Markus Handschuh et al. 122 Bull. B.O.C 2011 131(2) Forsman, D. 1991. Die Bestimmung von Schell- Aquila clanga, Schrei- A. pomaritm und Steppenadler A. nipalensis. Limicola 5; 145-185. Goes, F. & Davidson, P. (compilers) 2003. Recent sightings. Cambodia Bird News 11: 41^9. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. & Inskipp, T. 1998. Birds ofthe Indian subcontinent. Christopher Helm, London. Helbig A. ]., Kocum, A., Seibold, I. & Braun, M. J. 2005. A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 35: 147-164. Lerner, H. R. L. & Mindell, D. P. 2005. Phylogenyofeagles. Old World vultures, and otherAccipitridaebased on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 37: 327-346. Olsson, U., Alstrom, P., Ericson, P. G. & Sundberg, P. 2005. Non-monophyletic taxa and cryptic species- evidence from a molecular phylogeny of leaf-warblers (Phylloscopus, Aves). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 36: 261-276. Parry, S. J., Clark, W. S. & Prakash, V. 2002. On the taxonomic status of the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Ibis 144: 665-675. Rasmussen, P. C. & Anderton, J .C. 2005. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC & Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Robson, C. 2008. Afieldguide to the birds ofSouth-East Asia. New Holland, London. Swofford, D. L. 2001. PAUP’^: phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods). Version 4.08b. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA. Thomas, W. W. & Poole, C. M. 2003. An annotated list of the birds of Cambodia from 1859 to 1970. Forktail 19: 103-127. DNA Vali, U. 2006. Mitochondrial sequences support species status for the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 126: 238-242. Winker, K. 1993. Specimen shrinkage in Tennessee Warblers and "Traill's" Flycatchers. /. Field Orn. 64: 331-336. Addresses: Markus Handschuh (corresponding author) and Phok Samphos, Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity, P.O. Box 93 054, Siem Reap, Cambodia, e-mail: [email protected]. Robert N. van Zalinge and Tom D. Evans, Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Program, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Urban Olsson, Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Hong Chamnan, Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity, Forestry Administration, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. © British Ornithologists' Club 2011 The type locality of the Olive Warbler (Peucedramidae) by Richard C. Banks Received 13 August 2010 Lowery & Monroe (1968: 78) correctly stated that the original type locality (Mexique = Mexico) of Sylvia taeniata Du Bus, 1847 (now Peucedramus taeniatus) was restricted to San Cristobal, Chiapas, by Brodkorb (1944). But, they added that Zimmer (1948a) had shown that the type probably came from San Pedro, Oaxaca. Perhaps they intended the latter statement to be accepted as a correction to Brodkorb's designation, but it seems instead to have resulted in uncertainty and taxonomic confusion (Lowther & Nocedal 1997, Curson 2010). The two suggested type localities are on opposite sides of the Isthmus ofTehuantepec, which may (or may not) be the boundary of subspecific populations, one of which would be the nominate subspecies. Hellmayr (1935: 360) may have been the first to restrict the type locality of Syh'ia tacuiata Du Bus, in the synonymy of Peucedramus olivaccus (Giraud, 1841), suggesting that 'Mexique' was 'probably the state of Vera Cruz, where some of the other new Mexican birds described by Du Bus came from.' Information in van Rossem (1942) shows that cannot be correct. Van Rossem (1942) examined the type specimens of both Cya)HHvrax uuicolor and Sylvia tacuiata of Du Bus (1847) in the Brussels mu.seum in 1939. Both specimens were collected by Richard C. Banks 123 Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(2) Auguste Ghiesbreght, supposedly inTabasco, Mexico, with a specimen of Turdus