Cameroon Speirops

SCI Name:  Zosterops melanocephalus
Protonym:  Zosterops (Speirops) melanocephala Ann.Mag.Nat.Hist.(3), 10 p.444
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Zosteropidae / Zosterops
Taxonomy Code:  camspe1
Type Locality:  Cameroon Mountain, 7,000 ft.
Author:  Gray, GR
Publish Year:  1862
IUCN Status:  Vulnerable

DEFINITIONS

ZOSTEROPS
(Zosteropidae; Ϯ Madagascar White-eye Z. maderaspatanus) Gr. ζωστηρ zōstēr, ζωστηρος zōstēros  belt, girdle; ωψ ōps, ωπος ōpos  eye; "Genus. ZOSTEROPS*.   Rostrum mediocre, gracile, arcuatum; mandibula superiore vix emarginata; naribus basalibus, linearibus, longitudinalibus, membrana supra tectis, rictu inermi.  Alæ mediocres; remigibus prima et quinta fere æqualibus, secunda tertia et quarta paulo longioribus, fere æqualibus, primariis secundarias paululum longitudine superantibus.  Pedes subfortes, subelongati; acrotarsiis scutellatis.  Cauda æqualis.  Caput gracile, concinnum; plumulis periopthalmicis subsericeis albis cingulum subprominentem efformantibus.   ...   The true Sylvia, if we select the slenderly-formed Warblers of Europe, such as the Motacillæ hippolais, trochilus, &c. Linn., as the types of the genus, are set apart from almost all the other species by the formation of their wing, in which the first quill-feather is extremely short, in some instances, indeed, almost spurious.  Of the foreign groups of the family we have already observed that the New Holland genera Malurus and Acanthiza come nearest the European type by the same construction of the wing.  The present group essentially differs from it.  The first quill-feather is long, almost equal to the second, which together with the third and fourth,—all of them nearly of a length,—are the longest.  The nares also are linear and longitudinal, thus differing from the oval form of the European type.  In other respects the characters of these two groups have a general accordance.  Besides the disposition of the wing-feathers, we may also mention the scutellation of the tarsi, the even tail, and the unarmed rictus, as additional marks of distinction from the before-mentioned New Holland Sylviadæ.  From the genus Hylophilus of M. Temminck, which has lately been separated with much judgement from the Sylvia of Dr. Latham, and which also has the first quill-feather elongated and nearly even with the rest, our present group may readily be distinguished by a much more gracile and arcuated bill, in which the nares also are of a different construction.  The Motacilla Maderaspatana of Linnæus, (Sylvia Madagascariensis, Lath.), belongs to our group, which seems to have a very wide dispersion.    1. DORSALIS  ...  Sylvia annulosa, var. β.  Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 16.  ...  Orbitæ plumulis albis vestitæ.   ...   *Zωστηρ cingulum, and ωψ oculus." (Vigors & Horsfield 1826); "Zosterops Vigors and Horsfield, 1826, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 15, p. 234. Type, by subsequent designation (Lesson, 1828 Man. Orn., 1, p. 286), Motacilla maderaspatana Linnaeus." (Mayr in Peters, 1967, XII, p. 290). The majority of white-eyes have a ring of white feathers around each eye.
Var. Fosterops, Fosterzops, Zostenops.
Synon. Cyclopterops, Luteozosterops, Malacirops, Nesozosterops, Oreosterops, Parinia, Sanfordia, Speirops, Tephras, Woodfordia, Zosteropisylvia.

zosterops
Gr. ζωστηρ zōstēr, ζωςτηρος zōstēros  belt, girdle; ωψ ōps,  ωπος ōpos  eye.

melanocephala / melanocephalon / melanocephalos / melanocephalum / melanocephalus
Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● ex “Black-headed Shrike” of Latham 1783 (syn. Brachypodius atriceps).
● ex “Pato cabeza negra” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 438 (syn. Heteronetta atricapilla).
● ex “Manakin à tête noire de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 303, fig. 1 (syn. Manacus manacus).
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  melanocephalus.  33. P. brachiurus viridis subtus luteus, pileo nigro, pectore albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p.  Psittacus coccineus, ventre albo. Edw. av. 169. t. 169.  Habitat in Mexico." (Linnaeus 1758) (Pionites).
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  melanocephala.  26. L. lutea, capite atro.  Coccothraustes gambogia. Alb. av. 3. p. 58. t. 62.  Habitat in Gvinea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ploceus).
● ex “Pluvian du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 918, and de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Black-headed Plover” of Latham 1785 (syn. Pluvianus aegyptius).
● ex “Black-headed Ibis” of Latham 1787, and “Tantalus de Macé” of Cuvier 1804 (Threskiornis).
● ex “Black-headed Roller” of Latham 1787 (syn. Urocissa erythrorhyncha).
● ex “Pie Bleue à Tête Noire” of Levaillant 1800, pl. 58 (unident.; ?syn. Urocissa sp.).