Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher

SCI Name:  Bias musicus
Protonym:  Platyrhynchos musicus Nouv.Dict.Hist.Nat. 27 p.15
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Vangidae / Bias
Taxonomy Code:  bawfly1
Type Locality:  Malimbe (= Malembo), Cabinda.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1818
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

BIAS
(Vangidae; Ϯ Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher B. musicus) Gr. βυας buas  bird of evil omen, usually identified with the Eagle Owl (cf. Gr. myth. Bias (1) a Greek prince at the siege of Troy: (2) a king of Argos who became enamoured of Perone); "IV.^e Sous-genre. BIAS; Bias.  Bec fort, crochu, déprimé, assez élevé; tarses très-courts, emplumés au-dessous du tibia; ailes presque aussi longues que la queue; celle-ci courte, comme rectiligne.   21.º MOUCHEROLLE NOIR ET BLANC, Musée de Paris.  Tête huppé; plumage noir bronzé; un miroir sur l'aile, et le ventre blanc.  De la côte d'Angole." (Lesson 1831); "Bias Lesson, ?1830, Traité Ornith., livr. 5, p. 385. Type, by monotypy, "Moucherolle noir et blanc" = Platyrhynchos musicus Vieillot." (Traylor in Peters 1986, XI, 376). Although some authors suggested that this genus, together with Tephrodornis, Megabyas, and Hemipus, be separated in a new family, Tephrodornithidae, more recent studies have concluded that the Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher is an African mainland member of the Vangidae allied to Tephrodornis.
Var. Byas.

musicus
L. musicus  musical  < Gr. μουσικος mousikos  musical, harmonious  < μουσικη mousikē  music.
● ex “Musicien de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 706, fig. 2, and “Arada” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Cyphorhinus arada).
● ex “Drongear” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 167 (syn. Dicrurus adsimilis).
● ex “Faucon Chanteur” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 27 (syn. Melierax canorus).
● ex “Sénégali Chanteur” of Vieillot 1805 (syn. Ochrospiza leucopygia).
● "95. TURDUS.  ...  musicus.  4. T. alis subtus ferrugineis, linea superciliorum albicante. Fn. svec. 189 [= T. philomelos + T. iliacus].  Turdus simpliciter dictus viscivorus minor. Will. orn. 138. t. 37. Raj. av. 64. n. 2.  Turdus musicus. Frisch. av. t. 27. f. 1. 2. Alb. av. I. p. 32, 33. t. 35, 34 [= T. iliacus].  Habitat in Europæ sylvis; nido ex luto.  E summitatae arboris vere Lusciniam cantilena imitatur, Disseminator cum præcedentibus [T. iliacus]  Juniperi." (Linnaeus 1758) (syn. Turdus iliacus, syn. Turdus philomelos).

Musicus
(Dicruridae; syn. Dicrurus Ϯ Fork-tailed Drongo D. adsimilis) L. musicus  musician (cf. specific name Dicrurus musicus Vieillot, 1817). The Fork-tailed Drongo is not known for its musical tones, but it does mimic a variety of other creatures. Reichenbach's 1850, plate LXXXVIII, labelled Hirundineae: Trogoninae et Dicrurinae, contains a variety of drongos and trogons, as well as woodswallows, a flycatcher, and a bird of paradise; "751. Dicrourus  ...  c. Africani.  18. LANIUS forficatus, L. (drongo, Shaw. - Muscicapa galeata, Bodd.-Dicrurus cristatus, Vieill.)  ...  19. D. mystaceus, Vieill.(Muscicapa divaricata, Licht.)  ...  20. D. ludwigii, Smith. 1834.  ...  21. D. musicus, Vieill.  ...  *22. MUSCICAPA emarginata, Licht.  ...  23. EDOLIUS lugubris, Ehrenb.  ...  24. D. canipennis, Sw.  ...  25. D. atripennis, Sw." (Bonaparte 1850 (Conspectus)); "8. Musicus, Reich., pour les espèces noires africains de mon Conspectus, auxquelles il faut ajouter: Dicrourus modestus, Hartl. (erythrophthalmus du prince Paul de Wurtemberg), du Sennaar et de l'île de Saint-Thomas, sur la côte occidentale d'Afrique, et le D. coracinus, Verr., du Gabon.  ...  Muscicapa dinovicata, Licht., est synonyme, et le nom plus ancien, de D. canipennis, Sw., auquel Cabanis la substitue." (Bonaparte 1854); "Musicus Reichenbach, 1850, Avium Systema Naturale, pl. LXXXVIII (no specific names given).  Type, by subsequent designation and tautonymy (G. Gray, 1855, Cat. Genera Subgenera Birds Brit. Mus., p. 59), Edolius musicus Vieill., i.e. Dicrurus musicus Vieillot, 1817 = Corvus adsimilis Bechstein, 1794." (JAJ 2021).

SUBSPECIES

Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher (musicus)
SCI Name: Bias musicus musicus
musicus
L. musicus  musical  < Gr. μουσικος mousikos  musical, harmonious  < μουσικη mousikē  music.
● ex “Musicien de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 706, fig. 2, and “Arada” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Cyphorhinus arada).
● ex “Drongear” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 167 (syn. Dicrurus adsimilis).
● ex “Faucon Chanteur” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 27 (syn. Melierax canorus).
● ex “Sénégali Chanteur” of Vieillot 1805 (syn. Ochrospiza leucopygia).
● "95. TURDUS.  ...  musicus.  4. T. alis subtus ferrugineis, linea superciliorum albicante. Fn. svec. 189 [= T. philomelos + T. iliacus].  Turdus simpliciter dictus viscivorus minor. Will. orn. 138. t. 37. Raj. av. 64. n. 2.  Turdus musicus. Frisch. av. t. 27. f. 1. 2. Alb. av. I. p. 32, 33. t. 35, 34 [= T. iliacus].  Habitat in Europæ sylvis; nido ex luto.  E summitatae arboris vere Lusciniam cantilena imitatur, Disseminator cum præcedentibus [T. iliacus]  Juniperi." (Linnaeus 1758) (syn. Turdus iliacus, syn. Turdus philomelos).

Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher (changamwensis)
SCI Name: Bias musicus changamwensis
changamwensis
Changamwe, near Mombasa, British East Africa / Kenya.

Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher (clarens)
SCI Name: Bias musicus clarens
clarens
L. clarens, clarentis  clear, distinct, bright  < clarus  clear.