rufitorques. Hellmayr (1934) bad previously pointed out that Tabasco was an unlikely locality for tbe montane Cyanocorax, and van Rossem (1942) cited evidence from P. Brodkorb and E. A. Goldman that there are no mountains in Tabasco bigb enough to accommodate these species. The assumption was that Ghiesbreght had gone from Tabasco into neighbouring Chiapas, perhaps without being aware of it. Van Rossem (1942) indicted that 'it is certain that Chiapas, not Tabasco, is the type region of both the above birds [C. unicolor and S. taeniata] ' and 'a spot as close as possible to the Tabasco boundary should be selected . . . . . . ' but left the definite selection to Brodkorb 'in view of his extensive work in Chiapas.' Relative to Sylvia taeniata, vanRossem (1942) stated: 'Incidentally, Bonaparte's statement (Consp. Gen. Avium, 1, 1850: 309) that the subsequent plate (Esq. Orn. Livr. 6, 1850: pi. 28) was from a specimen from San Pedro, Oaxaca, is not correct. The type is the basis of the plate and I may add that Wilhelm Meise made a similar notation on the tag in 1938.' Brodkorb (1944) expanded on van Rossem's comments and noted that Chiapas is the only Mexican state in which the three species {Cyanocorax unicolor, Turdus rufitorques and Sylvia taeniata) attributed to Tabasco by Du Bus occur. He restricted the type locality of C. unicolor [now Apheloconia unicolor] 'to San Cristobal, or as it is now called Ciudad de Las Casas, since this, the largest town in Chiapas, is the locality nearest Tabasco from which the species has been reported.' He further stated: 'For the reasons given under Cyanocorax unicolor, I restrict the type locality of S. taeniata to San Cristobal, Chiapas.' Zimmer (1948a) established that Sylvia taeniata ofDu Buswas thenameproperly applied to the Olive Warbler, the name formerly in use {Sylvia olivacea Giraud) being preoccupied. Without mentioning Brodkorb's paper of 1944, Zimmer (1948a) attempted to fix the type locality of S. taeniata Du Bus or, more precisely, to determine to which named subspecies it applied. At his request, R. Verheyen of the Brussels museum and J. Delacour examined the type specimen. Zimmer (1948a) wrote: 'It is an old mounted bird and greatly faded, and in its present condition agrees best, according to Captain Delacour, with jaliscensis. If allowance is made, however, for considerable fading that must have taken place during the last century, I believe that assignment to aurantiacus is more strongly indicated.' Citing the Bonaparte (1850) work that van Rossem (1942) had discredited, Zimmer placed the type locality of taeniata at an indefinite San Pedro, Oaxaca. Zimmer did not indicate whose subspecific treatment he was following. The most recently preceding was that of Hellmayr (1935), who did not recognisejaliscensis, and he may have been following Miller & Griscom (1925), who saw no Oaxaca specimens and who did not mention that state in the range of any subspecies. Hellmayr (1935) included at least part of Oaxaca in the range of then nominate olivacea (which Zimmer renamed giraudi); aurantiacus was found in Guatemala (Miller & Griscom 1925) or Guatemala and Chiapas (Hellmayr 1935). Zimmer's placement of the type locality of Sylvia taeniata Du Bus in Oaxaca and his subspecific allotment of the type specimen to a subspecies found in Chiapas and Guatemala are seemingly incompatible. Van Rossem (1948) pointed out that Zimmer (1948a) had overlooked earlier statements by himself (1942) and Brodkorb (1944). Zimmer (1948b) disputed van Rossem's (1942) claim that Bonaparte (1850) was wrong, and continued to follow Bonaparte's indication of San Pedro, Oaxaca, as the type locality until proven otherwise. Webster (1958) was perhaps the first to give an ambivalent statement of the type locality: 'San Pedro, Oaxaca, or Chiapas, near Tabasco border.' Phillips (1966), when describing a new subspecies, P. t. georgei, said the adult male was 'similar to P. t. taeniatus (DuBus), 1847: Mexique' = 