528
General
Notes
•- Auk
LVol.
?õ
wing stretch movement (Eibl-Eibesfeldt and Kramer, Quart. Rev. Biol., 33:
181-211,1958). Woodpeckers
do this in an atypicalmanner. All oœmy captive
individualsstretchone wing way down without any movementof either foot. One
has to be in a favorablepositionto see this clearly. It is more difficult to
observein the field, but on one occasionI watcheda Pileated Woodpeckerdo a
wing stretchwhile both of its feet wereclampedwidelyapart on a tree trunk.
It remained in view during the extreme downward movement of the wing.
Koenig has photographeda Bee-eater(Meropsapiaster) wing-stretching
in this
manner (Nature Storiesfrom the Vienna Woods. Crowell. New York. 1958).-Lnw•.•Nc• K•LH•,M,7815 AberdeenRoad, Bethesda14, Maryland.
Ash-throated Flycatcher in Alabama.--S. W. Simon (Auk, 75: 469, 1958)summarizesthe recordsof the Ash-throatedFlycatcher (Myiarchusciner•cens) east
of the MississippiRiver in the United States-seven
specimens
and two sight
recordsare listed. To this growinglist I would add a specimenI collected
November2, 1958at Dauphin Island, Alabama. The specimenwas identifiedat
the LouisianaState UniversityMuseum of Natural History by Dr. Robert J.
Newmanas Myiarchuscinerascens
cinerascens.The specimenis now No. 4645.1a
in the Florida State University bird collection. This is the first record of the
speciesin Alabama (Thomas A. Imhof, personalcommunication).--Love•-r
E.
W•n•ss,
JR., Wildli[e ResearchUnit, A•PJ., Auburn, Alabama.
N ew Record of the Eastern Barn Swallow in Mieronesia.--The
Eastern Barn
Swallow (Hitundo rustics gutturalis), which normally winters as far south as
Australia,has been reportedas a fall and winter migrant in westernMi•onesia
by severalobservers.(Baker,Smithsonian
Misc.Coll., 107: õ5, 1948) reported
swallows
of this Asiaticsubspecies
in the Palau Islands,WesternCatolines,in
September,
1945and on Guam,MarianasIslands,in October. Strophlet(Auk, 63:
535, 1946) sawbirds on Guam in late Octoberand November. Marshall (Condor,
51: 221, 1949)reportedimmatureBarn Swallowsfrom Saipan,Tinian in the
Marianasand from the PalausbetweenOctoberand February. These birds are
apparently regular winter visitors to the Marianas and Western Catolines. No
observations
of BarnSwallows
in the centralor easternCarolineIslandarchipelago
have been recorded.
On the Island of Mocn, Truk Atoll (7ø N. Lat., 152ø E. Long.), in the eastern
Catolines, some 560 nautical miles southeast of Guam and 1940 nautical miles
cast of Palau, clcvcn Barn Swallows wcrc observed on December •0 and 31, 1957.
The birdswcrcseenperchedon electricwireson the northwesttip of the island,
and were noted catching insectsin flight, in company with Caroline Swiftlets
(Collocaliainquieta rukensis). They remainednear a flat marshyarea covered
by hcav• growth of Phragmiteskafka. A bird collectedon January 1, 1958proved
to bca young male with much subcutaneousfat. Testes measured35 min. It
is now .•570101-0101in the collectionof the Pacific Island Central School. On
December11, 1958,six Swallowswcrc again observedin the samearea. The birds
remained on Truk for about one wcck.--JoHN H. B•A•)% Truk, East Caroline
Islands.
South American migrant swallows of the genus Progne in Panama and
northern South America; with comments on their identification and molt.
--More birds of the TemperateZoneof SouthAmericamigrateacrossthe Equator
than hasbccnsupposed(c/. Zimmer,Auk, $$: 405--410,1938). This is truc of the
Oct.']
