Alauda arborea cherneli Pražák

Mlíkovský, Jiří, 2011, Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of bird taxa (Aves) described by an ornithological swindler, Josef Prokop Pražák (1870 – 1904), Zootaxa 3005, pp. 45-68 : 54

Alauda arborea cherneli Pražák

Alauda arborea cherneli Pražák, 1895c: 143 .

NOW. Lullula arborea arborea Linnaeus, 1758 . See Sharpe (1897: 445) and Hartert (1900: 33, 1905: 241).

Holotype (lost). ad. 3, collected by István Chernel von Chernelháza on 29 May 1895 at “Deliblater Sandwüste, Ungarn ” ( Pražák 1895c: 143) [= Deliblato, Serbia; 44.83°N, 21.05°E].

Remarks. Pražák (1895c: 143) described this species on the basis of a single specimen which he denoted as typus and which is thus the holotype. Almássy (1896: 209) indicated that this specimen was collected by István Chernel von Chernelháza (1867–1933), a significant Hungarian ornithologist, and that it was sent by Chernel to Pražák in Hořinĕves for examination. Pražák probably returned the specimen to Chernel (cf. Almássy 1896). Chernel donated his collection of birds to the Hungarian Ornithological Institute ( Csőrgey 1922: 31; Vönöczky Schenk 1943: 135), but the current disposition of the holotype is unknown (T. I. Fuisz, in litt. 2009).

György Almássy (1867–1933; also Germanized as Georg Almasy) accompanied Chernel on his trip to Deliblato in spring 1895, where he collected another specimen of Lullula arborea ( Almássy 1896) . Although Almássy (1896) criticized Pražák for having described a new taxon on the basis of a single specimen, he supported the validity of cherneli. To confirm this, Almássy (1896) sent his Deliblato specimen to Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847–1909) of the British Museum in London, England, who interpreted it as a typical Lullula arborea in fresh spring plumage ( Sharpe 1897: 445; see also Hartert 1900: 33, 1905: 241).