The Key to Scientific Names
- aedon
L. aëdon, aëdonis nightingale < Gr. αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing.
- Aedon
L. aëdon, aëdonis nightingale < Gr. αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing. In Gr. myth. Aëdon, wife to Zethus, was changed into a nightingale when, in attempting to murder the eldest son of her fecund sister Niobe, she killed her own son Itylus. In other versions of the legend she was metamorphosed into a goldfinch. The ICZN has banned the use of diacritic marks in scientific names, but in transliteration the Gr. aëdon should be so spelled, the diaeresis indicating that the second of the two vowels be pronounced separately. Similarly, amongst other examples, the ubiquitous Gr. combining form -oïdēs. Unhappily, whereas the removal of the German umlaut (ü) is compensated for by the addition of an e after the modified vowel, the removal of the diaeresis, a useful guide to pronunciation, leaves no trace of its passing.
● (Muscicapidae; syn. Cercotrichas † Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin C. galactotes) "VI. Fam. Sylviadae Vigors. ... Aedon: Sylvia galactodes Temminck u.a." (Boie 1826). "Aedon Boie, 1826, Isis von Oken, col. 972. Type, by monotypy, "Sylvia galactodes Temminck" = Sylvia galactotes Temminck. Not Aedon T. Forster, 1817." (JAJ 2019). This is the Rufous Bush Chat of an earlier generation of British birdwatchers.
● (Muscicapidae; syn. Luscinia † Thrush Nightingale L. luscinia) "101. SYLVIA LVSCINIA. Luscinia Aedon? ... 101. AEDON LVSCINIA. NIGHTINGALE." (T. Forster 1817); "Aedon Forster, 1817, Synop. Cat. Brit. Birds, pp. 14; 53. Type, by monotypy, Aedon luscinia Forster = Motacilla luscinia Linnaeus." (Ripley in Peters, 1964, X, p. 32).
● I have yet to locate or verify Aedon of Vieillot, referred to by Bonaparte, 1850, Conspectus Generum Avium, I (1), p. 286: "599. Ædon, Boie 1826. nec Vieill.".
● see Aedonis- aedonia
Gr. αηδονιος aēdonios of the nightingale < αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing (syn. Sylvia borin).
- Aedonis
(Muscicapidae; syn. Luscinia † Common Nightingale L. megarhynchos) L. aëdon, aëdonis nightingale < Gr. αηδων αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing; "Aëdonis luscinia, Nightingale. Aëdonis hortensis, Pettychaps. Aëdonis garrula, Babillard. Aëdonis atricapilla, Blackcap." (Morris 1837) (OD per Björn Bergenholtz); "Aëdonis F. O. Morris, 1837, The Naturalist (ed. N. Wood), II (9), p. 126. New name for Luscinia T. Forster, 1817." (JAJ 2019) (see Seiren).
Var. Aedon.- Aedonops
(Locustellidae; syn. Locustella † River Warbler L. fluviatilis) Gr. αηδων αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdono s nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing; ωψ ōps, ωπος ōpos appearance; "19. AËDONOPS fluviatilis BREHM. lusciniopsis fluviatilis BP. — acrocephalus stagnatilis NAUM. — locustella fluviatilis DEGL. Fluß-Rohrsänger — river-warbler — bec-fin riverain. ... 20. LUSCINIOLA Savii BONAPARTE. Sylvia luscinioides SAVI. — aëdonops luscinioides BREHM. Nachtigall-Rohrsänger — nightingale-warbler — cettie luscinoide. " (L. Brehm 1855); "Aëdonops L. BREHM, in F. W. Baedeker, Die Eier der Europäischen Vögel. Lief. 3, [1855-1858,] text to pl. 19, fig. 19. Type, "Lusciniopsis fluviatilis Bp." [= Sylvia fluviatilis WOLF] (Present designation.1) ... 1 Lusciniola savii Bonaparte is also mentioned." (Richmond, 1917, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 53, no. 2221, p. 575).
Var. Aedonopsis.- Aedonopsis
Gr. αηδων αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdono s nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing; οψις opsis appearance.