•9•9a
General
Notes
swallows,and probably of the swifts. The Argentine race of the Brown-chested
Martin, Phaeoprognetapera lusca, has proved to be a regular and abundant
migrant to Panama (ESsenmann,
Auk, 72: 427, 1955),and the PatagonianBlue-
and-whiteSwallow,Atticora(Pygochelidon)
cyanoleuca
paragonSea,
takenrepeatedly
in Panama,has recentlybeen recordedin Nicaragua (Howell, Condor, 57: 188,
1955) and Mexico (Paynterand Alvarezdel Toro, Condor,59: 268, 1957). The
migratorysouthernsubspecies
of the Ashy-tailedSwift, Chaeturaandrei meridioaalis,hasbeencollectedin northernColombiaand Panamain August,the height
of the SouthernHemispherewinter (Darlington,Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 72:
392,1931;Rogers,Auk, 56: 82, 1939),and I suspect
that otherlittle knownSouth
Americanswiftsrecordedfrom Panamaand southernCentral Americaduring this
season (e.g., the White-chinned Swift, Cypseloidescryptus) may prove to be
migrants (el. Beebe,Zoologics,32: 167, 1947). Northern recordsof two other
southernhemispheremigrants,the SouthernMartin, Prognernodestaelegans,and
the Gray-breasted
Martin, Prognechalybeadornestica,
are here reported. In conneetionwith their identificationit was found that stageof molt wasa usefulclue
in distinguishing
trans-equatorial
migrantsfrom north and south.
Prognemodestaelegans.A SouthernMartin was taken by H. Wedel on July
14, 1931, on the Caribbean coastof eastern Panama (near the Colombian boundary) at Obaldia (__.PuertoObaldia),Lat. 8ø 40' N. The specimen(Univ. Mich.
Mus. Zool. no. 97608),labelled"9 o.n.e.",has a few fresh purple featherson the
breast, sides,and under tail-coverts,suggestingan immature male. Measurements:
wing (flat), 134min.; tail, 71 min. The bird is in the sameplumage,and in the
identicalstageof wear and molt (with three old pairsof outer primariesand two
of rectrices),as variousiramaturestaken on July 15, 1929 at Tahuapunto,Rio
Uaupds,Brazil, just north of the Equator (reportedin Zimmer'sreview of the
genus,Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1723:8, 1955)--hithertothe most northerlyrecords
of this migratoryform.
The reported breeding range of elegansis westernand central Argentina south
to northeastern Patagonia and north to the highlands of eastern Bolivia. In
Argentina the first birds apparently arrive towardsthe end of August, and most
have left by the end of March (seeWetmore, U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull., 133: 347, 1926;
W. H. Partridge, in litt.). The full extent of the winter quarters remains uncer-
tain, but there is a largeseriesin the AmericanMuseumof Natural History taken
in the westernAmazonbasinof Brazil and Peru betweenMay 6 and September1,
1929 (Zimmer, 1955, loc. cit.). Farther north wintering elegansmay well have
been overlooked becauseof resemblanceto other speciesof Progne. The adult
male,in its over-allsteelblue color,is a counterpartof the North AmericanPurple
Martin, P. subis, which also winters chiefly in Brazil; other plumages, though
quitedistinctive,
bearsomelikeness
to thoseof bothsubisandtheresident
tropical
chalybea.Both migrantsubisand elegans,thougharrivingat oppositeseasons,
maywell occurin the sametropicallocalities
as transients
or winterresidents
duringMarchand April and from the end of July into September.Thusspecimens of P.s. subis have been examined taken near Co16n, Panama on the south-
wardmigrationas earlyasAugust3 and 5 (coil by J. E. Ambrose,
Jr.) and taken
in Venezuelaon August28. Though the return migrationhas been observed
in
Panamaby February(Wetmore,Smith.Misc.Coil., 139, no. 2: 13, 1959),thereare
specimens
of subis(in the AmericanMuseum)takenas late as April 1 and 2 in
Brazil and April 4 and 18 in Venezuela.
