Andaman Serpent-Eagle

SCI Name:  Spilornis elgini
Protonym:  Haematornis elgini Ibis p.118
Taxonomy:  Accipitriformes / Accipitridae / Spilornis
Taxonomy Code:  anseag1
Type Locality:  South Andaman Island.
Author:  Blyth
Publish Year:  1863
IUCN Status:  Vulnerable

DEFINITIONS

SPILORNIS
(Accipitridae; Ϯ Crested Serpent Eagle S. cheela) Gr. σπιλος spilos  spot; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird; "The first [Haematornis holospilus] is spotted all over the body, the second [H. bacha] only on the abdomen; while the third [H. undulatus = Spilornis cheela] is marked by spots on the wing-coverts, and by ocelli bearing an undulated appearance on the abdomen, the breast also being crossed by undulating fasciæ" (Vigors 1832); "SPILORNIS, n.  Hæmatornis^b, Vigors.  Falco, Shaw.   S. Bacha, (Shaw,) n.  Levaill. Ois. d'Afr., pl. 15.  ...  ^bPreviously used by Mr. Swainson." (G. Gray 1840); "Spilornis G. R. Gray, List Gen. Bds., 1840, p. 3. Type, by original designation, Falco bacha Shaw; based on "Le Bacha" of Levaillant, ? 1797, Hist. Nast. Oiseaux Afrique, 1, p. 44, pl. 15 = Falco bassus J. R. Forster = Spilornis cheela subsp.  ...  Falco Bassus J. R. Forster, 1798, in Levaillant, Naturgeschichte Afr. Vögel, p. 55, pl. 15 — mountains of Great Namaqualand (corrected to Java by Sundevall, 1857, K. Svenska Vetenskaps-Acad. Handlingar, n.s., 2, no. 3, p. 25), is unidentifiable (cf. Gurney, 1878, Ibis, p. 100, and Stresemann, 1959, Journ. Ornith., 100, p. 355)." (Amadon in Peters 1979, 1, ed. 2, 311, 314).   
Synon. Bacha, Haematornis, Hypaetos, Ophaetus.

elgini
James Bruce 8^th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine (1811-1863) British colonial administrator, Gov. of Jamaica 1842-1846, Gov.-Gen. of Canada 1847-1854, Viceroy of India 1862-1863 (Spilornis).