Argentine Ornithology Volume Ii Part 43

(1) Reise durch die La Plata-Staaten, mit besonderer Rucksicht auf die physische Beschaffenheit und den Culturzustand der Argentinischen Republik. Ausgefuhrt in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859, und 1860. 2 vols. Halle, 1861.

In a work on Argentine Ornithology it is hardly necessary to explain who Dr. Burmeister is. The Director of the Museo Publico is as well known in Europe as he is in Buenos Ayres. It should, however, be here mentioned that in the second volume of 'Reise durch die La Plata-Staaten' Dr. Burmeister has given an excellent systematic synopsis of the Vertebrate Animals of the Argentine Republic. Of the cla.s.s of Birds 263 species are enumerated as having been met with within the limits of the Republic up to that date, and references, native names, and general observations as to habits and localities are attached to each species. This is in fact up to the present time the best, or, we might say, the only authority on the Birds of the Argentine Republic.

Besides this, Dr. Burmeister has published several other contributions towards our knowledge of Argentine Ornithology, namely:--

(2) Sobre los Picaflores descriptos por D. Felix de Azara. Por Dr.

German Burmeister. An. d. Mus. Publ. d. Buenos Aires, tomo i. p.

67 (1864).

[An essay on the eleven species of Trochilidae, described by Azara, which appear reducible to six.]

(3) Extract from a letter addressed to Mr. Sclater on the _Tyrannidae_ found near Buenos Ayres. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 2.

[Contains a list of 10 species of this family.]

(4) Contributions to the Ornithology of the Argentine Republic and adjacent lands.--Part I. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 633.

[Notes on 13 species additional to those given in his Synopsis.

_Pachyrhamphus albinucha_ and _Synallaxis sulphurifera_ are described as new.]

(5) Letter from, containing remarks on the _Cracidae_ in the Museum of Buenos Ayres. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 701.

[Contains remarks on three Argentine species.]

(6) Synopsis of the Lamellirostres of the Argentine Republic. P. Z. S.

1872, p. 364.

[Contains notices of 24 species, including 2 Flamingoes (_Phnicopterus ignipalliatus_ and _P. andinus_).]

(7) Notes on _Conurus hilaris_ and other Parrots of the Argentine Republic. P. Z. S. 1878, p. 75.

[Describes _C. hilaris_ at full length from specimens received from Tuc.u.man, and gives critical notes on other species mentioned by Finsch.]

CABANIS, Dr. JEAN.

The well-known Ornithologist of Berlin has made several important contributions to the Ornithology of the Argentine Republic, namely:--

(1) Ueber eine Sammlung von Vogeln der Argentinischen Republik.

Journ. f. Orn. 1878, pp. 194-199.

[Gives an account of 29 species, examples of which are in a collection made by Dr. A. Doering, of Cordova, in the Sierra of Cordova. _Furnarius tricolor_, _Synallaxis sclateri_, and _Nothoprocta doeringi_ are described as new.]

(2) Ueber neue Arten von Herrn Fritz Schulz im nordlichen Argentinien entdeckt. Journ. f. Orn. 1883.

[The reports of the meetings of the Deutsche Ornithologische Gesellschaft, published in the 'Journal fur Ornithologie' for 1883, contain descriptions by Dr. Cabanis of the following 19 species discovered by Herr Schulz in Tuc.u.man and in other parts of Northern Argentina:--_Colaptes longirostris_ (_t. c._ p. 97), _Cinclus schulzi_ (_t. c._ p. 102), _Phlotomus schulzi_ (_t. c._ p. 102), _Chloronerpes tuc.u.ma.n.u.s_ (_t. c._ p. 103), _Troglodytes (Uropsila) auricularis_ (_t. c._ p. 105), _Scytalopus superciliaris_ (_t. c._ p.

