Phaethornis malaris moorei (1 Viewer)

Sure the key is right with

William E. Moore (fl. 1857) explorer in Amazonia (subsp. Phaethornis malaris).

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As we can read here p. 259:

I have named this species after its discoverer, Mr. Wm. E. Moore, as a tribute to his enterprise and indefatigable perseverance in accomplishing a journey acrosss the entire continent of South America near the Equator, unaided, and for a great portion of the way unaccompanied, except by Indian guides.

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On p. 264 he wrote:

The above described Humming-Birds from part of the collection (now in my possecion) by Mr. Wm. E. Moore, on his recent travels in South America. The subjoined extract from one of his letters will give the locality where they were obtained:--
"The Humming Birds I gave you were all collected between the head waters of the Napo and Quito; this journey was performed on foot, three hundred miles through a dense forest, at base of the Bolivian range of the Andes"

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And here we can read:

A specimen of the monkey (U.S. N. M. No. 3332) collected by William E. Moore in 1857 somewhere along the Río Napo in eastern Ecuador has yallowish underparts and a golden brown patch.

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So I am wondering if William Eves Moore (1823-1899) here may have been e.g. on missionary or archelogical trip for some time in South America? Nevertheless I found no final evidence that he was. But maybe just a guess to find more on this gentlemen or another potential William E. Moore.

PS. Here he is written as Rev. WM. E. MOORE (as George Newbold Lawrence did).

This is William "Uncle Billy" Moore who was part of the self styles (and hilarious) "Iowa Exploring Expedition":

Riismandel gives a riveting account here:

https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewconten...sredir=1&article=11230&context=annals-of-iowa

I especially love the account of his accidental shooting of his cousin!

I believe but am not certain this is the William Moore whose dates are 1805-1890. I am not sure where the initial E. comes from. He is buried at Long Creek Cemetery, Danville, Des Moines, Iowa, US.

P

So you think it is him here and grave stone here.

William Moore
1805-1890
Marriage: 6 July 1843
Des Moines, Iowa Territory, United States
Jane Moore
1822-1889

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How do you/we know "Moore's Hermit" is "Uncle Billy's Hermit"?

I fail to see the connection between Lawrence and "Uncle Billy". Isn´t William Moore a very common name?

This far I would'n dare say more than what's told in the OD.

Any other links found between an identified/traceable William (E.) Moore and George (N.) Lawrence?

/B

PS. James has apparently found something, as today's Key is updated into:

● William E. Moore (fl. 1858) US taxidermist, collector in Ecuador (subsp. Phaethornis malaris).

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Calalp said:

How do you/we know "Moore's Hermit" is "Uncle Billy's Hermit"?
:

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As in the document Andrew Jackson Stevens and the Iowa Exploring Expedition to Ecuador is written...

The two Iowans who comprised the expedition to Ecuador
were William Moore and Edward Francis. Moore was a resident
of Des Moines and probably was the instigator of the expedition.
He was a taxidermist and collector of birds by profession. He had
arrived in Des Moines in the late 1840s and soon became well
known in the state for his taxidermy. At the Iowa State Fair of
1854, held in Fairfield, Iowa, he exhibited a "fine collection of
birds.

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The Iowa Exploring Expedition, as it was styled in the newspapers,
left Des Moines in late 1856. Presumably, Moore and
Francis traveled to New Orleans where they could have taken a
ship to Panama. From there they would have crossed the Isthmus
and sailed down the west coast of South America to Guayaquil,
the principal port of Ecuador. From Guayaquil, they traveled
overland and after an arduous journey arrived in Quito, the Ecuadorian
capital, in early 1857.

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Yes, Martin, I can read, but I was looking for a clear connection between the Iowan "Uncle Billy" and Mr. Lawrence (alt. the AMNH) ... however; I will leave it here.

Off to work!

/B

For me the clear connection is that he collected 1857 in Ecuador and was in Quito and at Río Napo. Even if the name is common, I would say it would be a lot of coincidence if there is another William E. Moore around in the same time in the same area.

Calalp is quite correct there is no link between William "Uncle Billy" Moore and William Moore taxidermist. This is my error brought about by the assumption that the mention of "Uncle Billy" in the Riismandel account indicated these two William Moores were the same person.

William "Uncle Billy" Moore was in fact a respectable stalwart of Iowan society and died happily abed in his 80's. William Moore the taxidermists life and death was less peaceful:

https://books.google.co.nz/books?id...gAhXVbX0KHaiIAtIQ6AEIMjAC#v=onepage&q&f=false.

One might surmise that either Moore himself or Andrew Jackson Stewart (who financed the "Iowa Exploring Expedition") probably sold the collection to Lawrence during the "Panic of 1857" after the Iowa museum enterprise failed to make a profit. Lawrence's collection was donated to the A.M.N.H.

The exact nature of the transaction could probably be ascertained through the correspondence of Lawrence:

http://images.library.amnh.org/hidd...is-friends-the-dual-nature-of-ornithologists/

How the monkey got to the USNM is interesting. Presumably Lawrence didn't want Moore's mammals and they were sold to the USNM.

All in all James' summary is entirely accurate. I suspect William Moore's dates and origins will never be known,

Type Specimens of Birds in the American Museum of Natural History ... by James C. Greenway Jr, (1978), doesn't say more than:

Phaethornis moorei Lawrence
[...]
Holotype. AMNH37084, not sexed (?male) collected on the Rio Napo, Ecuador, date not recorded, by collectors for William E. Moore.
...

[p.163, here]​

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And (like noted in post #8); not to confuse with William W. [Wells] Moore, a k a "Uncle Billy", (1832–1918), who, as a teenager, settled down in Des Moines; "... probably one of the best known men in the city". More on him (even if entirely irrelevant to the bird in question) see; BEGINNINGS: Reminiscens of Early Des Moines, by Tacitus Hussey, 1919 (here or here). Alt. here.

I think Paul is fully correct, in the assumption that "our" Mr. Moore's "dates and origins will never be known". Or like J. M. Dixson wrote it (in 1876); " ... one day, weary and disapointed, he shook the Des Moines dust from his feet and garments, and left, never to return."

Glad he´s not one of "my guys" ...

Björn

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

Moore's Hermit Phaethornis malaris moorei G. N. Lawrence, 1858 [Alt. Great-billed Hermit ssp.]
William E. Moore (DNF) was an explorer in Amazonia, who crossed South America (1857) following the line of Equator.

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