Page:Condor20(3).djvu/17

 May, 1918 COSTA'$ HUMMINGBIID 115 Mouche dcrit par M. Bourcier sous le nom d'Ornismya costae, n'ont t dcrits et figures que d'aprs des individus rapports par la Venus". Dr. Adolphe Simon Neboux was surgeon major on the "Venus", and his statement clearly shows that these species were known at that time only from specimens brought back by that vessel. The "Venus", a French frigate, in command of Captain'Abel du Petit- Thouars, sailed from Brest, France, December 29, 1836, and after a voyage around the world returned to that port June 24, 1839. According to Bancroft (Hist. Galif., IV, 1886, p. 147), the primary object of this voyage was to investi- gate the whale fisheries of the North Pacific with a view to the further devel- opment of that industry and the protection of French interests. Taking a southwest course the vessel touched at Teneriffe, tio Janeiro, Valparaiso, Cal- lao, Honolulu, Petropavlovski, Kamchatka, and arrived at Monterey, October 18, 1837. She then had 300 men on board, scurvy had appeared, and the crew was in need of fresh provisions. Nearly a month was spent in securing supplies and making scientific observations at Monterey. On November 14 she weighed anchor for Magdalena Bay, Lower California, and thence proceeded to Mazat- lan, San Blas, Acapulco, and points in the South Pacific. From the list of places visited by the "Venus" (Voyage autour du Monde, III, Appendix, 1841), it appears that the ports just mentioned were the only ones on the coast of North America at which the vessel stopped. Twenty-seven days (October 18 to November 14) were spent at Monterey, 11 (November 25 to December 6) at Magdalena Bay, 6 (December 12 to 18) at Mazatlan, 6 (December 21 to 27) at San Blas, and 15 (January 8 to 23, 1838) at Ac. apulco. As already stated, the original habitat of Costa's Hummingbird was given as California; but in a brief summary o the zoological collections of the "Ve- nus" (Voyage, III, p. 468), Blainvilie mentions a new hummingbird (evidently referring to this species) as having been taken at San Bias. California is evi- dently a slip for Lower California, and San Blas is clearly an error as the spe- cies has not as yet been found so far south. From what we now know of the distribution of Costa's Hummingbird the only ports at which the type speci- men could have been obtained on this voyage were Monterey, Magdalena Bay, or Mazatlan. If Mazatlan had been the port the locality would almost cer- tainly have been mentioned as Mexico and not California. If California is cor- rect, Monterey must be the type locality and late October or early November the date. As a matter of fact this hummingbird rarely occurs on the coast of California north of Santa Barbara, and then only in the breeding season. In winter it migrates south of San Diego and usualiy leaves in September. on- erey in 'late autUmn is therefore an almost impossible locality. On the other hand, Magdalena Bay, Lower California, given as he type locality by Parzudaki, who handled the type specimen upon its arrival in Paris, is precise- ly the place where the bird would naturally be found in November or early December, and may be safely accepted as the true type locality. This correc- tion was adopted by Baird (Rept. Pacific R. R. Surv., IX, 1858, p. 138, and in .Cooper's Ornithology of Calif., 1870, p. 360), but has been lost sight of by later authors. If, then, Calypte costae was described from a winter specimen from Lower California, when was it found in California and what was its subsequent his- tory ? Apparently the first record of its capture in California was made by John Xantus who collected at Fort Tejon from May, 1857, to November, 1858,