Mr Meek, and "his" many, many Birds (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

I think there is little (read: no) doubt about A. S. Meek [i.e. the English explorer and collector Albert Stewart Meek (1871–1943)], commemorated in several Scientific names (most as meeki, and twice as meekiana), but I choose to post it all here anyway, as I've checked every one of them (also to save anyone else the trouble of doing the same) ...

And, don't worry James, as far as I can tell they are all covered/included in today's Key.

Full Species (in chronological order – though, only by year):
• Louisiade Pitta Erythropitta meeki ROTHSCHILD 1898 (here), as "Pitta meeki": "Hab. Rossel Island, where Mr. Albert S. Meek has collected a small series."

• White-throated White-eye Zosterops meeki HARTERT 1898 (here): Title of Paper (on p.521): "On the birds collected on Sudest Island in the Louisiade Archipelago by Albert S. Meek". Lectotypes here, alt. here.

• Meek's Lorikeet Vini/Charmosyna meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1901 (here), as "Hypocharmosyna meeki" [in Swedish a k a; meeklorikit, alt. "Meeks lorikit" or just "Meeks lori" – hence my interest] ... no outspoken dedication, but the intro (on p.179) clearly says:

Nine new species out of a total of only forty-eight is nowadays a remarkable number. All these birds were collected by Mr. Meek's men, before Meek himself, who has been very ill, we are sorry to say, could join them. Meek is, however, now at work on the islands, and we may confidently soon expect more extensive collections, which will doubtless further increase our knowledge of the birds of the Eastern Archipelago.

... and he's repeatedly, over and over, mentioned in the same Journal as either: just; "Meek", alt. "A. S. Meek", or "Mr. Albert S. Meek".

• North Solomons Dwarf-Kingfisher Ceyx meeki ROTHSCHILD 1901 (here): "(A. S. Meek Coll.)". The dedicatee was also mentioned in the OD of the previous taxon (on the preceding page) as: "Mr. Albert S. Meek"

• Bougainville Crow Corvus meeki ROTHSCHILD 1904 (here): " ... a new Raven from Bouainville Island, Solomon Group, discovered by Mr. Albert S. Meek ..." + "Collected by Mr. A. S. Meek"

• the extinct Choiseul Pigeon Microgoura meeki ROTHSCHILD 1904 (here): "Named after its discoverer, Mr. A. S. Meek" (... who was the very last one to find it!), earlier a k a "Meeks markduva" in Swedish (meaning Meek's Ground Pigeon/Dove), and as such, as well, included in my MS.

• Olive-streaked Honeyeater Ptiloprora meekiana ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1907 (here), as "Ptilotis meekiana" ... no dedication in the OD itself, but the Title of this Paper (on p.447) clearly says: "List of collections of Birds made by A. S. Meek in the Mountains on the Upper Aroa River and on the Angabunga River, British New Guinea"

• Manus Boobook/Hawk-owl Ninox meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1914 (here): "... from the Admiralty Islands, north of German New Guinea, which had been collected by Mr. Albert S. Meek." + "A. S. Meek coll."

• Meek's Pygmy-Parrot Micropsitta meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1914 (same paper as above, on p.107): ditto, earlier a k a "Citrine Pygmy Parrot" [also incl. in my (Swedish) MS, as; Meeks spettpapegoja, and (earlier) "Meeks hackspettspapegoja" (meaning: Meek's Woodpecker Parrot)!]

