The Auk A Quarterly Journalof Ornithology Vol. 117 No. 2 April 2000

The Auk 117(2):279-289, 2000

A NEW BUSH- (, BRADYPTERUS) FROM TAIWAN

PAMELA C. RASMUSSEN,L5 PHILIP D. ROUND,2 EDWARD C. DICKINSON,3 AND E G. ROZENDAAL 4 •Divisionof ,Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560,USA; and Michigan State University Museum,East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA; 2Centerfor ConservationBiology, Faculty of Science,Mahidol University, Rama 6 Road,Bangkok 10400, Thailand; 3TheTrust for OrientalOrnithology, Flat 3, BolsoverCourt, 19 BolsoverRoad, Eastbourne BN20 7JG, UnitedKingdom; and 4Akker 113, 3732 XC De Bill The Netherlands

ABSTRACT.--Abush-warbler of the genusBradypterus, known from the mountainsof Tai- wan since 1917,has never been formally named as a distinct taxon.Songs of the Taiwan populationdiffer strikinglyfrom thoseof its Asiancongeners in beingmuch clearer, sweeter, more piercing,and in having a very different structureof elements.Several subtle but con- sistentmorphological differences exist between specimens from Taiwanand all namedtaxa, principallyin bill sizeand shape, plumage color and reduced variability, pattern of undertail coverts,and wing formula.Therefore, the Taiwan population is besttreated as a newspecies. Received17 December1998, accepted30 August 1999.

BRADYPTERUS BUSH- were first col- from southern Vietnam. At that time, Delacour lected in the mountains of Taiwan in 1917 (1952)correctly reversed Seebohm's (1881) syn- (Hachisukaand Udagawa1951). The popula- onymizationof what hasbecome known as B. tion initially was treated as Bradypterusluteo- seebohmi(Ogilvie-Grant) of southernAsia and ventris(Hodgson), which is a widespreadspe- the Philippineswith B. luteoventris.However, ciesin southernAsia. Severalspecimens were Delacourentirely omitted the easternHimala- depictedand discussedby Kuroda (1938), and yan population named B. mandelli(Brooks); we the nestingwas describedby Yamashinaand usethis namehereafter because it haspriority Yamada (1937). Hachisuka and Udagawa over the name B. seebohmi(Dickinson et al. (1951) tentatively treated the Taiwan as 1998). Most later authors referred the Taiwan "B. luteoventrissubsp.?" but indicatedthat it populationto the race from adjacenteastern shouldbe comparedwith the race B. l. mela- China, B. mandellimelanorhynchus (Meyer de norhynchus(Rickett) of adjacenteastern China. Schauensee1984, Watson 1986, Cheng Tso-hsin In his revisionof Bradypterus,Delacour (1943) 1987), and photographsof the Taiwan bird overlookedthe Taiwanpopulation, but later,af- haveappeared under the name Bradypterus see- ter Hachisukasent him four specimens,Dela- bohmi(Sha Qianzhong 1992:194-195). cour (1952)concluded that Taiwaneseand Thai More recently, PDR, FGR, and P. Alstr6m specimensbelonged to thetaxon idoneus, which (pers.comm.) realized, on the basisof its dis- previouslywas known only from the holotype tinctivesong, that the Taiwanform mustbe an undescribedspecies, and PCR could not iden- E-mail: [email protected] tify specimensfrom Taiwan as either B. man-

