess pecu- 
liar species, would be scarcely credible, if it were not supported by some others of 
an analogous nature, which I have mentioned in my Journal of the Voyage of the 
Beagle. I may observe, that as some naturalists may be inclined to attribute 
these differences to local varieties ; that if birds so different as O. trifasciatus , and 