To be continued ...​

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Subspecies:
• the (Orange-fronted) Hanging-Parrot ssp. Loriculus aurantiifrons meeki HARTERT 1895 (here): "Mr. Albert Meek has now sent two males and three females from Fergusson Island." Also see the very Intro of this Paper (on p. 61): "MR. ALBERT MEEK, an industrious young collector, sent a number of bird-skins from Fergusson Island, D’Entrecasteaux Group, ..." + he's also mentioned in the entries for other birds, in the same Paper, as (just) "A. S. Meek"

• the (Pygmy) Longbill ssp. Toxorhamphus/Oedistoma pygmaeum meeki HARTERT 1896 (here), as "Anthreptes meeki": "This is perhaps the most interesting of Mr. Meek’s discoveries on Fergusson Island, and therefore it is appropriate that it should bear his name." + the intro (on p.233) where we're told: "MR. ALBERT S. MEEK, an energetic young collector, spent some time on the above-named islands [i.e. Fergusson, Trobriand, Egum, and Woodlark Islands], where, besides collecting insects and other natural history specimens, he brought together a most interesting collection of birds, ..."

• the (Marbled) Frogmouth ssp. Podargus ocellatus meeki HARTERT 1898 (here), as "Podargus meeki": "Discovered by Albert S. Meek on Sudest Island."

• the (White-bellied) Whistler ssp. Pachycephala leucogastra meeki HARTERT 1898 (here), as "Pachycephala meeki" ... no dedication, no explanation, only a Type location: "Hab. Rossel Island, Louisiade Archipelago." (which in itself seems fairly self-evident, self-supporting, compare with the White-eye species above, also described in the same Journal, just a few pages after the previous Frogmouth ssp.)

• the (Yellow-billed) Kingfisher ssp. Syma torotoro meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1901 (here): "This form is named in honour of Mr. Albert S. Meek, to whose energy the richness of our series of Syma is chiefly due."

• the (Fan-tailed) Cuckoo ssp. Cacomantis flabelliformis meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1902 (here), as "Cacomantis meeki", Title of Paper: "List of a collection of birds made on Ysabel Island in the Solomon group by Mr A. S. Meek"

• the (Spangled) Drongo ssp. Dicrurus bracteatus meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1903 (here), as "Dicrurus meeki": "A. S. Meek coll., ..."

• the (New Guinea) Cuckooshrike ssp. Edolisoma melas meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1903 (here), as "Edoliisoma [sic] melas meeki": "A. S. Meek coll., ..."

• the (Kulambangra) Monarch ssp. Symposiachrus browni meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1905 (here), as "Monarcha kulambangrae meeki": "... A. S. Meek coll.)" + "Mr. Meek sent the following specimens from Rendova: ..." and in the Intro (on p.243) we also find the following phrases:

The indefatigable collector Mr. Albert S. Meek has recently returned to the Solomon Archipelago, and has succeeded in making valuable collections on Rendova, Gizo, New Georgia, Choiseul, and Bougainville, notwithstanding the bad climate and the notorious ferocity of the natives. The birds collected by Mr. Meek are of course of the highest interest, because our knowledge of the birds of Rendova and New Georgia was imperfect, and of those of Gizo, Choiseul, and Bougainville we knew heretofore nothing. ...

• the hard-to-place (Eastern) Barn Owl ssp. Tyto alba/delicatula/javanica meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1907 (here), as "Strix flammea meeki": "A. S. Meek coll."

• the (Carola's) Parotia ssp. Parotia carolae meeki ROTHSCHILD 1910 (here): "Collected by A. S. Meek." ... also note the Editor's foot-note (on the next-following page): "... It appears that Mr. Meek, who is at present engaged in collecting for Mr. Rothschild, has joined a Dutch Expedition which is attempting to outstrip the B.O.U. Expedition and be the first to reach Carstenz Peak [today's Puncak Jaya, the highest Peak on New Guinea], in the Snow Mountains, by way of the Oetakwa River! ..."

• the (Fan-tailed) Berrypecker ssp. Melanocharis versteri meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1911 (here), as "Pristorhamphus versteri meeki" ... no dedication, nothing, only a Type location: "Hab. Mt. Goliath (5000 ft.), Central Dutch New Guinea."

• the (Black) Pitohui ssp. Melanorectes nigrescens meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1913 (here), as "Pitohui meeki": "... A. S. Meek Coll.)" + the Title/heading (on p.473): "List of the collections of birds made by Albert S. Meek in the lower ranges of the Snow mountains, on the Eilanden river and on Mount Goliath during the years 1910 and 1911", also note the Type location which is the very same "Mt. Goliath", as in the OD of the Berrypecker (above).