279 280 RASMUSSENETAL. [Auk, Vol. 117 dellior B. luteoventris.Subsequent study of mor- browner,less olive upperparts,and muchnar- phologyand vocalizationshas confirmedthat rower pale tips on the undertail coverts.Com- the Taiwaneseform is an undescribedspecies, pared with B. luteoventris(n = 26; seecover), B. which we proposeto name: alishanensisdiffers structurallyin having the bill tip slightly wider (from above)and more Bradypterusalishanensis sp. nov. evenlytapered (on sideview). Its plumagedif- Taiwan Bush-Warbler fers in that the throat is speckled,the upper- parts are redder, the sideslack bright yellow- Holotype.--NationalMuseum of Natural His- ish-buff, the undertail coverts have more defi- tory (USNM) 483830, adult female from Ta- nite pale tips, and the upper surfaceof the rec- Kuan, Hua Lian Hsien (=Ta-Kuan-Ts'un, Hua- trices is paler than B. luteoventris(Table 2). Lien Hsien; 23ø45'N, 121ø25'E),Taiwan, about Adult B. alishanensisalso have a partially or en- 48 km southwestof Hua Lien (alonga railroad tirely dark lower mandible (vs. always pale in near a lumber camp named Ta Kuan) at about luteoventris),and the interramal skin often is 1,270 m elevation(C. Fennell unpubl. data, ar- unfeathered and dark (vs. white-feathered in chivedat The Trust for Oriental Ornithology); luteoventris). collected25 March 1960by C. Fennell(Robert Comparedwith B. m. mandelli(n = 24, indi- E. Kuntz collectionon label), BH 952, NAMRU- rect comparisonwith 14 others;see Dickinson 2 Project. et al. 2000 for revised racial boundaries), B. ali- Diagnosis.bMedium-sized,rather long-tailed, shanensisdiffers structurally in its finer, nar- large-footed bush-warbler,with a relatively rower bill, with a smallergonydeal angle; nar- slender bill (cover, Table 1). Upperparts uni- rower and less-exposednares; longer wings, formly dark dull brown, throat whitish with with a broaderinner "hand"; less-pointedtips vagueto prominentsmall brown specklescon- to freshrectrices; and larger feet (Table1). Bra- centratedin center,breast pale grayish-brown, dypterusalishanensis has drabberbrown upper- flanksrelatively drab brownish, and longestun- parts, a narrowerwhite throat owing to the dertail covertspale dull brown with indistinct brown malar region, and a stronger pale su- whitish tips. percilium aboveand behind the eye (cover,Ta- The following comparisonswere made di- ble 2). The throatspeckling is variablebut usu- rectly for 12 B. alishanensisspecimens, photo- ally is mostdistinct on the centerof the throat, graphsand measurements of anotherspecimen with at mosta few speckleson the uppermost studied separately(MKB 75422), and photo- breast.In contrast,in spottedB. mandelli,the graphsonly of five othersat the YamashinaIn- specklesare heavieston the upper breast.No stitute (seeAppendix). "Indirect comparison" B. alishanensisspecimens exhibit the largedark as used below refersto comparisonsof photo- throat spots found in some B. mandelli.The graphsand measurements.For consistency,all sides of the breast are much less variable in col- measurementswere taken by PCR. Ascendant or, being dull pale grayish-brown;the flanks numbering(i.e. outer to inner) of primariesand lack or havea weakercinnamon tinge; the dis- maximum wing arc are used to provide consis- tal undertail coverts are much paler brown, tency with previouswork on sylviids (Svens- with lesscontrastingly pale tips; and the tail is son 1992:15-16, 20-21). paler (Table 2). Overall, B. alishanensisis more The Taiwan Bush-Warbler differs from the uniformbrown and muchless variable in plum- Spotted Bush-Warbler(B. thoracicus;n = 65) age than B. mandelli(cover). and the SiberianBush-Warbler (B. [t.] davidi;n Comparedwith the easternChinese race B. = 11) in havinga muchlonger and less-round- mandellimelanorhynchus (n = 5, indirect com- ed tail, with stiffer shaft tips on the rectrices. parisonwith 5 others),B. alishanensisdiffers as Comparedwith the latter two taxa, the plum- from B. m. mandelli,but B. m. melanorhynchusis age nearly lacks gray or rufescenttones, and more similar to B. alishanensisin color of up- the undertail covertshave much paler bases perparts and in wing formula (Tables 1, 2). that contrastless with the tips. Comparedwith the two known specimensof Comparedwith ChineseBush-Warblers (B. the southern Vietnam race in which Delacour tacsanowskius;n = 24), B. alishanensishas a (1952) placedTaiwan birds (B. mandelliidoneus, much longer,broader outermostprimary (P1), n = 1, indirectcomparison with 1 other),B. ali- April 2000] New Bush-Warblerfrom Taiwan 281 282 RASMUSSENETAL. [Auk, Vol. 117

