Extinct birds : $b An attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical timesRothschild, Lionel Walter Rothschild, Baron
Science
Extinct birds : $b An attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times
Rothschild, Lionel Walter Rothschild, Baron
Birds; Extinct birds
_Hemignathus obscurus_ Lichtenstein (non Gmelin!), Abh. Akad. Wiss.
Berlin, 1838, p. 440 pl. 5 fig. 1 (Oahu).
_Drepanis_ (_Hemignathus_) _ellisiana_ Gray, Cat. B. Trop. Is. Pac. Oc.
p. 9 (1859--based on Lichtenstein's _H. obscurus_ from Oahu).
_Hemignathus lichtensteini_ Scott Wilson, Ann. & Mag. N. H. ser. 6,
vol. IV, p. 401 (1889--Oahu, based on the Berlin specimen).
_Hemignathus ellisianus_ Rothschild, Avif. of Laysan, etc., p. 87
(1893) p. 310 (1900).
We know only of one single specimen, the type of the names _ellisianus_ and
_lichtensteini_, figured and described by Lichtenstein, in 1838, under the
name of _Hemignathus obscurus_. It is true that Lichtenstein says, that
Herr Deppe procured several specimens, but there is only one in the Berlin
Museum, and we have no knowledge where the others may be, if they are still
in existence.
There can hardly be any doubt that _H. obscurus ellisianus_ is extinct on
Oahu, where it was discovered by Deppe. All recent collectors, from Wilson
and Palmer to this day, have failed to find a trace of it. Although
collecting in the dense forests and rugged mountains of Oahu is most
difficult, we may suppose that at least one of these collectors would have
come across it, if it still existed.
The following is the description made by Dr. Hartert of the type in
Berlin:--
"Above greenish olive-brown, more greenish on the back and rump, and
somewhat more greyish on the head and hind-neck; the dark bases of the
feathers on the head showing through, lores deep brown. A distinct yellow
superciliary stripe. Chin, throat, and middle of abdomen dull brownish
white (apparently somewhat faded). Upper breast olive-greenish, sides of
breast and flanks dull olive-greenish, more olive-brown on the flanks.
Wings and tail deep brown, bordered with yellowish green. Under-wing
coverts dull white. Bill brown, somewhat horn-brown, but not blackish, as
in the other forms of _Hemignathus_.
It is not probable that the bill and feet are faded, as in specimens of
_Heterorhynchus lucidus_ collected and stuffed at the same time and kept
side by side with _H. o. ellisianus_, the bill and feet are still blackish
and not brown.
Wing 83.5, tail 53, culmen 56, bill from gape to tip in a straight line
47.5, lower mandible from mental apex to tip 40 mm."
{35}
HETERORHYNCHUS LUCIDUS (LICHT.)
(PLATE 4, FIG. 2.)
_Hemignathus lucidus_ Lichtenstein, Abh. d. Kön. Akad. Wissensch.
Berlin 1838 p. 451, pl. V figs. 2 [male] 3 [female] (1839--Oahu).
_Heterorhynchus olivaceus_ Lafresnaye, Mag. de Zool. 1839 pl. X. and
text (Oct. 1839).
The Oahu form of _Heterorhynchus_ is now extinct, and specimens are only,
as far as we know, preserved in the Museums of Berlin (types of _H.
lucidus_), Boston (type of _H. olivaceus_), Francfort, Paris, Leyden,
London, Cambridge, Liverpool.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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