40 
Records of the Australian Museum (2016) Vol. 68 
wrapping, Solomon Isl., Oct 78, female. B. 19558, notes on 
the strip wrapping, G. [= Guadalcanal] Solomon Isl., Oct 77 
[sic, lapsus for 78], female. This specimen has the additional 
note “Myiagra ferrocyanea feminina, L.W. Filewood det 
5/4/[19]76” on the reverse of the attached tag, although this 
identification is clearly incorrect on the basis of the collecting 
locality alone. B. 19559 and B. 19560 both lack the original 
strip wrapping, but are of typical Cockerell make. 
Macleay Museum. Two syntypes: B.7269, B.7270. 
Both specimens were labelled by Masters “Myiagra pallida, 
Ramsay. Solomon Is.” with later annotation in pencil that the 
specimens are female. They are both of a typical Cockerell 
make and Stanbury (1969) referred to them as possible types. 
The Natural History Museum. One syntype: 1884.1.19.11. 
According to Warren & Harrison (1971) this specimen came 
from “Guadalcanal Solomons” and has “Jan. 1879” written 
on an attached label. This date corresponds with the date of 
the meeting of the Linnean Society of NSW at which the 
bird was described. The register and labels on the specimen 
simply state that the bird came from the Solomon Islands 
(M. Walters, in litt.). The specimen was purchased by The 
Natural History Museum directly from Cockerell. 
M[onarcha] barbata Ramsay, 1879, Nature 20: 125, (5 
June 1879) and 
Monarcha (?) brodiei Ramsay, 1879, Proceedings 4: 80-81, 
(16 June 1879). 
[= Symposiarchus barbatus (Ramsay, 1879)] 
Australian Museum. Four syntypes: 0.18723, 0.18724, 
0.18725, A.3847. 0.18723, ex Dobroyde collection, 
registered 1912. Labelled by Ramsay as type of Monarcha 
brodiei from the Solomons and also as “? male juv.” and 
“Type of sp. female”. It is an immature bird with one black 
feather on the throat indicating it is moulting into adult 
plumage. 0.18724, exDobroydecollection, registered 1912. 
Labelled by Ramsay as type of Monarcha brodiei from the 
Solomons and also as “Type of species male”. It is an adult 
bird. 0.18725, ex Dobroyde collection, registered 1912. 
Labelled by Ramsay as type of Monarcha brodiei from the 
Solomons and also as “Type of species juv male”. It is also an 
immature bird with one black feather on the throat indicating 
it is moulting into adult plumage. A.3847 is an immature 
bird with some black feathers on the throat indicating it 
is moulting into adult plumage. Half of Ramsay’s tag is 
missing, though it does indicate that it is a Monarcha from 
Guadalcanal. The register notes it is a juvenile male and a 
type of “Monarcha barbata”, the latter being crossed out and 
replaced with “brodiei”. 
When Ramsay named Monarcha barbatus there was 
no description of juvenile or immature plumage, merely 
noting “M barbata , with elongated black plumes from the 
throat, belonging to the M. loricata and M. leucotis section”. 
In this sense all four specimens could conceivably be 
considered syntypes of M. barbatus as all have at least one 
black feather on the throat, and such a view was taken by 
Longmore (1991). However, if a more strict view is taken, 
that Ramsay was only referring to adults, the three immature 
birds could still be considered syntypes of M. brodiei which 
did include descriptions of “Adult female and young male” 
and “Progress towards maturity”. 
Macleay Museum. One syntype: B.7224. 
Ramsay described birds with black feathers on the throat 
of M. barbatus in his paper in Nature. B.7224, an adult 
bird and labelled by Masters “Monarcha Brodiei, Ramsay. 
Solomon Is”. Another specimen, B.7225, is an immature 
bird, lacking black feathers on the throat. It was labelled by 
Masters as “Monarcha barbata, (young?) Solomon Is.”, and 
although it cannot be considered a type of M. barbatus , it still 
qualifies as a syntype of M. brodiei. Both specimens are of 
a typical Cockerell make. Stanbury (1969) only referred to 
one type in the collection, presumably B.7224. 
M[onarcha] rufocastanea Ramsay, 1879, Nature 20: 125. 
[= Monarcha castaneiventris castaneiventris Verreaux, 1858] 
Australian Museum. Seven syntypes: 0.18726, 0.18727, 
A.3841, A.3845, A.3846, and two further specimens. 
0.18726, ex Dobroyde collection, registered 1912. This 
specimen was labelled by Ramsay with the date December 
1878. Given the Ariel left the Solomons on 21 December 
1878 this may refer to the collection date. It is labelled as 
a type from the Solomons and an adult male. 0.18727, ex 
Dobroyde collection, registered 1912. This specimen was 
labelled by Ramsay in December 1878 as above. It was 
labelled as a type from the Solomons and a juvenile male. 
A.3841, no original label. The register notes this specimen as 
an adult, sex possibly male. A.3845, no original label. The 
register notes this specimen as an adult female. A.3846, no 
original label. The register notes this specimen as an adult 
sex possibly female. 
The last three specimens were not noted by Longmore 
(1991). The register notes that these three specimens 
were types of “Monarcha rufocastanea” and collected on 
“Guadalcanar”by “Capt Brodie ‘Ariel’ & Cockerell”. The 
scientific name was crossed out and replaced with “Pomarea 
castaneiventreis Verr.”. Ramsay discovered that Monarcha 
castaneiventris had priority over M. rufocastanea soon after 
he described it (Ramsay, 1879c). 
At the time this paper was originally written, three 
specimens listed in the register as being types could not be 
found. The specimens, A. 3 842, A. 3 843 and A. 3 844 were not 
recorded as exchanged or destroyed. Subsequently a large 
number of specimens in the bird collection were discovered 
to have been misappropriated by a former AM employee. 
Two of the specimens recovered by the NSW Police were 
of this taxon and are of a Cockerell make. However, their 
original tags were mutilated and their registration numbers 
removed. As the registration numbers are unlikely to be 
resolved, the specimens may ultimately need to be re¬ 
registered into the Australian Museum collection with new 
numbers. 