105), _Orospina pratensis_ (_t. c._ p. 108), _Phrygilus dorsalis_ (_t.

c._ p. 109), _Buarremon (Atlapetes) citrinellus_ (_t. c._ p. 109), _Phacellodomus sincipitalis_ (_t. c._ p. 109), _P. maculipectus_ (_t.

c._ p. 109), _Chloronerpes (Campias) frontalis_ (_t. c._ p. 110), _Synallaxis superciliosa_ (_t. c._ p. 110), _Contopus brachyrhynchus_ (_t. c._ p. 214), _Myiarchus ferocior_ (_t. c._ p. 214), _M. atriceps_ (_t. c._ p. 215), _Elainea strepera_ (_t. c._ p. 215), _E. grata_ (_t.

c._ p. 216), _Cyanocorax tuc.u.ma.n.u.s_ (_t. c._ p. 216).

It is, however, much to be regretted that no complete list of Schulz's collections has been published.]

Ca.s.sIN, JOHN.

Capt. T. J. Page, U.S.N., made an exploration of the River La Plata and its tributaries in 1859 and 1860, under the orders of the U.S.

Government. In the Appendix to his published narrative of this expedition ('La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay,' New York, 1873, 1 vol., 8vo) will be found (p. 599) a short report on the birds collected during the expedition by the late John Ca.s.sin. A certain number of species are named, but no exact localities are given.

DALGLEISH, JOHN J.

Notes on a Collection of Birds and Eggs from Central Uruguay. Proc.

Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinburgh, vi. p. 232, and viii. p. 77.

[The collections described by Mr. Dalgleish were formed by a correspondent in the district of San Jorge, in the province of Durazno, Uruguay. The specimens sent along with the eggs were determined by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin.]

DARWIN, CHARLES.

Zoology of the Voyage of the 'Beagle' during the years 1832-6. Part III. Birds. By John Gould, Esq., F.L.S. London, 1841.

Darwin, when Naturalist to the 'Beagle,' during her voyage round the world in 1832-6, made good collections of birds on the Rio de la Plata and along the sh.o.r.es of Patagonia. Most of his specimens, originally deposited in the Zoological Society's Museum, are now in the British Museum, but some of them unfortunately are in a very imperfect condition. His valuable notes were published in the work of which the t.i.tle is above given. They relate to about 80 species of Argentine Birds. The specimens were determined and the new species described by Gould; but Gould's MS. was afterwards revised for publication by G. R.

Gray, on account of Gould's absence in Australia.

Darwin's 'Naturalist's Voyage,' originally published as a volume of the Narrative of the 'Voyage of the Beagle,' also contains many excellent notes on the life and habits of Argentine Birds.

DOERING, ADOLF.

Informe Oficial de la Comision Cientifica agregada al estado mayor general de la Expedicion al Rio Negro (Patagonia). Realizada en los meses de Abril, Mayo y Junio de 1879, bajo las ordenes del General D. Julio A. Roca. Entrega I. Zoologia. Buenos Aires, 1881.

Dr. Adolf Doering, of the Argentine University of Cordoba, has been a zealous collector and observer of the birds of the Republic (see under Cabanis and Sclater). The zoological portion of his report upon the Rio Negro expedition of 1879 gives a list of the birds, which contains 110 species, most of them well-known Patagonian forms.

DURNFORD, HENRY.

Henry Durnford, a member of the British Ornithologists' Union, whose early decease was a severe loss to ornithological science, was a constant worker on birds from the time of his arrival in Buenos Ayres in 1875 until his death in 1878. The birds collected by Durnford are now mostly in the British Museum. His published papers on this subject are the following (see also biographical notice in 'Ibis,' 1879, p. 121):--

(1) Ornithological Notes from the Neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres.

Ibis, 1876, p. 157.

[Notes made during his first five months' residence at Belgrano, five miles north-west of Buenos Ayres. About 70 species are mentioned.]

(2) Notes on the Birds of the Province of Buenos Ayres. Ibis, 1877, p. 166, and 1878, p. 58.

[Notes made princ.i.p.ally at Baradero, 90 miles W.N.W. of Buenos Ayres.

In the first paper 144 species are mentioned and _Porzana spiloptera_ is described and figured as new. In the second 47 species, mostly additional, are noticed.]