'Tabasco' {i.e. Jitotol, Chiapas, or a bit north); cf. Rovirosa, 1889', apparently introducing a new statement of the origin of Du Bus's type specimen based on the itinerary of Auguste Ghiesbreght, the collector of the type specimen. Richard C. Banks 124 Bull. B.O.C 2011 131(2) Lowery & Monroe (1968: 78) mentioned the locality designations by Brodkorb (1944) and Zimmer (1948a), but not that of Phillips (1966). AOU (1983: 532) accepted Brodkorb's designation of San Cristobal, Chiapas, without comment. Binford (1989: 344) agreed with AOU (1983), indicating that the type locality of Peucedramus taeniatiis was in Chiapas rather than Oaxaca. Phillips (1991: 10) equated Mexique of Du Bus to 'NEn [Northeastern] Oaxaca?' He further stated (p. 11) that 'Although most of Ghiesbreght's collecting was done in Tabasco and Chiapas, examination of the type he collected indicates the need of comparison with NEn Oaxaca birds, as above.' This statement, in effect, reflects Zimmer (1948a). Finally, Lowther & Nocedal (1997) noted the two possible type localities of Brodkorb and Zimmer, as given by Lowery & Monroe (1968), and analysed the possible taxonomic scenarios that might result from one or the other type localities being accepted, dependant on how much morphological variation is recognised, stating again that 'Review of the type and additional material from this region is again necessary.' Once again, this suggests that if the type can be identified to a recognisable population, the type locality can be fixed to within the range of that population. This ignores the fact that the badly faded type has been of no taxonomic value since at least the 1940s. According to Rovirosa (1891), the Belgian collector Auguste Ghiesbreght traveled to Tabasco in 1839. He and his companions worked actively in Tabasco, especially in the vicinity of Teapa, and in the mountains of Chiapas until March 1840 and amassed significant collections. There is no indication in Rovirosa's (1891) account of Ghiesbreght's activities that he was in or near Oaxaca in that period. Several years later, after 1855, he did work at or near Jitotol, Chiapas, the locality mentioned by Phillips (1966), but that was well after the description of Peucedramus taeniatus. It seems certain that the type specimens of both Cyanocorax unicolor and Sylvia taeniata described by DuBus (1847), collected by Ghiesbreght in 'Tabasco,' must have come from the nearby mountains of Chiapas, as already stated by van Rossem (1942) and Brodkorb (1944). The type localities as restricted by Brodkorb (1944) to San Cristobal, Chiapas, must stand, although perhaps better stated as San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, as presently indicated on many maps. Thus, the nominate subspecies, Peucedramus taeniatus includes the birds of the t. mountains of Chiapas, Mexico, and Guatemala, and P. t. aurantiacus Ridgway, 1896, is a synonym. The western population, in Guerrero and Oaxaca, Mexico, is P. t. georgei Phillips, 1966. Acknowledgements I thank Martha Rosen of the US National Museum of Natural History Library for assistance in locating tlie work by Rovirosa (1891), Mercedes S. Foster for assisting with translation of that from Spanish, and D. D. Gibson for helpful comments on a draft of this paper. References: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North Atneriam birds. Sixth edn. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington DC. Binford, L. C. 1989. A distributional survey of the birds of the Mexican state ofOaxaca. Oni. Moiioyr. 43. Brodkorb, P. 1944. The type localities of some Mexican birds of the genera Aphclocoma, Cyimocitta, and Peucedramus. Auk 61: 400-403. Curson, J. M. 2010. Family Peucedramidae (Olive Warbler). Pp. 660-66S iu del 1loyo, ]., Flliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) !hmdbookofthe birds ofthe loorld, vol. 15. Lynx F.dicions, Barcelona. 1lellmayr, C. F.. 1934. Catalogue t)f birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands, pt. 7. Pield M»s. Nat. Ilist. Publ., Zool. Ser. 13(7). Ilellmayr, C. F. 1935. Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent island.s, pt. 8. Field Mas. Nat. Ilist. Publ., Zool. Ser. 13(8). Donald A. Turner et al. 125 Bull. B.O.C. 2011 131(2) Lowery, G. H. & Monroe, B. L. 1968. Family Parulidae. Pp. 1-93 in Paynter, R. A. (ed.) Check-list ofbirds ofthe world, vol. 14. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA. Lowther, P. E. & Nocedal, J. 1997. Olive Warbler. In Poole, A. & Gill, F. B. (eds.) Birds of North America No. 310. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia & American Ornithologists' Union, Washington DC. Miller, W. deW. & Griscom, L. 1925. Noteson Central Americanbirds, withdescriptions ofnew forms. Amer. Mus. Novit. 183. Phillips, A. R. 1966. Further systematic notes on Mexican birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 86: 125-131. Phillips, A. R. 1991. The known birds ofNorth andMiddleAmerica, pt. 2. Privately published, Denver, CO. van Rossem, A. J. 1942. Du Bus' types of Cyanocorax unicolor and Sylvia taeniata. Wilson Bull. 54: 212-213. van Rossem, A. J. 1948. The type locality of the Olive Warbler. Auk 65: 598. Rovirosa, D. J. N. 1891. Vida y trabajos del naturalista Belga Augusto B. Ghiesbreght, explorador de Mexico. La Naturaleza 2(1), ahos de 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890. Webster, J. D. 1958. Systematic notes on the Olive Warbler. Auk 75: 469M73. Zimmer, J. T. 1948a. 'The specific name of the Olive Warbler. Auk 65: 126-127. Zimmer, J. T. 1948b. untitled footnote. Auk 65: 598. Address: Division ofBirds, US National Museum ofNatural History, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, USA, e-mail [email protected] © British Ornithologists' Club 2011 * Remarks concerning the all-black coastal bonbons {Laniarius spp.) of Kenya and sonthern Somalia & by Donald A. Turner, Brian W. Finch Nigel D. Hunter Received 31 August 2010 Following the recommendation of Nguembock et al. (2008) that three races of the Tropical Boubou complex be treated specifically, namely Laniarius {aethiopicus) major, L. (a.) sublacteus and L. (a.) erlangeri, attention is now drawn to the taxonomic position of the all-black bonbons occnrring from the Tana Delta, Kenya, north to the Jnba and Shabeelle valleys in sonthern Somalia, which most anthorities have treated as rare black morphs of L. (a.) sublacteus and L. (a.) erlangeri (White 1962, Ash & Miskell 1998, Fry et al. 2000). With no all-black birds sampled in the Ngnembock et al. (2008) stndy, the possibility of a major re-appraisal in onr nnderstanding of these coastal bonbons has been missed. On 15 Jnly 1878 Gnstav Fischer collected an all-black bonbon at Kipini (Tana Delta) which Reichenow (1879) named Dryoscopus nigerrimus. In 1905, Reichenow named two fnrther bonbons, from the collections of Baron von Erlanger, both from the Jnba Valley in sonthern Somalia. An all-black specimen was named Laniarius erlangeri, whilst a more typical black-and-white bird was named Laniarius aethiopicus somaliettsis. Van Someren (1922: 116, 1932; 307), after comparing topotypes of Reichenow's two described forms (erlangeri and somaliensis) with his own material from Kipini, Manda, Lamn and Jnba, serionsly qnestioned the validity of erlangeri and nigerrimus. Grant & Mackworth- Praed (1944), making no mention of any all-black birds, recognised L.ferrugineus somaliensis and L. sublacteus as the two coastal forms of Tropical Bonbon, and Stresemann (1947) f. having examined nigerrimus argned it was jnst a morph of the sympatric black-and-white L. sublacteus, despite that van Someren (1922) considered that his specimens from Lamn f. exhibited intermediate featnres. Snbseqnently, White (1962), Ash & Miskell (1998), Fry et al. (2000) and Dickinson (2003) also recognised L. aethiopicus sublacteus aiad L. a. erlangeri as the two East African coastal bonbons, althongh White (1962) failed to mention either nigerrimus