520
GeneralNotes
}- Auk
LVol.76
Identification. Femalesand immature of eleganshave dark sooty-brownunder-
parts,the featherswith narrowpale brownishmargins,oftenobsolescent
on throat
and breast, wider and more whitish on the lower abdomen. Elegans thus looks
entirelydark below,relievedonlyby whitish"scaling".In corresponding
plumages
of both subisand chalybeathe abdomenand under tail-coverts
are normallywhite,
moreor lessmarkedwith duskystreaks,whichare usuallyvery fine shaft-streaks
in
chalybea,but are often broaderin subis. Sometimesin P.s. subisthe under tail
covertsmay be dusky,edgedwith white; and very exceptionallythe underparts
may so suffusedwith sooty-grayas to suggestthe pattern of elegans,but with
shaft-streaks
still apparentand a gray patch on eachside of the neck,which may
meet in a narrow ring acrossthe hind-neck. Adult malesof elegansmay be distinguishedin the hand from subisby longer tail and deepertail fork (25 min. or
more),and by lackingthe small concealed
white flank patch (while retainingthe
adjacentpatchon the sidesof the lowerback). Thesepointsare hard to determine
in molting birds, and during the periods when these two speciesmay occur to-
geth• they are likely to be molting. Fortunatelysubisand elegansbeginand end
the molt at oppositetimes of the year--in phase with their antipodal breeding
seasons.Dated specimenscan usually be distinguishedreadily by stageof wear
and molt. In thesehighly migratoryand aerial birds the molt of primariesis
remarkablyprotracted(requiringprobablyfive and possiblysix months),and the
contrastbetweenworn brown remigesand glossyfresh onesis obviousin specimens. For example,in Augustand Septemberadult subishas begunto molt, but
is unlikely to have replacedmore than two to four inner primaries,while adult
elegans
is likelyto havecompleted(or almostcompleted)
the wingmolt. In March
and April the oppositesituationprevails. Birds of the year begin and end the
primary molt a month or more later than older birds.
Profinechalybea
domestica.To the largermigratorysouthern
raceof the GraybreastedMartin, I wouldallocatethree specimens
in the AmericanMuseum (Nos.
433492,435045,435047)--thefirst to be reportednorth of the Equator. They were
collectedby the Olalla Bros.in 1929: a male at E1 Merey, Rio Casiquiare,Venezuela (about 3ø N. lat.), on April 18; and two femalesat Tahuapunto, Rio
Uaup•s, Brazil, on July 15. Although domesticais said to leave its Argentine
breedinggroundsby March (gatheringin flockswith elegans)and to begin to
reappear in late August, the most northern record has hitherto been of seven
taken in September,just south of the Equator, at Yucabl, upper Rio Negro, Brazil
(Zimm•, 1955, op. cit.: 2), a locality where the same collectoron the same date
also took the breeding form, nominate chalybea. The three more northern specimens, here considereddomestica,Zimmer (op. cit.) included under chalybea. He
apparently wasdisinclined to attribute to the migrant form specimensfound in the
range of the tropical race, unlessexceptionally large in both tail and wing.
The subspecies
domesticabreedsover northeasternArgentina, adjacentParaguay
and easternBolivia, north to central and southeasternBrazil, where it apparently
intergradeswith the smaller tropical chalybea. Basedon a sampleseriesfrom the
undoubted breeding range of each, Zimmer (op. cit.: 1-2) found the following
size differences.P.c. chalybea: males--wing,124-138 (131.7),tail, 58-66 (62.5);
females--wing,121-132 (130), tail, 54-65 (61). P.c. domestica:males--wing,137-
144 (141.2),tail, 70-77 (73.2); females--wing,135-142 (139),tail, 70-80 (74). In
domesticaadults tend to be paler on the throat and breast,and iramatures to have
more conspicuouspale edgingson the brown breast; but these characterssome-
timesappearin chalybea. The male from E1 Merey, Venezuela,thoughimmature,
agreeswith the larger southernrace, both in color and in measurements;
wing,
141, tail, 70; in fact the label in Zimmer'shandwritingidentifiesit as domestica.
