Another e-mail just arrived ...
Thanks to Rüdiger Becker, at
Museum Heineanum, in Halberstadt, Germany, I think the closest we get to find the type of
grillii will be "Heine's" specimen (see post #43 & 47), a specimen that Ferdinand Heine had received from Verreaux, in Paris. This specimen does still exist, however (not close enough); it is not listed as the Type, at least not in the
Type-catalog of the birds in the Museum Heineanum, by Christiane Quaisser and Bernd Nicolai (for download,
here), published in
Abhandlungen und Berichte aus dem Museum Heineanum 7 (Sonderheft 2), 2006.
Mr Becker as well sent me a Photo of the old, blue Original label (that I cannot post here, due to copyright regulations). Either way; on the label [MUSEUM HEINEANUM/ST. BURCHARD b. HALBERSTADT] it is written in black ink: "
Centropus Grillii. Hartlaub, [Male symbol], Verreaux. Gabon. West Africa." [This label also has a red ink mark/No. "7341", in line/series with other
Centropus birds kept in the same museum]
As I read it (the little I understand of) Hartlaub's OD (in German) the other two birds described at the same time, in the same paper, both came from Verreaux. What says that the "
Grillii" one did not? Are we sure that Hartlaub's specimen ever, truly was included in the
Bremer Sammlung (the collection in Bremen) ... ?
Could it be that Schlegel (in 1862) simply didn´t know, or missed ... that "Heine's" bird was the same one as the one Hartlaub had studied the year before? Wing and tail measurements wasn´t, and have never been (and still aren´t) an exact way/unit/system of measurement, not down to the very last millimeter (due to different ways of examination alt. measure, simply different ways of handling the specimens; very carefully versus a bit more heavy-handed).
The Plot thickens! Could Heine's specimen possibly be the lost Type!? Bremen and Halberstadt isn´t that far apart ...
However; note that one of other two birds/taxa described in Hartlaubs Paper of 1861; the "
Pseudochelidon eurystomina" is equally "
verschollen" and "
nicht auffindbar". The "
Nectarinia gabonica" (today's
Anthreptes gabonicus) is not listed at all, by Carlos Sánchez Osés. This could of course have its explanation in the fact that the UMB (
Übersee-Museum Bremen) were badly damaged in the WWII bombings (in 1943) ...
Also note that
Museum Heineanum does include other types (syntypes) in
Cuculidae, originating from Gabon, collected by/recieved from the same (E. & J.) Verreaux, like; "
Lamprococcyx resplendens" HEINE, 1863 (today's
Chrysococcyx klaas STEPHENS 1815) as well as "
Lamprococcyx chrysites" HEINE 1863 (today's
Chrysococcyx caprius BODDAERT 1783).
Either way, as Rüdiger Becker informs me that there is no additional information regarding the
grillii specimen, nothing further of its provenance, none, ... thereby it´s tricky to figure out where to go next ...
To me, if we can´t find out if Heine's specimen is the Type itself, it could at best be considered a (sort of) "para-syn-type"; same species, same location, (same sex) same supplier, most likely caught at the same time. Possibly from the same batch? Even if not ever a true syntype, nor a paratype (as Hartlaub only mentioned a single bird), at best it could, maybe (in my mind), be a possible candidate for a future lectotype?
If there´s a need for any such one, of course ...
Björn
PS. And; there is no specimen of
Centropus grillii kept in the Type collection of NRM (
here), in Stockholm, Sweden (where Mr Grill's own bird collection ended up).