TABLE2. Summarystatistics (• --- SD, n) for colorimetriccomparisons (using a Minolta CR-221chromo- meter)between Bradypterus alishanensis and relatedtaxa. Higher valuesof L indicateincreasing lightness, highervalues of a increasingredness (vs. greenness),and highervalues of b increasingyellowness (vs. blueness).Significance levels as for Table 1.

Taxon Type of Variable mandelli melanorhynchus idoneus alishanensis luteoventris Crown L 29.4 -- 1.6, 25 30.2 ñ 1.4, 5 25.2 29.3 ñ 2.5, 5 29.7 --- 1.1, 18 a 6.0 ñ 0.6, 25* 5.3 + 0.8, 5 5.6 5.4 +_ 0.4, 5 4.9 + 0.5, 18' b 15.0 ñ 1.4, 25 14.6 ñ 1.3, 5 14.5 14.9 ñ 0.7, 5 14.6 ñ 1.1, 18 Mantle L 29.9 ñ 1.7, 24 29.7 ___0.8, 5 27.1 29.8 --- 2.2, 5 31.0 --- 1.0, 18 a 6.0 + 0.7, 24* 5.8 ñ 0.5, 5 5.2 5.1 _ 0.6, 5 4.7 ñ 0.6, 18 b 16.5 + 1.4, 24* 16.5 ñ 1.3, 5 14.7 15.3 ñ 0.8, 5 16.1 ñ 1.6, 18 Sides of breast L 45.6 ñ 3.5, 27 48.4 ñ 7.3, 3 51.7 43.6 ñ 2.6, 5 51.4 ñ 2.9, 23*** a 3.3 ñ 1.3, 27 2.0 ñ 1.0, 3 1.4 2.8 ñ 0.8, 5 3.3 +_ 1.2, 23 b 15.2 ñ 4.0, 27 11.6 + 6.4, 3 13.6 14.3 + 3.2, 5 20.9 ñ 3.0, 23** Longest undertail coverts L 39.9 ñ 2.2, 15'** 42.1 +_ 1.6, 4* 41.4 46.5 ñ 3.3, 5 46.2 + 3.7, 2O a 3.9 + 0.6, 15' 3.9 + 0.3, 4 3.1 4.8 ñ 0.8, 5 5.1 _ 0.7, 2O b 14.3 + 1.8, 15'* 15.3 ñ 1.3, 4** 15.5 19.3 ñ 2.0, 5 21.5 ___2.7, 2O Upper surface of central rectrix L 29.5 ñ 1.5, 16'* 30.2 ñ 1.5, 4 27.5 32.3 + 1.5, 5 29.6 ñ 2.2, 21'* a 5.0 ñ 0.4, 16 5.2 ñ 0.3, 4 4.5 5.0 +- 0.4, 5 5.2 +__0.3, 4 b 11.2 ñ 1.2, 16' 12.7 ñ 1.0, 4 9.2 12.8 ñ 1.2, 5 13.1 ñ 1.6, 21 shanensisagain differsmuch as from nominate rower outerprimaries. In plumage,the upper- B. m. mandelli(Tables I and 2). However, B. m. partsof B. alishanensisare muchless russet, the idoneushas an evenbroader innerwing than B. freshfeathers (especially rectrices) are less de- alishanensis,and its upperpartsare darkerthan composed,the rear superciliumand auriculars thoseof B. alishanensis,but are equallydrab. are browner,the superciliumis more promi- Comparedwith the uniquetype specimenof nentbefore and abovethe eye,the breast is less Bradypterus[montis] seebohmi of Luzon, B. ali- gray, the underparts lack dark streaks, the shanensishas a finer bill, more extensively flanks are drabber, the undertail coverts have featherednares, longer wings, and less-round- muchpaler basesand less contrastinglypale ed tips to the rectrices(measurements in Dick- tips,and the tail is muchpaler. The legs of typ- inson et al. 2000). In plumage, B. alishanensis ical B. alishanensisare paler than those of many hasa brownerrear superciliumand lowerface, adult B. montisspecimens. The juvenalplum- lessrusset upperparts and wing edgings,much age is brownerand muchmore uniformbelow, paler bases and much less well-marked pale lacking the strong yellowish suffusionand tips to the undertail coverts,and lacks gray- streaked appearancebelow of juvenal-plum- and-white striations on the throat and sides of aged B. montis. the breast. Comparedwith B. [montis]timorensis (n = 2, Comparedwith the JavanBush-Warbler (B. measurements in Dickinson et al. 2000), B. ali- montis;n = 6, indirectcomparison with 36 oth- shanensishas a finer bill, longer wing, and ers and photosof 1 to 2 live birds in Rozendaal shorter tail. In plumage,the upperpartsare [1989]), B. alishanensisdiffers structurally(Ta- darker and much less reddish than those of B. ble 1) in its smaller size; smaller, less-rounded, timorensis;the breast, rear auriculars, and lower and much more extensivelyfeathered nares; face are browner; the superciliumis more smaller bill and legs; narrower rectrices;pro- prominentand whiter in front of the eye;the portionately longer wings; and distally nar- malar area is browner and darker; the auricu- April 2000] NewBush-Warbler,from Taiwan 283 lars are darker with more evident shaft streaks; pale beige(paler than 7.5 YR 8/4); the under- the flanksare drabber;and the pale tips on the wing primary covertshave large medium gray undertailcoverts are slightlymore marked. (7.5 YR 5 / 2) centers;the undersurfacesof rem- Descriptionof holotype.