Falco albicaudus J. F. Gmelin, 1788

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 : 389

7. Buffon’s “Petit Pygargue” (variety of the “Pygargue”)

7.1. Linnaeus (1758: 89): Included in “ FALCO ALBICILLA ” G41, S8, order “ Accipitres ”: see above.

7.2. Brisson (1759a: 429-430, 1763a: 124): “ PETIT AIGLE À QUEUE BLANCHE ”, “ AQUILA ALBICILLA MINOR ”, species 6 of genus IX (“Aigle”, “ Aquila ”), order III, section 1.

REMARK. — Here Brisson uses a trinomial.

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

REFERENCES. — Gessner (1585: 205); Aldrovandi (1599: 205-206); Jonston (1657: 4, pl. III), “ Pygargus ”, based on Aldrovandi; Charleton (1668: 63 no. 4, 1677: 70 no. 4), “ Pygargus Hinnularia ”; Willughby (1676: 31), “ Pygargus Aldrovandi ”; Sibbald (1684: 14), “ Pygargus Hinnularius ” (in a list of Scottish birds); Frisch (1733 -1763: pl. 70), “Der braun-fahle Adler, Aquila Pygargus , Aigle brunatre”; Rzączyński (1745: 361), “ Aquila Pygargus Plinii, Albicilla Gazae , etc.”; based on Aldrovandi, Belon, and a source relating to Poland.

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — Brisson, who relies on the literature only, distinguishes this species from the previous one; here he mentions the most ambiguous sources, those mixing up elements relating to both * Haliaeetus albicilla and * Circus cyaneus . However, his description of the “Petit Aigle à queue blanche” clearly corresponds to * Haliaeetus albicilla , more precisely to an adult male (considering the size). Frisch’s plate 70 evidently represents the same species.

7.3. Linnaeus (1766: 123-124): Included in “ VULTUR ALBICILLA ” G41, S8, order “ Accipitres ”: see above.

7.4. Buffon in Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 99), quarto edition; (1771b: 78), folio edition: “Petit Pygargue”, variety of the “Pygargue” (see above 6.4).

OBSERVATION. — No direct observation.

REFERENCES. — Frisch (1733 -1763: pl. 70); Brisson (1759a: 429).

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

7.5. Gmelin (1788: 258): “ FALCO ALBICAUDUS ” G42, S51, order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Brisson (1763a: 124); Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 99); Willughby (1678: 62), “ Pygargus of Aldrovandus”; Charleton (1668: 63 no. 4); Latham (1781: 39), “Lesser white-tailed Eagle” refers to Brisson’s “Petit Aigle à queue blanche”, Buffon’s “Petit Pygargue”, Frisch’s pl. 70, etc., and the Leverian collection; Gessner (1585: 205).

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) , male (Gmelin mentions the same size as Brisson); see the comments on Linnaeus (1758) and Brisson.

MODERN NOMENCLATURE. — Falco albicaudus J. F. Gmelin, 1788 , is considered an available name,

a junior synonym of Falco albicilla Linnaeus, 1758 .