WCP6978

Letter (WCP6978.8087)

[1]

5, Westbourne Grove Terrace, w.

March. 8th. 1863

My dear Sir

Schlegel[']s1 A[ccipiter]. torquatus is the bird you called cruentus. The specimens are from Timor. Schlegel says that Gould[']s2 cruentus is the same as G[eorge]. R[obert]. Gray's3 griseogularis in which he must certainly be wrong.

I have been looking all over that group again, & find some alterations to make from our determination on Friday. The specimens you thought new, & was rufitorques. Peale4 are I have no doubt the same as griseogularis G. R. G.5 being males & much smaller; both are from the same localities.

[2] I have a very brown bird from Lombock [Lombok] which you put with cruentus but which I think from the descriptions given in Schlegel6 must be A[ccipiter]. approximans Vig.7 [& Horsf.] with which it agrees in numerous bands on tail, dimensions, & colour. There is a young bird I think of the same which you had put as different from any others.

I have a new species from Flores which you did not see, intermediate between trinotatus & cruentus but quite distinct —

I have therefore 10 species of the short toed Accipiters of which I gave a list, with localities.

[3]
1. A[ccipiter]. griseogularis G. R. Gray Gilolo [Halmahera] & adjacent islands ..

12 spec[ime]ns
2. A. cruentus Gould? Timor.

5 "
3. A. n[ew]. s[pecies]. Salwatty [Salawati] & Waigiou [Waigeo]

4 "
4.8 A. approximans Vig. & H[orsf].9 Lombock & Flores

3 "
5. A. henicogrammus G. R. Gray — Gilolo

1 "
6. A. n[ew]. s[pecies]. Flores..

6 "
7. A. iogaster. Mull.10 Ceram. [Seram]

5. "
8. A. n. s. larger.. Gilolo..

2 "
9. A. trinotatus Temm.11 Celebes. [Sulawesi]

4 "
10. A. poliocephalus. G. R. G. Aru Is & Waigiou.. 3 "

____________________

I should like you to call again to see if you agree with these alterations. I will certainly publish a list of my raptores, as out of the above 10 species [4] 5 are not given in Schlegel's catalogue12. What I want is to be quite sure of the identity of nos. 2 & 4 with the Australian birds.

Any morning you like to name between 10. & 12. I will be at home.

I remain my dear Sir | Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

J[ohn]. H[enry]. Gurney Esq. M.P.

1
Schlegel, Hermann (1804-1884). German ornithologist, herpetologist and Director of the Leiden Museum of Natural History 1854-1884.
2
Gould, John (1804-1881). British ornithologist and publisher.
3
Gray, George Robert (1808-1872). British zoologist and author. Head of the British Museum’s ornithological section.
4
Peale, Titian Ramsay (1799-1885). American artist, naturalist, and explorer; executed notable illustrations for several major works in American ornithology and entomology.
5
See endnote 3 above.
6
Schlegel, H. 1862. Muséum d'Histoire naturelle des Pays-Bas. Leide: E. J. Brill.
7
Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (c. 1785-1840). Irish zoologist specialising in ornithology.
8
There is an ink annotation that reads "not approximans — probably the young of cruentus".
9
Horsfield, Thomas (1773-1859). American naturalist and physician. Collected extensively in Java.
10
Müller, Salomon (1804-1863). German naturalist. Travelled to the Dutch East Indies to collect for the Natuurkundige Commissie (Commission for Natural Sciences).
11
Temminck, Coenraad Jacob (1778-1858). Dutch zoologist specialising in ornithology; cofounder and first director of Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden.
12
See endnote 6 above.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP6978.8087)]

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Revision history

Transcription checked by Costa, Leslie [2020-05-08] Transcribed by Sherwood, Danni [2020-05-19]

Please cite as “WCP6978,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP6978