Falco albicilla Linnaeus, 1758

Schmitt, Stéphane & Gouraud, Christophe, 2024, The significance of Buffon and Guéneau de Montbeillard’s Histoire naturelle des oiseaux ([1765] - 1783) in the taxonomy of birds: General presentation and correspondence between Buffon’s “ eagles ” and the species acknowledged by Linnaeus (1758, 1766), Brisson (1759 - 1762), and Gmelin (1788 - 1789), Zoosystema 46 (16), pp. 361-409 : 388-389

6. Buffon’s “Pygargue” (full species)

6.1. Linnaeus (1758: 89): “ FALCO ALBICILLA ” G41, S8, order “ Accipitres ”. This species includes a North American variety (see below 8.1).

REFERENCES (WITHOUT THE VARIETY). — Linnaeus (1746: [19] no. 58), “ Falco cera flava ; rectricibus albis, versus apices nigris ”, based on direct observation in Sweden, and reference to Belon, Gessner, Willughby, and Ray; Belon (1557: 15 ro), “ Pygargus , Janleblanc, Oyseau saint Martin ”; Gessner (1585: 205), “ Pygargus ”; Aldrovandi (1599:[205]), “ Pygargus ”; Willughby (1676: 31), “ Pygargus seu Albicilla quibusdam Hinnularia ”, direct observation; Ray (1713: 7 no. 5), “ Pygargus , Albicilla Gazae, quibusdam Hinnularia ”.

DISTRIBUTION (INCLUDING THE VARIETY). — Europe, America.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) according to the diagnosis and most of the mentioned sources, not least the Fauna Svecica ( Linnaeus 1746), as well as Willughby (1676) and Ray (1713), who write that they observed a freshly killed bird in Venice in 1664. However, Belon’s “Jan-le-blanc” is probably * Circus cyaneus ( Linnaeus, 1766) (Glardon in Belon [1997: 410]), and the “ Pygargus ” of Gessner and Aldrovandi (who rely on a tradition going back to the Antiquity) combines elements relating to * Haliaeetus albicilla and to * Circus cyaneus ( Springer & Kinzelbach 2009: 180) .

MODERN NOMENCLATURE. — Falco albicilla Linnaeus, 1758 is an available and valid name, the protonym of the name currently in use for the species; “Restricted type locality, Sweden, ex Fn. Suec.” according to Peters (1931: 258), who relied on Linnaeus (1761: 19).

6.2. Brisson (1759a: 427-429, 1762: 25, 1763a: 123-124): “ AIGLE À QUEUE BLANCHE ”, “ AQUILA ALBICILLA ”, species 5 of genus IX (“Aigle”, “ Aquila ”), order III, section 1.

OBSERVATION. — No direct observation. Description mainly borrowed from Willughby.

REFERENCES. — Willughby (1676: 31); Ray (1713: 7 no. 5); Linnaeus (1746: [19] no. 58); Linnaeus (1748: [17]), G36, S6 (“ Pygargus ” in genus “ Falco ”); Klein (1750: 40 no. 2), “ Aquila Pygargus ”, based on Willughby, Ray and Catesby’s “Bald Eagle”; Linnaeus (1758: [89]), G41, S8.

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) , according to the diagnosis and the mentioned sources, since Brisson here excludes the authors of the 16th century who mistook this species with * Circus cyaneus (however, Klein also mentions Catesby’s “Bald Eagle”, which is * Haliaeetus leucocephalus ). More precisely, Brisson’s description corresponds to a female, since the “Aigle à queue blanche” is bigger than the “Petit Aigle à queue blanche” (see below).

6.3. Linnaeus (1766: 123-124): Species shifted into the genus “ Vultur ” (because of the presence of an almost naked area between the eyes and the nostrils): “ VULTUR ALBIULLA ” [sic] G41, S8, emended as “ VULTUR ALBICILLA ” in an erratum at the end of vol. 2 ( Linnaeus 1767), order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Linnaeus (1761: [19] no. 55), “ Falco Albicilla ”; direct observation and ref. to Belon, Gessner, Willughby, Ray; Brünnich (1764: [3] no. 12), “ Falco Albicilla ”; Belon (1557: 15 ro.); Gessner (1585: 205); Willughby (1676: 31); Ray (1713: 7 no. 5); Brisson (1759a: 427).

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) ; see the comments on Linnaeus (1758).

6.4. Buffon in Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 99- 102), quarto edition; (1771b: 78-80), folio edition: “ PYGARGUE ”. Buffon distinguishes between three varieties in this species: the “Grand Pygargue” (in question here), the “Petit Pygargue” and the “Pygargue à tête blanche” (see below: 7.4 and 8.4).

REMARK. — Since this bird, according to Buffon, is not an eagle in the strictest sense, he uses the neologism “pygargue” by gallicization of the Greek word “ pygargos ” (“white rump”) which, however, may not have designated the same species in the works of ancient authors.

OBSERVATION. — No direct observation of the “Grand Pygargue”.

REFERENCES (FOR THE “ GRAND PYGARGUE ” ONLY). — Aristotle (“ pygargos ”); Willughby (1676: 31); Linnaeus ([1746: 19 no. 58]); Brisson (1759a: 427); Salerne (1767: 7), “Grosse Bondrée blanche”.

DISTRIBUTION / HABITAT (INCLUDING THE VARIETIES). — Plains, cold climates; “all provinces of Northern Europe”.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) , female: see the comments on Linnaeus (1758) and Brisson. On Aristotle, see Arnott (2007: 296).

6.5. Gmelin (1788: 253): back into the genus “ Falco ”: “ FALCO ALBICILLA ” G42, S39, order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Linnaeus (1766: 123), G41, S8; Linnaeus (1761: [19] no. 55); Brünnich (1764: [3] no. 12); Brisson (1759a: 427); Belon (1557: 15 ro.); Gessner (1585: 205); Ray (1713: 7 no. 5); Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 99) and PE 411; Willughby (1678: 61), “Pygarg or white-tail’d Eagle”; Pennant (1776: 170 [no. 45], pl. 18), “Cinereous Eagle”; Latham (1781: 33 no. 5), “Cinereous Eagle”, refers to Linnaeus’s “ Vultur Albicilla ”, Brisson’s “Aigle à queue blanche”, Buffon’s “Grand Pygargue” and PE 411, Ray, Frisch’s pl. 70, Willughby, Pennant; Frisch (1733 -1763: 70); like Latham, Gmelin refers to PE 411 twice (see below, “ Falco leucocephalus ”).

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe, not least Scotland and adjacent islands.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) , female (Gmelin gives this species the same size as Brisson does); see the comments on Linnaeus (1758) and Brisson.