--Colordesignations igesare alsomedium gray,with paler edgesof are from the Munsell color chart for plant tis- inner webs. The bill is rather fine, on lateral sues.Comparisons of the holotypewith color view gradingevenly toward the tip. The narial chips were made by PCR under fluorescent featheringextends distally to covermuch of the lighting. The crown from narial feathersto nares. In the dried skin, the maxilla is blackish nape is uniform dark brown (5 YR 3/3), the exceptfor the tip, whichis paler Themandible featherswith slightlydarker tips. The supercil- is blackish-hornwith a yellowish-horngony- ium is dull pale buff (palerand lesspink than deal edge. The bare interramal skin is dusky, 7.5 YR 8/4), extendingfrom the nares to the and visible rictal bristles are absent. The feet rear edge of auriculars;it is moderatelywell and claws of the dried skin are pinkish horn, marked and unbroken in front of and above the and the clawsare tipped darker eye,and weak behindthe eye.The loreshave a Measurementsofholotype.--Overall length 132 smallblackish-gray patch, extending as a thin mm (C. Fennellunpubl. data);wing (maximum dark line below the front half of the eye. The arc) 53.0 mm; tail 60.4 mm; tarsus 18.4 mm; cul- auriculars have fine white shaft streaks on a men from skull base 14.2 mm (seealso Table 1). uniform medium brown (7.5 YR 5/3) back- Distribution.--Bradypterusalishanensis is res- ground.This colorextends to themalar region, ident with some seasonal elevational move- whereit is slightlypaler The chinand narrow ments in the mountains of north-central and throat are white, with many vague,fine (1.5 centralTaiwan. Apparently, it is rare (onesight mm or smaller),pale brown (7.5YR 7/3) speck- record)at low elevations(see Fig. 1, Appendix). les and a few crisp, fine (0.6 mm), very dark It is a common breeding bird between 1,200 brown (7.5YR 4/2) specklesin the centerof the and 3,000 m in at least two major areas (Ya- throat. mashina and Yamada 1937). The upperpartsfrom nape to wing and up- Specimens.--SeeAppendix for designationof pertailcoverts are the samecolor as the crown, paratypesand their data, and for data from but withoutthe slightly scaled appearance. The other specimens.Visualization of cranialossi- remigeshave similarly colored outer edges, but ficationin radiographson lateral and ventral the rest of eachremex is slatierand darker (5 views showsthat the four AMNH specimens YR 4 / 2). The sidesof the neckare slightlydark- and thosein the type seriesfrom USNM and er brown than the auriculars and lack visible YPM havefully pneumatizedskulls. white shaft streaks.The lower throat and up- Soft-partcolors.--See Appendix. perbreast grade from the white of thethroat to Etymology.--Thisspecies is named after the pale coldbrown (7.5 YR 6/3), darkeron sides A-li Shan (=Mt. Ari, Arisan, Ali-Shan), on of the breast. The sides and flanks are darker whichthe first specimenswere collectedby Dr. brown (lessred than 7.5 YR 4/4) and do not Motoki and Y. Kikuchi in 1917. This montane grade into unmarkedwhitish centralunder- locality is one of two main breeding areas partsfrom lowerbreast to lowerbelly. The un- known for the .The proposedEnglish dertail covertsare pale brown (7.5 YR 6/4) and name has not been applied to other taxa and have beige (7.5 YR 8/2) tips that are about3 emphasizesthe endemismof this previously mm wide on the longestcoverts, the tip not overlookedspecies. sharplydemarcated from the rest of thefeather Variation.--One"melanistic" specimen of B. The uppertailsurface is darkbrown (7.5 YR 4/ alishanensisis known (Kuroda1938) but hasnot 2) with vaguetransverse barring (palebars ca. beenreexamined for this study. However,be- 1.1 mm, dark bars ca. 0.8 mm). The tips of fresh causethat specimenwas dark brown,not black, rectricesare gently rounded,and the under it is possiblethat B. alishanensishas pale and surfaceof the rectricesis a paler,grayer brown darkmorphs. The holotype is slightlymore ru- (5 YR 5/2) than the upper surface.The tail has fescentabove than any of the paratypes.Three 12 rectrices;the distancefrom the longestto of the paratypeshave more and darkerthroat shortestrectrix is 30 mm; all rectricesare very specklingthan the holotype; the others are fresh.The underwinglinings and axillariesare comparableto the holotypein thisrespect. Our 284 RASMUSSENETAL. [Auk, Vol. 117