This bird (gonads
markedsmall) showsmolt just begun,havingdroppedthe
innermost
primary--as
onewouldexpectin April of a southern
migrantbird of
the year. The listingas chalybeain Zimmer'spaper may have resultedfrom
confusion
with anotherexample(wing, 130; tail, 62) from the samelocality,
takenon the followingday, undoubtedly
nominatechalybea.That is an adult
femalelabelledas havingenlargedovary (as mightbe expectedin April of the
populationbreedingat 3ø N. latitude),andhasjust completed
the wingmolt (the
sheathof the outermost
primarystill visible). The two femalesfrom Tahuapunto,
Brazil, showthe mottledbreastusual in youngdomesticaand satisfyZimmer's
criteriain winglength(136,140). Their shorttails (64,65) areexplainedby their
beingbirdsof the yearin full molt, with the longestremigesand rectricesvery worn
(the tips brokenoff in one specimen),
and with all exceptthe two outer pairs
of primariesand rectrices
replaced. Zimmer'ssampleseriesof domestica
from the
breedinggroundsconsisted
of adults. In Prognebirds of the year have shorter
tails. Thus, in the AmericanMuseumseriesof elegans,
which is a longer-tailed
form than domestica,severalof the immatures, taken as migrants at Tahuapunto
on the samedate and place,have tails measuringonly between63-65. These
birds are in a stageof molt and wear like that of the two domestica.While we
do not know the molt regimenof suchmartins as may breed about Tahuapunto,
this agreementof the two specimens
with the admittedlymigratoryeleganssuggests
that they alsoare migrants.
K. H. Voous("TheBirdsof Aruba,Curacao,
andBonaire",
p. 207,MartinusNijhoff,The Hague,1957)haspointedout that threeout of four Prognechalybea
takenin Cura9ao(wherethis species
doesnot breed) are pale-throated
and may
meet Zimmer'smensuralcriteria for domestica,
but he tentativelypreferredto list
them as nominatechalybea,which breedson the adjacentVenezuelanmainland.
Dr. Vooushas kindly advisedme that only one of the Curacaobirds is in his
possession,
and his notes do not indicate that any was molting primaries or
rectrices. The two largestbirds (wing, 147.5,145) were adults taken on October
6, 1955;that theyshouldnot be moltingis what onewouldexpectof domestica.
Relationo! breedingand molt cyclesin Progne:The informationavailableon
breeding
season
andtheexamination
of overtwohundredspecimens
of P. chalybea,
rangingfrom Mexicoto northernArgentina,indicatethat in tropicallatitudes
north and southof the Equator breedingand molt occurat oppositetimesof the
year, corresponding
in generalwith the seasons
of the adjacenttemperatezone.
