Falco melanaetus 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 : 387

4. Buffon’s “Aigle noir” (variety of the “Aigle commun”)

4.1. Linnaeus (1758: 88): “ FALCO MELANAETUS ” G41, S1, order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Ray (1713: 7 no. 4), “ Melanaeêtos seu Aquila Valeria ”, direct observation; Willughby (1676: 30 and pl. 2), “ Melanaetus, seu Aquila Valeria ”, idem; pl. 2 based on Aldrovandi; Albin (1734: 2, pl. 2), “Black Eagle. Aquila Valeria ”.

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — The diagnosis (“yellow cere, half-downy legs, rusty-yellow body with yellow stripes”) may correspond to several species or subspecies of eagles. The mentioned sources are, on the one hand, Albin, who described a bird of unknown origin, seen in an English collection, “somewhat less than the common Eagle”, and “of a dark ferrugineous color inclining to black”; on the other hand, Willughby and Ray, who described a bird observed alive in a menagerie in Middelburg, Zeeland ( The Netherlands): “It was double the bigness of a Raven, but lesser than the Pygarg [= * Haliaeetus albicilla ]; […] The head, neck, and breast black. In the middle of the back between the shoulders was a large triangular white spot dashed with red. The rump red” ( Willughby 1678: 61). These two birds cannot be identified with certainty: they were maybe juveniles of * Aquila chrysaetos ( Linnaeus, 1758) or * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) (according to the synonymy in Sharpe 1874: 236, 302). Furthermore, Willughby refers to Aldrovandi, that is, to a longstanding tradition in natural history which gave the name “ melanaetus ” not only to the above-mentioned species, but also to other birds, such as * Clanga clanga (Pallas, 1811) or * Clanga pomarina (Brehm, 1831) .

MODERN NOMENCLATURE. — Falco melanaetus Linnaeus, 1758 , is a nomen dubium.

4.2. Brisson (1759a: 434-437, 1762: 26, 1763a: 125): “ AIGLE NOIR ”, “ MELANAEETUS, SEU AQUILA NIGRA ”, species 8 of genus IX (“Aigle”, “ Aquila ”), order III, section 1.

OBSERVATION. — Direct observation in Réaumur’s cabinet (unspecified origin).

REFERENCES. — Belon (1555: 92-93), “Aigle noire”; Belon (1557: 11 vo.), “Petite Aigle Noire”; Gessner (1585: 203), “ Melanaeetus, seu Valeria Aquila ”; Aldrovandi (1599: 197, 199-200), idem, direct observation; Schwenckfeld (1603: 218), “ Aquila nigra ”; Jonston (1657: 3, pl. II, III), “ Melanaetus ”, based on Aldrovandi and Belon; Charleton (1668: 62 no. 3, 1677: 70 no. 3), idem; Willughby (1676: 30, pl. 2); Sibbald (1684: 14), “ Melanaeetos ” (in a list of Scottish birds); Ray (1713: 7 no. 4); Frisch (1733 -1763: pl. 69), “Der schwartz-braune Adler, Aquila melanaetus, Aigle ”; Rzączyński (1745: 363, 364), “ Aquila nigra ” and “ Aquila Valeria ”; Albin (1750: 2, pl. 2), “Aigle noir”; Klein (1750: 41 no. 4), “ Aquila Valeria s. Melanaeetus ”, based on Ray, Albin, Edwards; Linnaeus (1758: [88]), G41, S1.

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — The specimen from the cabinet of Réaumur studied by Brisson can hardly be identified: according to the description, it may be * Aquila heliaca (Savigny, 1809) , or a juvenile of * Aquila chrysaetos ( Linnaeus, 1758) ( Sharpe [1874: 235], admits the latter hypothesis). On the mentioned sources, see the comments on Linnaeus (1758). The references added by Brisson increase the confusion: the “Aigle noire” of Belon, for example,cannot be identified with certainty (it might be a juvenile of * Aquila chrysaetos : Glardon in Belon 1997: 408), and the “ Melanaeetus ” of Gessner is maybe * Clanga pomarina (Brehm, 1831) ( Springer & Kinzelbach 2009: 171) . Frisch’s “schwartz-braune Adler” is probably * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) .

4.3. Linnaeus (1766: 124): “ FALCO MELANAEETUS ” G42, S2, order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Gessner (1585: 203); Aldrovandi (1599: 197, 199, 200); Ray (1713: 7 no. 4); Willughby (1676: 30, pl. 2); Albin (1734: 2, pl. 2); Brisson (1759a: 434).

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — The diagnosis is the same as in 1758 but, because of the references mentioned, the “ Falco Melanaeetus ” of Linnaeus (1766) combines the confusions of the “ Falco Melanaeetus ” of Linnaeus (1758) and of Brisson’s “Aigle noir”; it may thus correspond to * Aquila chrysaetos ( Linnaeus, 1758) , * Aquila heliaca (Savigny, 1809) , * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) , * Clanga clanga (Pallas, 1811) , or * Clanga pomarina (Brehm, 1831) .

4.4. Buffon in Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 86), quarto edition; (1771b: 68), folio edition: “Aigle noir”, variety of the “Aigle commun” (see above, 3.4).

OBSERVATION. — Possible direct observation, maybe specimen(s) from Réaumur’s cabinet.

REFERENCES. — Aristotle (“ melainaetos ”); Belon (1555: 92); Schwenckfeld (1603: 218); Frisch (1733 -1763: pl. 69); Brisson (1759a: 434).

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — Buffon’s “Aigle noir” is defined from the same sources as that of Brisson (Belon, who is mentioned by Brisson, also refers to Aristotle’s “ melainaetos ”), and corresponds, thus, to the same confusion of several more or less identifiable species (see Brisson): * Aquila chrysaetos ( Linnaeus, 1758) , * Aquila heliaca (Savigny, 1809) , * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) , * Clanga clanga (Pallas, 1811) or * Clanga pomarina (Brehm, 1831) .

4.5. Gmelin (1788: 254): “ FALCO MELANAËTOS ” G42, S2, order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Gessner (1585: 203); Aldrovandi (1599: 197, 199, 200); Ray (1713: 7 no. 4); Albin (1734: 2, pl. 2); Brisson (1759a: 434); Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 86) and PE 409; Willughby (1678: 61, pl. 2), “Black Eagle, called Melanaëtus, or Aquila Valeria ”; Latham (1781: 28 no. 2), “Black Eagle”, based on Buffon, Brisson, Linnaeus (1766), etc. NB: like Latham, Gmelin identifies PE 409 with both “ Falco fulvus ” and “ Falco Melanaëtos ” (see above).

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — The diagnosis is the same as in Linnaeus (1758), but the description (translated from Latham, who borrowed it from Brisson) corresponds to the “Aigle noir” of Brisson (and probably of Buffon). Gmelin’s “ Falco Melanaëtos ” thus corresponds to a confusion of * Aquila chrysaetos ( Linnaeus, 1758) with a juvenile of * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) (both identifications are acknowledged by Sharpe 1874: 236, 302), but also, possibly, with * Aquila heliaca (Savigny, 1809) , * Clanga clanga (Pallas, 1811) or * Clanga pomarina (Brehm, 1831) .