Abyssinian Nightjar

SCI Name:  Caprimulgus poliocephalus
Protonym:  Caprimulgus poliocephalus NeueWirbelth.Vog. p.106
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Caprimulgidae / Caprimulgus
Taxonomy Code:  abynig1
Type Locality:  Kulla, Ethiopia.
Author:  Rüppell
Publish Year:  1840
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

CAPRIMULGUS
(Caprimulgidae; Ϯ European Nightjar C. europaeus) L. caprimulgus  nightjar  < capra  nanny-goat  < caper, capri  billy-goat; mulgere  to milk; “Those called goat-suckers  ...  enter the shepherds’ stalls and fly to the goats’ udders in order to suck their milk, which injures the udder and makes it perish, and the goats they have milked in this way gradually go blind” (Pliny X, lvi (ed. Rackham 1983)); this unfounded rustic superstition was for long associated with the European Nightjar; "NIGHT-HAWK (C. popetue). I have noticed, when skinning this bird, that the male, in spring, exhales a strong hircine odor.  If this is common to all birds of the family, it may have added apparent reason to the superstition from which the family name is derived." (Coues 1874); "102. CAPRIMULGUS.  Rostrum incurvum, minimum, subulatum, basi depressum.  Vibrissæ ad os serie ciliari.  Rictus amplissimus.   ...   Caprimulgus genere differt ab Hirundine, uti Strix a Falcone, Phalæna a Papilione." (Linnaeus 1758); "Caprimulgus Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 193. Type, by tautonymy, Caprimulgus europaeus Linné (Caprimulgus, pre-binomial specific name in synonymy." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 196). Linnaeus's Caprimulgus, the final avian genus listed in his historic ground-breaking work, comprised two species (C. europæus, C. americanus). 
Synon. Allasma, Capripeda, Climacurus, Cosmetornis, Creapyga, Crotema, Diaphorasma, Eximiornis, Hypsiphornis, Macrodipteryx, Nyctichelidon, Nycticircus, Nyctitypus, Nyctipornis, Nyctisyrigmus, Nyctivociferator, Phalaenivora, Rossornis, Scotornis, Semeiophorus, Stelidopterus, Vociferator.

caprimulgus
L. caprimulgus  nightjar  < capra  nanny-goat  < caper, capri  billy-goat; mulgere  to milk (cf. Gr. αιγοθηλας aigothēlas  goatsucker).

POLIOCEPHALUS
(Podicipedidae; Ϯ Hoary-headed Grebe P. poliocephalus) Specific name Podiceps poliocephalus Jardine & Selby, 1827. "FAM. COLYMBIDÆ.   Genus Podiceps. LATH.  ...  Pod. (Poliocephalus, SELBY) (1) Nestor.  Australia.  ...  (1) Mr. Swainson gives to this group a generic value, but we doubt whether it is even entitled to a subgeneric rank." (Selby 1840); "Poliocephalus Selby, Cat. Gen. Subgen. Types Av., 1840, p. 47. Type, by monotypy and tautonymy, Podiceps poliocephalus Jardine and Selby." (Peters 1931, 1, 35) (see nestor).
Var. Poliocephelus.
Synon. Colymbetes, Dasyptilus.

poliocephalus
Gr. πολιος polios  grey, grizzled; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● ex “Grey-headed Cuckow” of Latham 1787 (Cuculus).
● ex “Ash-headed Thrush” of Latham 1801 (Turdus).