● (Muscicapidae; syn. Cercotrichas † Brown Scrub Robin C. signata) "18. AEDONOPSIS. Cossypha, pt., auct. Aedon, pt., Gray. Range. Confined to South-eastern Africa. 1. Aedonopsis signata" (Sharpe 1883); "Aedonopsis Sharpe, 1883, Cat. Birds British Museum, VII, p. 68. Type, by monotypy, Cossypha signata Sundevall, 1850." (JAJ 2019) (see Tychaedon).
Var. Adenopsis.
● (Locustellidae; syn. Locustella † River Warbler L. fluviatilis) "[IN INDEX] Aëdonopsis Br. - fluviatilis. Br. [species no.] 238. - luscinioïdes. Br. [species no.] 240." (Rey 1872). According to the Richmond Card Index this name is an emendation of Aedonops. However, Laurent Raty in litt. concludes, "Under the present rules, Rey's action cannot be interpreted as intentional, and 'Aedonopsis Rey' is a mere incorrect subsequent spelling without nomenclatural availability, not an emendation. Thus Aedonopsis Sharpe 1883 (which has been in use well into the 20th C and can certainly not be deemed a forgotten name) doesn't appear preoccupied, after all. Why are we using the replacement name instead of the original one?"- Hyloaedon
(Muscicapidae; syn. Cossypha † Chorister Robin Chat C. dichroa) Gr. ὑλη hulē woodland, forest; αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing; "I propose to change the name of Cossypha to CAFFRORNIS for the typical species with dark legs and feet; and consider it advisable to separate Cossypha dichroa and C. natalensis, applying the generic name of HYLOAEDON to the former and placing the latter tentatively in the same genus." (A. Roberts 1922); "Hyloaedon A. Roberts, 1922, Annals Transvaal Mus., VIII (4), p. 232. Type, by virtual monotypy, Cossypha dichroa, i.e. Muscicapa dichroa Gmelin, 1789." (JAJ 2020).
- hypaedon
Gr. ὑπο hupo somewhat; αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing.
- Pseudaedon
(Muscicapidae; syn. Larvivora † Rufous-tailed Robin L. sibilans) Gr. ψευδος pseudos false; αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing; "In its colouring, its structure, and in the spotted pattern of its nestlings ... "Larvivora" sibilans is much nearer allied to true Nightingales, than to any other birds. Therefore it is included here in the Genus Philomela Link. On the other hand this bird, Philomela sibilans (Swinh.) differs from its more western congeners in following points: first primary more than one-third of the second; second shorter, than sixth (in some specimens shorter, than seventh); fifth primary emarginated on the outer web and nearly attaining the tip of the wing; difference between longest and shortest wing-feathers less than 20 m/m; tips of tail-feathers not quite rounded, but very slightly pointed at the shafts; under side of the body silky-white distinctly squamulated on chin, throat, chest and breast with narrow brownish apical edges of the feathers. Nevertheless J think it is not advisable to form a Genus apart for a single species, but it forms evidently at least a very good Subgenus of its own, and J propose for it the name Pseudaëdon Subgen. nov." (Buturlin 1910); "Pseudaëdon Buturlin, 1910, Mess. Orn., ann. 1 (2), pp. 136; 139. Type, by monotypy, Larvivora sibilans Swinhoe." (Ripley in Peters, 1964, X, p. 33).
- Tychaedon
(Muscicapidae; syn. Cercotrichas Ϯ Brown Scrub Robin C. signata) Gr. τυχη tukhē chance, luck < τευχω teukhō to cause (cf. Gr. myth. Tyche, fortune personified); αηδων aēdōn, αηδονος aēdonos nightingale, songstress < αειδω aeidō to sing; "Aëdonopsis 2 (BREHM) REY, Synon. Eur. Brutvögel und Gäste, 1872, p. 164. Emendation of Aëdonops L. Brehm. ... 2 This preoccupies Aedonopsis Sharpe, 1883, which I now rename Tychaëdon (τυχη, a chance, luck + Aëdon, αηδων, nightingale), type Cossypha signata Sundevall." (Richmond 1917); "Tychaëdon Richmond, 1917, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 53, No. 2221, p. 575. New name for Aedonopsis Sharpe, 1883, not of Rey, 1872." (JAJ 2021) (see Aedonopsis).
