Icterus atro-olivaceus

discussion

COMMENTS: In the original description, Wied (p. 1218) noted that he had not seen a male and that his hunters had shot two females upon which he based his description. Allen’s listing of this specimen as Wied’s type of atro-olivaceus was questioned by Hellmayr (1937: 180), who thought that Wied’s description did not fit well with A. cyanopus and that the collecting locality was far removed from the range of the species. Parkes (1966: 1 – 12) made a detailed study of A. cyanopus, including a study of the type of atroolivaceus at AMNH. He was able to compare this type to other specimens of cyanopus from Rio de Janeiro sent him on loan by Helmut Sick and commented: ‘‘ Comparison of this series with Wied’s type makes it clear that all of these birds belong to an isolated population of Agelaius cyanopus, whose distinctive characters account for the discrepancies noted by Hellmayr’ ’ (Parkes, 1966: 6). Parkes also noted Hellmayr’s inadvertant listing of the name as atroviolaceus, a misspelling that has been repeated in a number of subsequent publications. Currently it is accepted as a valid subspecies, atroolivaceus, in the species cyanopus, but included by some authors in the genus Chrys

Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History Part 11. Passeriformes: Parulidae, Drepanididae, Vireonidae, Icteridae, Fringillinae, Carduelinae, Estrildidae, And Viduinae