I was also browsing through a book about 19th century ornithologists and
came across a reference to a Captain Fitzjames R.N..He is mentioned only in
passing, but I wonder if he is the "Fitz." I enquired about? The
publication,however, has a German title, and why would a British naval
captain be publishing in a German publication?
I have a couple of additional questions.
Does anyone have the citation for Glaucidium sanchezi? This one is
definitely not in Peters Vol 4.
Also can anyone shed any light on some features of the distribution of Otus
guatemalae and Otus vermiculatus. I believe that O.guatemalae is montane,
while O.vermiculatus is lowland. Sibley Birds of the World Vol.2 gives
O.guatemalae as "...locally in neCosta Rica, Panama and w Colombia..."
O.vermiculatus is "Lowlands of Costa Rica,Panama and northwestern
Colombia."
Stiles & Skutch, A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica, p.191, does not split
the two species, but gives the distribution for O.guatemalae as "...wet
lowlands of Caribbean and S.Pacific Slopes(Golfo Dulce district,Valle del
General);ranges from sea level to 3300ft locally. A small population
recently discovered in the higher wetter mountains of Peninsula de Nicoya."
Is the population on the Peninsula de Nicoya O.guatemalae versus everything
else O.vermiculatus, or is O.guatemalae more widespread in the mountains of
Costa Rica?
Hilty & Brown, Birds of Colombia, in their account of Otus guatemalae, give
its distribution as "To 1000m.Known definitely only from Baudo
Mts(1000m);probably also Panama border(rec.Cerro Pirre,Cerro Mali,eDarien)
and Perija Mts (on Venez.slope).
All of these locations seem to be mountains, which would imply
O.guatemalae. It's unclear to me whether "eDarien" is the location for the
two Cerros or whether it is east Darien in addition to the two Cerros. So
is it O.vermiculatus in the lowlands of e Darien?
Aren't owls wonderful?
John Penhallurick
Canberra,Australia
>Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 09:33:43 +1000
>To:ORNITH-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU
>From:jmp@comserver.canberra.edu.au (John Penhallurick)
>Subject:RFI:TWO C19TH ORNITHOLOGISTS & OTUS HUBERI
>
>Can anyone help me with the two following matters.
>First, two 19th century ornithologists unknown to me:
>Lulu bassana Fitz.(1864),Atl.Nat.Vog, fig.335
>a synonym for Sula bassana
>Dysporus sula Neuwied.(1832) Beitr.,4,p.890
>a synonym for Sula sula.
>Who are Fitz. and Neuwied.?
>Secondly, in Sibley's Birds of the World V2, the Latin name of
>Cloud-forest Screech-Owl, Otus marshalli is changed on the grounds of
>priority to Otus huberi, with Otus petersoni as a subspecies. The change
>to Otus huberi is based on a personal communication from Dr.Marshall.
>I assume that Otus marshalli becomes the nominate subspecies Otus huberi
>huberi and that Otus petersoni becomes Otus huberi petersoni.
>Is this correct?
>Can anyone give me the citation for Otus huberi?
>