Falco ossifragus Linnaeus, 1766

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 : 391-392

10. Buffon’s “Orfraie” (full species)

10.1. Linnaeus (1758): not considered.

10.2. Brisson (1759a: 437-440, 1763a: 125-126): “ GRAND AIGLE DE MER ”, “ AQUILA OSSIFRAGA ”, species 9 of genus IX (“Aigle”, “ Aquila ”), order III, section 1.

OBSERVATION. — No direct observation. Description mainly borrowed from Aldrovandi (“ Ossifraga ”).

REFERENCES. — Belon (1555: 97-98), “ Ossifragus ”; Gessner (1585: 203), “ Ossifraga ”; Gessner (1585: 542), “ Harpe ”; Aldrovandi (1599: 222-228), “ Ossifraga ”; Aldrovandi (1599: 408), “ Harpa ”; Schwenckfeld (1603: 220), “ Aquila Ossifraga ”, direct observation; Belon (1605: 138), “ Ossifraga ”; Jonston (1657: 5, pl. II, IV, V), based on Aldrovandi; Charleton (1668: 63 no. 8, 1677: 71 no. 8), “ Ossifraga ”, “ Harpa ”; Willughby (1676: 29, pl. 1), “ Haliaetus ”; Sibbald (1684: 14), “ Haliaeetus ” (in a list of Scottish birds); Ray (1713: 7 no. 3), “ Haliaeetus , seu Ossifraga ”; Kolb (1741: 140), “Orfraie ou Ossifrague”; Rzączyński (1745: 363), “ Aquila Ossifraga ”, based on Aldrovandi, Schwenckfeld, etc.; Klein (1750: 41 no. 5), “ Aquila Ossifraga ”, based on Aldrovandi and other sources.

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — Sharpe (1874: 302) and Dresser (1871 -1881: 551) identify Brisson’s “Grand Aigle de mer” with Linnaeus’s “ Falco albicilla ” (1758). Indeed, Brisson’s description, based on textual scholarship only, corresponds to an immature * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) (a bird almost as large as the golden eagle, body brown, whitish and rusty, twelve brown and white rectrices with a black tip, etc.), that is, the same as the “Aigle à queue blanche” and the “Petit Aigle à queue blanche” (see above). However, some of the mentioned sources mix up data borrowed from ancient authors relating to that species and to * Pandion haliaetus ( Linnaeus, 1758) , or to nearly unidentifiable birds of prey (e.g., Belon’s “ Ossifragus ” and Gessner’s “ Ossifraga ”). Kolb’s “Orfraie ou Ossifrague” from South Africa is not identifiable either; in any case, it is not * Haliaeetus albicilla .

10.3. Linnaeus (1766: 124-125): “ FALCO OSSIFRAGUS ” G42, S4, order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Gessner (1585:“263” = 203); Aldrovandi (1599: 222, 225, 228); Brünnich (1764: [3] no. 13, “ Falco Ossifraga ”); Willughby (1676: 29, pl. 1); Ray (1713: 7 no. 3).

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe, including Sweden.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — Sharpe (1874: 302) and Dresser (1871 -1881: 551) identify Linnaeus’s Falco ossifragus with the Falco albicilla of the same author, namely, * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) ; it is overall correct according to the description and the mentioned sources, which better correspond to that species than Brisson’s “Grand Aigle de mer” does.

MODERN NOMENCLATURE. — Falco ossifragus Linnaeus, 1766 is considered an available name,

a junior synonym of Falco albicilla Linnaeus, 1758 .

10.4. Buffon in Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 112- 123, pl. III), quarto edition; (1771b: 88-96, PE 112 and 415), folio edition: “ ORFRAIE ”.

PLATE III. — “L’Orfraie ou Aigle de mer”.

PE 112. — “Le Grand Aigle de mer” (published in July 1766).

PE 415. — “L’Orfraie ou L’Ossifrage. Le grand Aigle de mer femelle” (published in March 1770).

