Japanese Wagtail

SCI Name:  Motacilla grandis
Protonym:  Motacilla grandis Cat.BirdsBrit.Mus. 10 p.458,492
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Motacillidae / Motacilla
Taxonomy Code:  japwag1
Type Locality:  Japan.
Author:  Sharpe
Publish Year:  1885
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MOTACILLA
(Motacillidae; Ϯ White Wagtail M. alba) Late Med. L. (1555) motacilla  pied wagtail  < L. motacilla  wagtail  < Gr. μυττηξ muttēx  type of bird mentioned by Hesychius. The mistaken use of -cilla ­for “tail” in ornithology goes back to mediaeval writers who misread motacilla, Varro’s name for the wagtail ("quod semper movet caudam") and a diminutive from motare to move about or shake (i.e. a little shaker or wagger), as “shaketail”; "99. MOTACILLA.  Rostrum subulatum, rectum: Mandibulis subæqualibus.  Nares obovatæ.  Lingua lacero-emarginata." (Linnaeus 1758);"Motacilla Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 184. Type, by tautonymy, "Motacilla" = M. alba Linnaeus." (Vaurie in Peters 1960, IX, 130). Linnaeus's Motacilla comprised thirty-four species (M. Luscinia, M. Calidris, M. modularis, M. Schœnobænus, M. campestris, M. Curruca, M. Hippolais, M. Salicaria, M. Sylvia, M. Philomela, M. Ficedula, M. alba, M. flava, M. Tiphia, M. Ruticilla, M. hispanica, M. Oenanthe, M. Rubetra, M. Atricapilla, M. Emeria, M. Phœnicurus, M. Erithacus, M. Titys, M. svecica, M. Sialis, M. Velia, M. Spiza, M. Rubecula, M. Troglodytes, M. Regulus, M. Trochilus, M. Acredula, M. Pendulinus, M. minuta). The White Wagtail has a wide range in the Palaearctic, although several subspecies are sometimes treated specifically (e.g. yarrellii, subpersonata, personata, lugens).
Var. Matacilla, Metacilla, Motacilea, Motacitta, Mottacilla, Montacilla, Notacilla, Notorcilla.
Synon. Aguimpia, Atolmodytes, Boarula, Budytes, Calobates, Pallenura, Pecula, Psomophilus, Seisura.

motacilla
L. motacilla  wagtail  < Gr. μυττηξ muttēx  type of bird mentioned by Hesychius (subsp. Myiothlypis fulvicauda, Parkesia).

grandis
L. grandis  large.
● ex “Lori de la Nouvelle Guinée” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 683, “Purpur-roode Lori” of Vosmaer 1769, “Grand Lori” of de Buffon 17770-1783, and “Grand Lory” of Latham 1781 (syn. Eclectus roratus).
● ex “Great Jacamar” of Latham 1782 (syn. Jacamerops aurea).
● ex “Ibijau” or “American Goatsucker” of Ray 1713, “Grand Tette-chèvre tacheté du Brésil” of Brisson 1760, “Grand Crapaud volant de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 325, “Grand Ibijau” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Grand Goatsucker” of Latham 1783 (Nyctibius).
● ex “Grand Barbu de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 871, “Grand Barbu” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Grand Barbet” of Latham 1783 (syn. Psilopogon virens).