Rufous-crowned Roller

SCI Name:  Coracias naevius
Protonym:  Coracias noevia TraitedOrn.[Daudin] 2 p.258
Taxonomy:  Coraciiformes / Coraciidae / Coracias
Taxonomy Code:  rucrol2
Type Locality:  Senegal.
Author:  Daudin
Publish Year:  1800
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

CORACIAS
(Coraciidae; † European Roller C. garrulus) Gr. κορακιας korakias  type of crow or daw, perhaps a chough  < κοραξ korax, κορακος korakos  raven  < κρωζω krōzō  to croak; the European Roller has a distinctive rolling or tumbling display flight, from which it received its substantive English name;  “A genus nearly related to the Crow. Thence Linnaeus calls it Coracias: A word of Aristotle’s applied only to what we call the Cornish chough” (Pennant 1773); the rollers were formerly included in the Corvidae next to the jays Garrulus and choughs; "49. CORACIAS.  Rostrum cultratum apice incurvato, basi pennis denudatum.  Lingua cartilaginea, bifida." (Linnaeus 1758); "Coracias Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 107.  Type, by subsequent designation, Coracias garrulus Linné. (Gray, Cat. Gen. Subgen. Bds., 1855, p. 13 ¹)   ...   ¹ In list Gen. Bds., 1840 and ed. 2, 1841, Gray designates Coracias abyssinica Gm. as type of the genus, a designation that is invalid since this was not one of the orignally included species." (Peters, 1945, V, p. 241).  This is the tenth diagnosed genus in avian taxonomy.  Linnaeus's Coracias comprised six species (C. Garrulus, C. caffra, C. Oriolus, C. Galbula, C. aurea, C. Xanthornus).   
Var. Coracius, Coriacias, Caracias.   
Synon. Ampelis, Coraciura, Eucoracias, Galgulus, Titia, Trimenornis.

coracias
Gr. κορακιας korakias  type of crow or daw  < κοραξ korax, κορακος korakos  raven  < κρωζω krōzō  to croak (syn. Coracias garrulus).

naevius
L. naevius  spotted, marked  < naevus spot, blemish.
● ex “Fourmilier tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 823, fig. 2, and “Spotted Manakin” of Latham 1783 (Hylophylax).
● ex “Spotted Thrush” of Latham 1783, and “Varied Thrush” of Pennant 1785 (Ixoreus).
● ex “Mottled Owl” of Latham 1781, and Pennant 1785 (syn. Megascops asio).
● ex “Gobe-mouche à poitrine tachetée de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 574, fig. 3, and “Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Myiophobus fasciatus).
● ex “Pouacre de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 939 (syn. Nycticorax nycticorax).
● ex “Crested Shag” of Cook 1777, and “Spotted Shag” of Latham 1785 (syn. Stictocarbo punctatus).
● ex “Spotted Shrike” of Latham 1781 (syn. Thamnophilus punctatus).
● ex “Ococolin” or “Perdix montana” of Ray 1713, and Seba 1734-1765, “Perdrix montana mexicana” of Brisson 1760, “Ococolin” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Mexican Partridge” of Latham 1783 (unident.).

SUBSPECIES

Rufous-crowned Roller (naevius)
SCI Name: Coracias naevius naevius
naevius
L. naevius  spotted, marked  < naevus spot, blemish.
● ex “Fourmilier tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 823, fig. 2, and “Spotted Manakin” of Latham 1783 (Hylophylax).
● ex “Spotted Thrush” of Latham 1783, and “Varied Thrush” of Pennant 1785 (Ixoreus).
● ex “Mottled Owl” of Latham 1781, and Pennant 1785 (syn. Megascops asio).
● ex “Gobe-mouche à poitrine tachetée de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 574, fig. 3, and “Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Myiophobus fasciatus).
● ex “Pouacre de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 939 (syn. Nycticorax nycticorax).
● ex “Crested Shag” of Cook 1777, and “Spotted Shag” of Latham 1785 (syn. Stictocarbo punctatus).
● ex “Spotted Shrike” of Latham 1781 (syn. Thamnophilus punctatus).
● ex “Ococolin” or “Perdix montana” of Ray 1713, and Seba 1734-1765, “Perdrix montana mexicana” of Brisson 1760, “Ococolin” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Mexican Partridge” of Latham 1783 (unident.).

Rufous-crowned Roller (mosambicus)
SCI Name: Coracias naevius mosambicus
mosambica / mosambicus
Mozambique  < Portuguese Ilha de Moçambique, a thriving Arab port at the time of Vasco da Gama's visit  < Ali Musa ibn Mbiki (fl. 1498) local sultan.