121 122 Specimens ."Summer TAIWAN Springor fall r-lwinter ....--' 1500m

..,

records Summer Springor fall Dateunknown

FIG. 1. Known localitiesfor Bradypterusalishanensis (see Appendix). examination of the series confirms Kuroda's lower mandibles,suggesting that adultshave (1938)contention that degreeof throat speck- mainly dark bills year-round.The seriescon- ling is independentof age, season,or sex;the firms that B. alishanensis has reduced levels of only definite first-fall specimen(YI 14853)and plumagevariation compared with intralocality the juvenile paratypeare similar in this char- variability in B. m. mandelliand B. m. melano- acter to adults of both sexes from various sea- rhynchus. sons.The rectricesof wornJuly and November Vocalizations.--Thesong of B. alishanensisdif- specimenshave protruding shafts (as much as fers markedly from those of related taxa for 5 mm in one); an Octoberspecimen has fresh which vocalizationsare known (Fig. 2). The rectrices.The first-fall bird (determinedby its songof B. luteoventrisis an insect-likestaccato, obviously more-pointed fresh rectrices) is dry, reeling tk tk tk tk tk tk that continuesun- slightly darker abovethan the othersbut oth- brokenfor severalseconds (Fig. 2). erwiseis very similar It and the juvenilepara- The songof B. m. mandelli(Fig. 2) is a fren- type are the only specimenswith entirelypale zied yet mechanicalcombination of nasal and April 2000] NewBush-Warbler from Tazwan 285

