The Key to Scientific Names
- UROSPHENA
(Scotocercidae; Ϯ Asian Stubtail U. squameiceps) Gr. ουρα oura tail; σφην sphēn, σφηνος sphēnos wedge; "Mr. Brooks urges me to have a figure of this bird published, and to assign to it the characters of a new genus, as he considers that it does not belong to Tribura, Pnoepyga, Horornis, or any other known genus, though it has certain characters in common with them. I think, therefore, that it would be as well to propose for it the generic name Urosphena, from its wedge-shaped tail, and to characterize it as follows:— Bill at base exceedingly slender and much depressed. Wing of unusual power for such a little bird. Tail almost as in Pnoepyga, but somewhat more rounded. Style of coloration scaly, as in Pnoepyga. Legs and feet large, strong, and coloured as in Horornis. Lower tail-coverts very long. Mr. Brooks says, "I do not know of any genus in which this little bird can be placed: the scaly plumage separates it from Horornis, Neornis, and Tribura. This, with its queer short tail, brings it near Pnoepyga; but the bill is as slender as in Troglodytes, or more so, and the wing is quite unlike that of Pnoepyga. I wonder whether ten tail-feathers is the correct number; that is the number in my specimen, which appears to be perfect." The synonymy of this bird will stand as follows:— UROSPHENA SQUAMICEPS. Tribura squamiceps, Swinhoe, P.Z.S. 1863, p. 292; Ibis, 1866, p. 397, et 1874, p. 155." (Swinhoe 1877); "Urosphena Swinhoe, 1877, Ibis, p. 204, pl. 4. Type, by monotypy, Tribura squameiceps Swinhoe." (Watson in Peters, 1986, XI, p. 6).
Synon. Orthnocichla, Urophlexis.