On the Origin of Some Birds Collected by George Such, and the Type Localities of Several Forms

Abstract

In early part of 19th century, George Such (17981879), an English medical doctor and member of Linnean Society of London, collected and described some birds from eastem (Foster 1888, Wynne 1966). During his stay in Brazil, Such was in contact with William Swainson and Nicholas Vigors, of prominent ornithologists of that time. In articles published in Zoological Journal of London in 1825, Such described genus Gubernetes and 11 species of birds, but only Ardea fasciata (= Tigrisoma fasciatum, Fasciated Tiger-Heron) and Thamnophilus leachii (= Mackenziaena leachii, Large-tailed Antshrike) have been maintained (see Appendix for complete list). geographic origin of material collected by Such is established in following section of one of above-mentioned articles (Such 1825a): The situation to which I allude is that broad mountainous belt which forms skirt of table land of Brazil, at that part, where it rises from low of to elevated surface of Province of Geraes. plains of Goaytacazes were well known as territory of indigenous (or similar spelling), which included lowland from Macae to Itabapoana (dominated by Lagoa Feia), and mouth of Paraiba do near Vila de Sao Salvador dos dos in northern de state (Ayres de Casal 1817, Wied 1940). dos Goytacazes is still major population center of this region, and for at least past 100 years it has been known simply as Campos (Moreira Pinto 1894). In Such's day, region to north and west of (where land rises toward Gerais) was virtually uninhabited (Moreira Pinto 1894, Such 1825a) and must have been very difficult of access. There existed to west of Campos, Caminho do Paraiba, which led to present-day S6o Fidelis and doubtfully as far west as Santo Antonio de Padua, and Caminho Campista do Muriae, which linked with Itaperuna (Lamego 1963: map p. 24). Both roads were entirely within state of de Janeiro, and they followed river valleys of same names at elevations of less than 200 m. Before about 1833, only links between states of de and were probably through Petr6polis and Cantagalo (Lamego 1963). Thus, Such's locality of collection may be narrowly defined as upland region that lies just west of plain upon which is situated, and well within borders of state of de Such also collected three other valid species that were described by others. type localities for most of these species have been controversial and always in some doubt. We discuss each of them below. Fasciated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma fasciatum) (Such 1825).-Citing his correspondence with E. Eisenmann, Pinto (1964) considered fasciatum a species distinct from T. lineatum (Rufescent Tiger-Heron) and arbitrarily proposed Rio Grande do Sul as type locality. In his work on tiger-herons in Argentina, Eisenmann (1965) clarified specific status of fasciatum and, citing Such (1825a), established provenance of type as the mountainous region of state of de above low of Goyatacazes (= of Campos, fide 0. Pinto). Although Pinto (1978) maintained Grande do as type locality for fasciatum and did not admit de in distribution of species, Eisenmann's (1965) view is now universally accepted. Pale-browed Treehunter (Cichlocolaptes leucophrus) (Jardine and Selby 1830).-This furnariid was described from material collected by Such, and type locality Minas Gerais was proposed, with reservations, by Hellmayr (1915) and followed by Pinto (1938). Peters (1951) left type locality as Brazil and did not include in range of species. More recently, Pinto (1978) designated type locality as leste de Gerais (i.e. eastern Gerais), confusing George Such with Schuch Capanema, who was a famous Brazilian scientist born in in 1824 (Sacramento Blake 1895). There are no published specimens of C. leucophrus from Gerais, although species has been found in that state recently (Mattos et al.1993). Large-tailed Antshrike (Mackenziaena leachii) (Such 1825).-Cory and Hellmayr (1924) were fairly specific in their designation of type locality for this species as vicinity of (= Campos), Prov. de Janeiro. This designation has not been challenged and is an important factor in delimiting type locality of other forms under question (see below). Eastern Slaty Antshrike (Thamnophilus [punctatus] ambiguus) Swainson 1825.-Cory and Hellmayr (1924) stated we have to consider of Campos, on confines of states and de Janeiro as type locality, although recognizing that Swainson based his description on two birds brought to England from Geraes by Dr. Such. Pinto (1978) further defined type locality as near in