7.0

6.0 luteoventris

5.0 4.0

alishanensis (1)

4.0

3.0

2.0 alishanensis(2) I I I sec FIG.2. Sonagrams(made on a KayDigital Sono-Graph 7800) of thesongs of Bradypterusluteoventris, Ba BaoShan, Guangdong Province, China, June 1988; B. mandelli,Ba BaoShan, 15 June1988; and B. ali- shanensis,(1)Taipin, 2 March1987, and (2) Shitou, 15 April 1990. All recordingsby E Kennerleyexcept (1), by Liu Yi-Hua. metallic notes, which has been rendered as cree- clicks),with the main clearelement lasting ut or zee-bit(Round 1992). The first element is about 0.33 s. The frequencyof one songse- a buzzing,nasal bzeent, immediately followed quencewith two terminal clicks is centeredat by a very short,metallic clicking, the latter about5.7 kHz and rangesbetween about 5.4 shownon the sonagramto be comprisedof and 6.25kHz (theterminal clicks are highest). multipleelements. The individual songs are re- Another, with three terminal clicks,is centered peatedabout every 0.8 s, and eachlasts about at 3.5 kHz and rangesbetween about 2.25 and 0.3 to 0.4 s, being separatedby intervals of 4.0 kHz; theclicks form the highest and lowest about0.15 to 0.3s. Thebuzzing main notes last portionsof this song.In a recordingof two in- between0.2 to 0.3 s, and the frequencyof the dividuals singing simultaneously,their fre- entire song is centered at around 4.75 kHz, quenciesdiffer greatly. In none of the several rangingfrom 4.0 to 5.5 kHz. Otherrecordings recordingswe haveheard for both B. alishanen- of bothB. m. mandelliand B. m.mdanorhynchus showa very similarpattern, although some sisand B. mandellidoes the song of onespecies range to 6.5 kHz, and songsfrom Emei Shan soundsimilar to the other, and their songs are muchlower in pitch (2.0 to 3.0 kHz). A re- soundeven more different than they appear on cording of B. m. idoneusfrom Da Lat, Vietnam, the sonagrams. hasa similarnote length and burry quality and One of the calls of B. alishanensisis a loud, sounds much like B. mandelli,but the main el- persistent,very rapid and scratchy,ksh ksh ksh ement is precededby two sharp notesrather kshksh, lasting several seconds (Ho Huan San, than beingfollowed by just one (Round1992, 20 April 1987,2,500 m, Liu Yi-Hua recording). E AlstrSmpers. comm.). Thiscall alsois givenin a seeminglyless-in- Thesong of B. alishanensisis a loud,rapidly tenseform with higher,more irregular, more repeated seriesof clear monotoneswithout the tweeting and piping notes,at least sometimes nasaland buzzy qualityof B. mandelli(Fig. 2). endingin a song(same recording). Calls of B. Each song ends in two or three castanet-like mandelliin Thailandtaped by PDR are of sim- clicksthat lack the metallicquality of B. man- ilar quality;however, the notesare lessinsis- dellisongs. Each phrase lasts from about0.6 s tentbut moredistinct and well spacedand have (two terminal clicks) to 0.75 s (three terminal been described as an excited chut chut chut 286 RASMUSSENETAL. [Auk,Vol. 117