• the (Papuan) Scrubwren ssp. Aethomyias/Sericornis papuensis meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1913 (here), as "Sericornis meeki" (described in the very same paper as the Pitohui ssp. above): "... A. S. Meek Coll.)"

• the (Amboyna) Cuckoo-Dove ssp. Macropygia amboinensis meeki ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1915 (here), though, also see the previous page: "VULCAN Island, or Manumudar, is an immense cone with an active volcano, ... It is not more than about 12 km. from the nearest point of New Guinea, and about 15 by 8 km. in size. No collections have, to our knowledge, been made on this island, but Meek's party has brought together, in December 1913 and January 1914, a very fine lot of birds."

To be continued ...​

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

... and the (very last) invalid ones:

• "Myzomela obscura meeki" ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1907 (here): "... a new name to the form found by Meek, ..." [a synonym of today's (Dusky) Myzomela ssp. Myzomela obscura fumata (Bonaparte, 1850)]

• "Cyclopsitta blythi meeki" HARTERT & ROTHSCHILD 1911 (here): "... A. S. Meek coll.", also commented (in 1920), though at that point as "Opopsitta blythi meeki" (here, in text) by the same Authors [which I think have ended up synonymous with today's (Large/Flame-headed) Fig-Parrot ssp. Psittaculirostris desmarestii godmani (Ogilvie-Grant 1911) ... or?]

• "Coracina papuensis meekiana" ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1912 (here) ... no out-spoken dedication in the OD itself, but the full piece/Paper starts with the Title/heading (on p.187): "List of a collection of birds made by Mr. Albert Meek on the Kumusi River, Northeastern British New Guinea. ... Mr Meek went up a considerable distance of the river, ... The collection was made between March and September of 1907. ..." [a synonym of the (White-bellied) Cuckooshrike ssp. Coracina papuensis angustifrons (Sharpe, 1876)]

• "Caprimulgus macrurus meeki" ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1918 (here): "... No. 7397 of the Meek collection, collected on Sudest Island, 4. v. 1916, by one of the Eichhorns." [a synonym of today's (Large-tailed) Nightjar ssp.Caprimulgus macrurus schlegelii A. B. Meyer 1874]

• "Porzana cinerea meeki" HARTERT 1924 (here): "Named after Albert S. Meek, the organiser of Mr. [A. F.] Eichhorn's collecting expeditions, since he himself is unfortunately now unable to undertake such travels." [a synonym of the White-browed Crake Porzana/Amaurornis cinerea/Poliolimnas cinereus (Vieillot, 1819)]

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... all in all, they were all named after the same Albert Stewart Meek (1871–1943).

Busy guy, with an adventurous, and hazardous, Life!

However, the reason why I had to check them all is that Mr Meek (just like Albert F. Eichhorn*) had a Brother, who (at times) accompanied him on collecting trips (and as such, he, the younger Meek Brother, might/could have been a plausible dedicatee – but apparently not).

Much ado about nothing.

If of interest, also see Meek's (and Rothschild's) Book A Naturalist in Cannibal Land (1913), here, where his Brother was mentioned (on p.74); "On returning to Australia [in 1896] I brought a younger brother, Mr. W. G. Meek [i.e. William George Meek (1877–1965)], out with me to assist in collecting.", again mentioned as "my brother" (on p.77), "my young brother" (on p.85), "my brother, myself and a Mr. Eichhorn and four New Guinea boys" (on p.91), as well as: "my young brother, who had suffered very much from fever, decided that he would return to London, ..." (on p.95). Mr. Eichhorn was/is also mentioned on p.103.

Either way: Enjoy!

Björn

PS. In/on Ancestry we find the closest Family of Albert S. Meek; here, and (one generation earlier) here.

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*Earlier, and recently, dealt with in the long-lasting thread Fantastic squirrels ... (here)