Strepera fuliginosa colei Mathews

Strepera fuliginosa colei Mathews, 1916a: 63 (King Island).

Now Strepera fuliginosa colei Mathews, 1916 . See Amadon, 1951: 27; 1962b: 171; Schodde and Mason, 1999: 555–556; Dickinson, 2003: 464; and Russell and Rowley, 2009: 341.

LECTOTYPE: AMNH 673683, female, King Island, 39.50S, 144.00E (USBGN, 1957), Bass Strait, Australia, on 24 November 1908, by A.H. Mattingley. From the Mathews Collection via the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: Meager information in the original description confirms only that the type is from King Island. The above specimen has an original label with the above data, noting that it was collected on the R.A.O.U. outing and that it is ‘‘Hall 52’’ (species no. 52 in Hall (1906: 8)), and also bearing ‘‘ Strepera fuliginosus colei Type’’ in Mathews’ hand. In addition, it also has a blank Mathews type label and a Rothschild type label filled in by Hartert, with reference to the original description. This specimen has been accepted as the type and is so cataloged at AMNH, but because Mathews’ description was so meager and because there are three additional Mathews specimens from King Island, the designation is ambiguous. Amadon (1951: 27), by listing this specimen with its AMNH number as the type of colei thereby designated it the lectotype.

By 1916, when Mathews introduced S. f. colei, Mathews’ Collection was complete, and the following three specimens were available to him. I consider them paralectotypes: AMNH 673684, female, collected on King Island on 24 November 1908, by Mattingley, bears an original label like that on the lectotype, with no indication that it was in either the Mathews or the Rothschild collections, but it came to AMNH with the Rothschild Collection. AMNH 673685, female, collected on King Island on 10 November 1902, is from the Edwin Ashby Collection ; it bears a Rothschild Collection label printed ‘‘ Ex Coll. G.M. Mathews. AMNH 673686, male, collected on King Island on 26 November 1908 by Mattingley bears in addition to Mattingley’s small original label a Rothschild Museum label printed ‘‘ Ex. Coll. G.M. Mathews. ’’