(Round 1992). It is unclear whether these dif- mandellibreeds on lightly wooded or brushy ferences between the taxa are consistent. hillsides; both move to lower elevationsin win- Juvenaland immatureplumages.--Nestlings ter (C. Robsonand E Kennerleypers. comm.). were describedby Yamashinaand Yamada Taiwan Bush-Warblers breed from 1,200 to (1937) and Hachisukaand Udagawa (1951), morethan 3,000 m, perhapsreflecting the lack andthe juvenal plumage was described and de- of competingcongeners in Taiwan. pictedby Kuroda(1938). The plumage of theju- .--AlthoughDelacour (1952) as- venile paratype (YI 25297) fits Kuroda's de- sertedthat the Taiwanspecimens are similar to scriptionand is similarto thejuvenal plumage the type of B. m. idoneus("if seasonaland in- of B. mandelli(Dickinson et al. 2000). dividual variation and age are taken into ac- count"), the similarity is superficial.Most of the distinctions between B. alishanensis and B. REMARKS m. mandelliapply equally to B. m. idoneus(Ta- Breeding.--Manyaspects of the breedingbi- bles 1 and 2), and none can be attributed to the ologyof B. alishanensishave been described by kinds of variationinvoked by Delacour.Even if Yamashinaand Yamada(1937), Kuroda (1938), montisand timorensiswere treated as subspe- and Hachisukaand Udagawa(1951), who gave ciesof mandelli(see Dickinson et al. 2000) B. al- the breedingseason as mid-May to the end of ishanensisshould be considereda separatespe- June.However, Wu Sen-Hsiong (pers. comm.) cies becauseits vocalizationsdiffer strongly photographeda bird carryingfood in August. from all of the formsin which songis known. Owing to the long-termsynonymy of B. man- Voiceis unknownin timorensis,which is very delli with B. luteoventris,the lack of reliably differentfrom alishanensisin morphology.The identifiedeggs of the former precludescom- songsof montis(Rozendaal 1989) and seebohmi parisonswith the eggs of B. alishanensisde- of Luzon (S. Harrap and D. Allen pers.comm.) are much more similar to that of B. mandelli scribedby Yamashinaand Yamada(1937). Habitsand ecology.--TheTaiwan Bush-War- thanthe songof eitheris to that of B. alishanen- sis. bler singsmostly in the morning during the breedingseason and also on moonlit nights The songsof B. mandelliand B. alishanensis (Kuroda 1938); it was recordedsinging persis- are so differentthat it seemshighly unlikely tently at 1730 on 15 April 1990 (E Kennerley that interbreeding could occur regularly should these birds come into contact. Con- pers. comm.).Apparently, it alsovocalizes dur- ing winter months in nonbreedinglocalities versely,the songsof B. mandelliare fairly con- (Wu Sen-Hsiongpers. comm.).The holotype sistentthroughout its large range,with only idoneusdiffering somewhat. The songsof Bra- (sexedas a female)was collectedwhile it sang dypterusspecies are highly stereotypedand in high grassabout 0.5 m abovethe ground, presumablyare pivotal in speciesrecognition and its stomachcontained small insects (C. in these extremelyskulking, drab-plumaged Fennellunpubl. data). Whether femalesnor- birds.Thus, B. alishanensis clearly fulfills the re- mally sing is unknown. Habitat and conservation.--Taiwan Bush-War- quirementsof the phylogeneticspecies concept in termsof its monophylyand distinctiveness. biers are consideredcommon at Arisan Village It is almostcertainly reproductively isolated as (Yamashinaand Yamada1937, B. King pers. well owing to its unique song and allopatry, comm.) and occur in undergrowthat forest and thus it shouldbe treated as a biological edges,grasslands, tall grasssurrounded by co- species. nifers and broadleaf evergreens,and dense fernson openslopes with isolatedtrees (E Ken- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS nerley,B. King, J. Scharringa,and Wu Sen- Hsiongpers. comm.). Clearly, they exist in dis- For tapesand informationwe thank Hiraoka Tak- turbedhabitats and thus are unlikely to be in ashi, P. Kennerley,B. King, P. Alstr•m, C. Robson, immediate danger, especially becausethey Liu Yi-Hua, J. Scharringa,D. Allen, J. Marshall, Jr., Wu Sen-Hsiong,E Lambert, J. Eames,Taiwan Wild breed in at least two major mountainousareas. Bird InformationCenter, and L. Severinghaus.Mu- Recent field observations have shown that in seum assistancewas provided by M. LeCroy, P. mainland Asia, B. luteoventrisbreeds in mon- Sweet, and M. N. Feinberg(American Museum of tane grasslands and dwarf bamboo, and B. Natural History [AMNH]); M. Waltersand R. PrOs- April2000] NewBush-Warbler from Taiwan 287