REMARK. — The French term “orfraie”, derived from Latin “ ossifraga ” (“bone breaker”), designated several large diurnal or nocturnal birds of prey. Buffon assigns it to a precise species, * Haliaeetus albicilla , but he does not realize that it is the same as his “Pygargue”. The English term “osprey” has the same origin and corresponds to * Pandion haliaetus .

OBSERVATION. — Direct observation of at least two specimens of unknown origin (apparently not from Réaumur’s collection); the comparison of PE 415 with the figure of the “Aigle de mer” in Salerne (1767: pl. II) suggests that it may be the same specimen.

REFERENCES. — Aristotle (“ phênê ”); Pliny the Elder ( “ haliaetus ”); Aldrovandi (1599: 226); Sagard (1632: 300); Kolb (1741: 140); Brisson (1759a: 437); Salerne (1767: 5), “Aigle de mer, dit Orfraie”, direct observation.

DISTRIBUTION. — “Almost everywhere in Europe”, “lakes of North America”.

IDENTIFICATIONS PROPOSED BY LATER AUTHORS FOR PE 112 AND 415. — Boddaert (1783: 7, 25): Brisson (1759a: 437); Linnaeus (1766: 124), G42, S4; Latham (1781: 30 no. 4), “Sea Eagle”, refers to Linnaeus’s “ Falco Ossifragus ”, Brisson’s “Grand Aigle de mer”, Buffon’s “Orfraie”, PE 112 and 415, etc., the British Museum and the Leverian collection.

Kuhl (1820: 3, 7): “ Falco Ossifragus L.” (PE 112); “ Falco Ossifragus L.”, juvenile (PE 415).

Temminck (1839: 3): PE 112: “Aigle pygargue”, male, “middle age, two-year-old”, “ Falco albicilla . Linn.”; PE “405” (= 415): idem, young female of the year.

Gray (1849: 31 and 33): “ Haliaetus albicilla ”.

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — The birds represented on PE 112 and PE 415 as well as on De Sève’s plate III (the latter is maybe the same as that on PE 415) are probably * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) , although the claws of the first one are a little two small, and the bill of the second one not massive enough; in any case, they are juveniles. On the cited sources, see Brisson and Linnaeus (1766). The tradition relating to “marine eagles” is very confused. In particular, the “ phênê ” of the Ancients is unidentifiable. Buffon indicates North America in the distribution of this species because of a passage in the account of French traveler Gabriel Sagard, who briefly mentioned “eagles” living near Canadian lakes, which were probably * Haliaeetus leucocephalus ( Linnaeus, 1766) .

10.5. Gmelin (1788: 255-256): “ FALCO OSSIFRAGUS ” G42, S4, order “ Accipitres ”.

REFERENCES. — Brisson (1763a: 125); Gessner (1585: “263” = 203); Aldrovandi (1599: 222, 225, 228); Brünnich (1764: [3] no. 13), “ Falco Ossifraga ”; Ray (1713: 7 no. 3); Buffon & Guéneau de Montbeillard (1771a: 112, pl. III) and PE 112, 415; Pennant (1776: 167 [no. 44], pl. 17, 1785: 194 no. 86), “Sea Eagle”; Willughby (1678: 59, pl. 1), “Sea-Eagle or Osprey”; Latham (1781: 30 no. 4), based on Linnaeus, Brisson, Buffon, PE 112, PE 415, etc., the British Museum, and the Leverian collection.

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe, North America, “Botany Island” (i.e., Botany Bay, Australia).

MODERN IDENTIFICATION. — * Haliaeetus albicilla ( Linnaeus, 1758) . On the mentioned sources, see Brisson, Linnaeus (1766), and Buffon. The erroneous mention of North America is borrowed from Buffon, Pennant, and Latham, and corresponds, in fact, to * Haliaeetus leucocephalus ( Linnaeus, 1766) . Latham mentions “Botany Island” ( Australia), relying on the account of James Cook’s travels; the bird in question was obviously neither * Haliaeetus albicilla nor * Haliaeetus leucocephalus (both absent from Australia).