Muscicapula luzoniensis Ogilvie-Grant

LeCroy, M., 2008, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 7. Passeriformes: Sylviidae, Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Monarchidae, Rhipiduridae, And Petroicidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 313 (1), pp. 1-287 : 91

Muscicapula luzoniensis Ogilvie-Grant

Muscicapula luzoniensis Ogilvie-Grant, 1894b: 505 (Highlands of North Luzon).

Now Ficedula hyperythra luzoniensis (Ogilvie-Grant, 1894) . See Dickinson et al., 1991: 348– 349, and Dickinson, 2003: 694.

SYNTYPES: AMNH 605941 and 605942, males, collected in Benguet, 16.30N, 120.40E ( Dickinson et al., 1991: 416), northern Luzon, Philippines, on 13 and 17 February 1894, respectively, by John Whitehead (nos. 190 and 220, respectively). From the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: In the original description, Ogilvie-Grant did not designate a type or mention the number of specimens he examined; also, Whitehead (1899: 105) did not report how many specimens he collected. One can assume that Ogilvie-Grant had Whitehead’s entire collection before him when he described this form, as the collection was sent by Whitehead directly from the Philippines to the BMNH ( Ogilvie-Grant, 1894b: 501). AMNH 605941 has a 1 by 3-inch stiff paper label stamped ‘‘J.W. North Luzon’’ with the other information written in pencil and the locality abbreviated ‘‘Bgt’’. It appears to me that this may be a field label. AMNH 605942 has a smaller label with Whitehead’s name printed on it and all of the data neatly entered. I have not been able to ascertain whether these differences have any significance. These specimens were not previously in the AMNH type collection, and AMNH type labels have been added. There are two syntypes in BMNH ( Warren and Harrison, 1971: 314).

Deignan (1947b: 166), who included Muscicapula in the genus Muscicapa , considered Muscicapula luzoniensis Ogilvie-Grant preoccupied by Muscicapa luzoniensis Gmelin, 1789 , and proposed the nomen novum Muscicapa hyperythra trinitatis . Vaurie (1953b: 535–536) did not think Gmelin’s name definitely identifiable, and, based on a submission by Mayr (1962: 25), the ICZN (1963: 418, Opinion 684) suppressed Gmelin’s name for the Principle of Priority but not for the Principle of Homonymy. Dickinson et al (1991: 349) considered Muscicapula luzoniensis a synonym of Ficedula hyperythra dulangana but noted that if luzoniensis is recognized, trinitatis Deignan should be used and cited the Code then in effect (ICZN, 1985). However, under the Code now in effect (ICZN, 1999: 62, Art. 59.3), when a substitute name is not in use (in this case Muscicapa hyperythra trinitatis ) and the two homonymous taxa are no longer considered congeneric, the junior homonym (in this case Muscicapula luzoniensis ) is not to be rejected because a replacement name exists. Dickinson (2003: 694) used the name Ficedula hyperythra luzoniensis (Ogilvie-Grant, 1894) without comment.