Jones;D. Willard (Field Museum of Natural History); notes on Asian birds (R. W. R. J. Dekker and E. T. Zuechner (Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn C. Dickinson,Eds.). ZoologischeVerhandelin- [MKB]); R. A. Paynter,Jr. and A. Pirie (Museum of gen (Leiden). ComparativeZoology, Harvard University);C. and HACHISUKA, M., AND t. UDAGAWA. 1951. Contribu- J.-E Voisin (Museum National d'Histoire Naturelie, tion to the ornithologyof Formosa.Part II. Quar- Paris);P. Ericson(Swedish Museum of Natural His- terly Journalof the TaiwanMuseum 4:1-180. tory); B. Millen (Royal Ontario Museum);R. Dekker KURODA,N. 1938.On a melanisticexample of Tribura (NationaalNatuurhistorisch Museum, Leiden); S. Ol- luteoventrisHodgson from Formosa.Tori 10:3-9. son and G. Graves (National Museum of Natural His- MEYER DE SCHAUENSEE,R. 1984. The birds of China. tory [USNM]); Dr. Kakizawa and Hiraoka Takashi SmithsonianInstitution Press, Washington, D.C. (YamashinaInstitute for Ornithology[YI]); E Sibley ROUND, P. D. 1992. The identification and status of (YalePeabody Museum [YPM]); and S. Frahnertand the Russet Bush-Warbler in China and continen- J.Fiebig (Museum ffir Naturkunde,Berlin). The man- tal south-east Asia. Hong Kong Bird Report uscriptwas improved by the commentsof P.Alstr•m 1991:188-194. and R. Banks.The coverillustration was paintedby ROZENDAAL, F. G. 1989. Taxonomic affinities of Bra- Ian Lewington. dypterusmontis. Dutch Birding 11:164-167. SEEBOHM,H. 1881.Catalogue of the Passeriformes,or LITERATURE CITED perchingbirds, in the collectionof the British Museum. Cichlomorphae:Part II. Catalogueof CHENGTSO-HSIN. 1987. A synopsisof the avifaunaof the birds in the British Museum, vol. 5. Trustees China. Paul Parey,Berlin. of the British Museum, London. DELACOUR,J. 1943.The bush-warblersof the genera SHAQIANZHONG. 1992. Huying youming yin shan- Cettiaand Bradypterus.Ibis 85:27-40. lin. Ye Shiwen,Taipei. DELACOUR,J. 1952. The specificgrouping of thebush SVENSSON,L. 1992. Identificationguide to European warblers Bradypterusluteoventris, Bradypterus .British Trust for Ornithology,Thet- toontisand Bradypterusseebohmi. Ibis 94:362-363. ford, United Kingdom. DICKINSON, E. C., P. C. RASMUSSEN,P. D. ROUND, AND WATSON,G. E. 1986. Family Sylviidae. Old World E G. ROZENDAAL. 1998. Reinstatement of Bra- warblers (Holarctic and Oriental). Pages3-292 dypterusseebohrni to the Indian avifauna,and re- in Check-listof birds of the world, vol. 11 (E. validation of an earlier name. Ostrich 69:399. Mayr and G. IV,.Cottrell, Eds.). Museum of Com- DICKINSON, E. C., P. C. RASMUSSEN,P. D. ROUND, AND parativeZoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. F. G. ROZENDAAL.2000. Systematic notes on YAMASHINA, Y., AND N. YAMADA. 1937. Nidification of Formosan birds. I. Tori 9:431-460. Asian birds 1. A review of the Russet Bush-War- bler Bradypterusseebohrni. In pressin Systematic Associate Editor: E H. Sheldon 288 RASMUSSENET AL. [Auk, Vol. 117 April 2000] NewBush-Warbler.from Taiwan 289