The complete story about the type specimen of Laysan Finch (Telespiza cantans)

The Laysan Finch Telespiza cantans was described by Scott Wilson in 1890, based on a caged bird he acquired in Honolulu. He described its range as Midway Island, which soon proved to have been mistaken for Laysan Island. Wilson was told that it had arrived in Honolulu about March 1888 on the schooner “Mary Bohm”. Following the discovery of the similar Nihoa Finch Telespiza ultima in 1915, Wilson’s error prompted examination of the provenance of the type specimen of Laysan Finch. George C. Munro surmised that Wilson’s finch may have been collected on Nihoa, and thus confused with the Nihoa Finch. However, the large size of Wilson’s measurements of the specimen pointed towards the Laysan Finch, later confirmed when the missing type specimen was relocated in Naturalis, Leiden in the Netherlands. We add to this story that the name of the schooner was in fact the “Mary C Bohm”. Newspapers from that time corroborate the specifics of Wilson’s story but mention its arrival in Honolulu in summer 1886, two years earlier than Wilson reported. In view of this arrival date, we can also remove the final doubt about Wilson’s bird, namely about its age: it is an adult.