White-browed Wagtail / Motacilla maderaspatensis

White-browed Wagtail / Motacilla maderaspatensis

White-browed Wagtail

SCI Name:  Motacilla maderaspatensis
Protonym:  Motacilla madaraspatensis Syst.Nat. 1 pt2 p.961
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Motacillidae /
Taxonomy Code:  whbwag1
Type Locality:  India.
Author:  
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  

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, MotacileaMotacitta, 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 fulvicaudaParkesia).

maderaspatana / maderaspatanus / maderaspatensis
Mod. L. Maderaspatana Maderas / Madrass / Madras / Chennai, India.
● ex “Maderas Rail-Hen” of Ray 1713, “Porphyrio maderaspatanus” of Brisson 1760, “Angoli” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Madras Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Amaurornis phoenicurus).
● ex “Black and White Wagtail,” and “Forked Wagtail” of Ray 1713, “Motacilla maderaspatana” of Brisson 1760, “Bergeronnette de Madras” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Pied Wagtail” of Latham 1783 (Motacilla).
● ex “Partridge-Snipe” of Ray 1713, “Gallinago maderaspatana” of Brisson 1760, “Bécassine de Madras” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Madras Snipe” of Latham 1785 (syn. Rostratula benghalensis).
● Erroneous TL. Maderaspatana (= Madagascar); ex “Ficedula madagascariensis minor” of Brisson 1760 (Zosterops).