Monarcha melanopsis pallida Mathews

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 : 199-200

Monarcha melanopsis pallida Mathews

Monarcha melanopsis pallida Mathews, 1916a: 60 (Cape York).

Now Monarcha melanopsis (Vieillot, 1818) . See Schodde and Mason, 1999: 499–500.

Probable Type: AMNH 654195, collected at Kuranda, 16.46S, 145.37E (Times Atlas), Queensland, Australia, on 17 March 1913, by F.P. Dodd. From the Mathews Collection (no. 17132) via the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: Mathews’ (1916a: 60) description was minimal: ‘‘Differs from M. m. melanopsis in being paler. Type, Cape York.’’ There does not seem to be any published indication as to which specimen he intended as the type, but he never considered pallida as anything other than a subspecies of M. melanopsis . Both on the Mathews Collection label and in Mathews’ catalog the specimen that is now AMNH 654195 was identified as Monarcha melanopsis and is, in fact, a specimen of that species. It would not have been part of his type series of kurandi , which was always associated with M. canescens . Therefore, I do not think that this specimen should be considered a paratype of Monarcha kurandi , contra note by Ian Galbraith with this specimen (see under kurandi ).

AMNH 654195 does not bear a Mathews type label or a Mathews ‘‘Figured’’ label, but the Mathews Collection label has ‘‘kurandi type’’ written on it in Mathews’ hand. It bears a Rothschild type label, identifying it as the type of ‘‘ Monarcha kurandi ’’, no doubt copied from the Mathews Collection label. Given Mathews’ frequent carelessness, I think it likely that this specimen is the type of Monarcha melanopsis pallida , mislabeled by a slip of the pen, probably because the specimen came from Kuranda.

According to Mathews’ catalog (no. 17132), the specimen was obtained from [Frederick P.] Dodd, who lived at Kuranda ( Musgrave, 1932: 69, not Duranda, as noted in Whittell, 1954: 204). While its wings are quite blackish, there is a discernable grayish wash on the primaries and rectrices, and the gray of the back is much darker than that of the holotype of kurandi and of the holotype of M. canescens claudia , the only two specimens of Monarcha frater canescens in AMNH. It appears to be a worn example of Monarcha melanopsis . Specimens of Monarcha melanopsis from Cape York are variable in the shade of gray and the amount of wear. AMNH 654167, female, collected at the Cable Station, Cape York, Queensland, by Robin Kemp, chosen by Mathews (1921b: pl. 411, lower fig., opp. p. 94, text p. 95) to represent Monarcha m. melanopsis in his plate, is decidedly darker than AMNH 654195, so that this latter specimen could well have been described as ‘‘paler’’ by Mathews.

Later, Mathews (1921b: 97) listed Monarcha melanopsis melanopsis from New South Wales and southern Queensland and Monarcha melanopsis canescens from north Queensland, without recognizing any of his own three names, or listing them as synonyms—although his holotype of kurandi was used to illustrate canescens . Later, Mathews (1930: 521) listed pallida as a synonym of Monarcha [ melanopsis ] melanopsis , and Monarcha kurandi and M. canescens claudia as synonyms of Monarcha [ melanopsis ] canescens . Therefore, there seems to be no reason to assume that Mathews had ever considered pallida as anything other than a subspecies of melanopsis .

Keast (1958: 91) attached the name pallida to the supposedly smaller population of Monarcha melanopsis that occurs from Cardwell to Cape York. However, later studies have not supported the size difference ( Schodde and Mason, 1999: 500).