In the more sedentarytropicalpopulationsof P. chalybeathe breedingseasonmay
be longerthan that of the northernsubisor the southernelegans,and the molt of
individual birds may possiblyprogressfaster. For populationsof P. chalybea
very closeto the Equator (two or threedegrees)the molt and breedingrelation
is unclear, as few specimensbear significantgonadal data. At these low latitudes,as Miller has reported (Acta XI Cong. Int. Ornith. Basel 1954: 495-50•,
1955),certainpassetines
have,and othershavenot, a definitebreedingseason,
and
evenat higher tropicallatitudessomepassetines
may molt while nesting--contrary
to the usualsituationin the temperatezones. Sincereproductionand molt have
different endocrinebases (Assenmacher,
Alauda, 26: 251-265, 1958), a correlation
adaptivelyuseful in areasof marked seasonalchangemay conceivablybe absent
elsewhere,even in the samespecies. Thus on the GalapagosArchipelago,straddling the Equator, the sedentaryendemicP.m. modesta (currentlyregardedas
conspecific
with the migratoryelegans)breedswhile activelymolting. Beebereported finding six nests in March on IndefatigableIsland, just south of the
532
[- Auk
General Notes
LVol.•8
Equator ("Galapagos:
World'sEnd", p. 93. G. P. Putnam'sSons,1924). Of 30
Galapagosspecimens
examinedin the AmericanMuseum,all those (14) taken
betweenlate February (molt begun) and May (molt incomplete)were replacing
primaries; sevenMarch, 1935specimens(with from four to six freshor sprouting
primaries) bear labels, in J.P. Chapin's handwriting,showingenlargedgonads,
two with brood spot and enlargedoviduct (one with two empty ovarian follicles),
indicating recent egg-laying. (October and November specimensfrom the Galapagosare not molting, except for an immature; none carry gonadal indication.)
Molting when breedinghas not been noted in P. chalybea,but the possibilitythat
this may occurnear the Equator mustbe kept in mind in usingmolt and gonadal
conditionas cluesto subspecific
identification.
In this paperP. subishasbeenusedin the senseof the A.O.U. Check-list(1957),
and not in the broader
sense of the "Distributional
Check-list
of the
Birds
of
Mexico,"pt. 2:107 (1957),becausethe West Indian cryptoleucaand dominiccrisis
and the west Mexican sinaloaeseemto me at least as closelyallied to P. chalybea
as to P. subis (seeZimmer, 1955, op. cit.: 2-4). Though all forms of Progne are
geographicalrepresentatives,
the likelihood of somebreedingoverlap in Mexico and
Argentina justifiesthe presentmaintenanceof severalspecies(Zimmer, loc. cit.;
Hellmayr, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., 13, pt. 8: 21, 23-24, 1935). In treating
elegans
asa subspecies
of P. modestaHell.mayrand Zimmerare followed,with some
hesitation;the Englishname selectedis intendedfor the entire P. modestacomplex.
I am indebtedto Dr. R. S. Storerfor sendingthe Panamaspecimenof elegansfor
identification.--E. EISENMANN,
American Museum o)• Natural History, Neu• York 24,
N.Y.
Blue Jays Attack a Red Bat.--Although the Blue Jay's habit of pestering
hawks and owls and of frequently attacking other birds is commonly observed,
assaultson bats may be rare. The following incident may therefore be worth
recording.
During the noon hour of July 3, 1958, Mr. R. L. Browning,a student,came
to my office to inquire whether anyone in the Biology Department might be
interested in an observationwhich he and his wife had just made. While sitting
under a tree on the Universityof Louisvillecampusthey had becomeaware of a
commotion overhead which involved a small group of screaming Blue Jays,
Cyanocittacristata. A bat then flew from the tree, followed by the attacking
jays, and came to earth a few yards away. At the approach of the Brownings
the jays departed while the bat remained motionlesson the ground.
The three of us then went immediately to the sceneof the encounter,where we
locateda Red Bat, Lasiurusborealis (Miiller), in the grass. When picked up it
made no attempt to fly but it was able to bite. The only visible evidence of
injury was a small abrasionon one side of the abdomen. By the following day
it showedno signsof distress.--WILLIAM
M. C•,Y, Department o)• Biology, University o! Louisville, Louisville 8, Kentucky.
Large Numbers of Bohemian Waxwings in New Mexieo.--Duringthe month
of April, 1959,large numbersof BohemianWaxwings(Bombycillagarrulus)were
seen in Santa Fe, New Mexico by myself and other observers. The invasion of
thesebirds beganApril 5 and lastedapproximatelyone month. The last onesI
saw were three on May 12. During the month at least 5,000,and possiblyas many
as 10,000,were presentin the area. I saw hundredsin my garden on numerous
occasions.As an indication of the great numbersof the birds, on April 13, a large