Australasian Bushlark

SCI Name:  Mirafra javanica
Protonym:  Mirafra Javanica Trans.Linn.Soc.London(1), 13 p.159
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Alaudidae / Mirafra
Taxonomy Code:  ausbus2
Type Locality:  ? Java.
Author:  Horsfield
Publish Year:  1821
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

MIRAFRA
(Alaudidae; Ϯ Horsfield's Bush Lark M. javanica) Horsfield made great use of Javanese names, but this does not appear to be one of them (cf. Malay name Merfa for a babbler (see Malacopteron)). According to Agassiz 1842-1846, mirafra is from a native tongue. Gotch 1981, writes that the name is from L. mirus wonderful, and Afra African; the first part of this etymology may be correct, but although most forms occur in the Afrotropics Horsfield’s Bush Lark does not; "MIRAFRA ... The characters in which this genus differs from Alauda are a more robust, conical and arched bill, round nares nearly naked, and a proportionally short claw to the posterior toe. The sides of the beak, between the back (culmen) and cutting edges (tomia) are somewhat convex. In this character it has greater affinity to Fringilla than to Alauda, the bill of which is often subulate (as in Sylvia), while the nares are covered.  Mirafra, although it greatly resembles Calandra, differs from it in possessing the spurious remex, and in having the four instead of the three first remiges elongated  ...  Mirafra Javanica ...  Branjangan Javanis." (Horsfield 1821); "Mirafra Horsfield, 1821, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13, pt. 1, p. 159. Type, by monotypy, Mirafra javanica Horsfield." (Peters 1960, IX, 3).    
Var. Miraffra, Mirafa, Myrafra.   
Synon. Africorys, Amirafra, Anacorys, Brachonyx, Corypha, Croteoptera, Etoimus, Geocoraphus, Megalophonus, Neomirafra, Plocealauda, Spilocorydon.

mirafra
Genus Mirafra Horsfield, 1821, bush lark (syn. Mirafra javanica).

javaensis / javana / javanense / javanensis / javanica
Java, Dutch East Indies / Indonesia.  The origins of the island name (Jawa in Indonesian) are obscure  ?< Malay Jewa  millet  < Sanskrit Yava  barley.
● ex “Javan Partridge” of Brown 1776, and Latham 1783 (Arborophila).
● ex “Martin-Pêcheur de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 757 (subsp. Pelargopsis capensis).
● Erroneous TL. Java (= Australia); ex “Tourterelle de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 177, “Turvert” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Javan Turtle” of Latham 1783 (syn. Chalcophaps chrysochlora).

SUBSPECIES

Australasian Bushlark (williamsoni)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica williamsoni
williamsoni
● Sir Walter James Franklin Williamson (1867-1954) English civil servant in India, financial adviser to the Thai government, collector, oologist (subsp. Malacocincla abbotti, subsp. Micropternus brachyurus, subsp. Muscicapa dauurica, subsp. Ploceus manyar, subsp. Zosterops palpebrosus).
● Lady Marion Williamson (d. 1945) wife of English financial adviser Sir Walter J. F. Williamson in Thailand (subsp. Mirafra javanica).
● Capt. James Hay Williamson (d. 1898) British mariner, tea-merchant and pioneer tea-planter in Assam, co-founder of Williamson Magor tea plantation group (syn. Napothera brevicaudata striata).
● Lt.-Col. Robert Stockton Williamson (1824-1882) US Army, engineer, surveyor, explorer (syn. Sphyrapicus thyroideus).

Australasian Bushlark (philippinensis)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica philippinensis
philippinarum / philippinensis
Philippine Is.
● ex “Cacatua minor” of Brisson 1760, “Petit Kakatoës des Philippines” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 191, “Petit Kakatoës à bec couleur de chair” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Red-vented Cockatoo” of Brown 1776, and Latham 1781 (syn. Cacatua haematuropygia).
● Erroneous TL. Luzon (= Cape of Good Hope); ex “Pic vert des Philippines” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 691, “Pic verd de l’isle de Luçon” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Manilla Green Woodpecker” of Latham 1782 (syn. Dendropicos griseocephalus).
● ex “Bucco philippensis” of Brisson 1760, “Barbu des Philippines” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 331, “Barbu à gorge jaune” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Yellow-throated Barbet” of Latham 1782 (syn. Megalaima haemacephala).
● ex “Moucherolle des Philippines” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Philippine Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (unident.).

Australasian Bushlark (mindanensis)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica mindanensis
mindanaensis / mindanaoensis / mindanense / mindanensis
Mindanao, Philippines (named after the Maguindanao, a Moro people and former sultanate of the southern Philippines).
● (Boddaert 1783) ex “Merle de Mindanao” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 627, fig. 1 (Copsychus).
● (J. Gmelin 1789) ex “Merle de Mindanao” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 627, fig. 1, and “Mindanao Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Copsychus mindanensis).
● ex “Coucou tacheté de Mindanao” of Brisson 1760 (subsp. Eudynamys scolopacea).

Australasian Bushlark (javanica)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica javanica
javaensis / javana / javanense / javanensis / javanica
Java, Dutch East Indies / Indonesia.  The origins of the island name (Jawa in Indonesian) are obscure  ?< Malay Jewa  millet  < Sanskrit Yava  barley.
● ex “Javan Partridge” of Brown 1776, and Latham 1783 (Arborophila).
● ex “Martin-Pêcheur de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 757 (subsp. Pelargopsis capensis).
● Erroneous TL. Java (= Australia); ex “Tourterelle de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 177, “Turvert” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Javan Turtle” of Latham 1783 (syn. Chalcophaps chrysochlora).

Australasian Bushlark (parva)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica parva
parva
L. parvus  small, little, short.
● ex “Favorite de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 897, and “Favorite” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Porphyrula flavirostris).
● ex “Petite Poule-Sultane” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Porphyrula martinica).
● ex “Fou de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 973, “Petit Fou” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Lesser Booby” of Latham 1785 (syn. Sula leucogaster).

Australasian Bushlark (timorensis)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica timorensis
timorense / timorensis / timoriense / timoriensis
Timor, Dutch East Indies / Indonesia.

Australasian Bushlark (aliena)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica aliena
aliena / alienus
L. alienus  alien, stranger, foreign  < alius  another.
● "8.  OENA CAPENSIS ALIENA, subsp. nov.  Twenty-six specimens, adults of both sexes, Miandrivazo, Morondava, Morondava River, Mahabo, Tulear, and Lake Tsimanampetsotsa, June, July, and August.  ...  Similar to Oena capensis capensis (Linné) of South Africa and Oe. capensis anonyma Oberholser of British East Africa, but wing and tail averaging slightly longer; scapularis, mantle, and lower rump considerably darker" (Bangs 1918) (subsp. Oena capensis).
● "SITAGRA ALIENA, n. sp.  ♂. Similis nulla speciei generis 'Sitagra' dicti.  ...  This species, according to Capt. Shelley's classification of the Weaver-Birds (B. Afr. i. p. 38), would come into his genus Hyphanturgus, but even then there is no species with a black head and throat." (Sharpe 1902) (Ploceus).
● "RHODOPECHYS ALIENA, sp. n.  R. similis R. sanguineæ, sed rostro debiliore, superciliis et torque collari cineraceis, nec fulvescenti-albis vel roseis: gutture pallide roseo, nec cinnamomeo-brunneo distinguenda."  (Whitaker 1897) (Rhodopechys).

Australasian Bushlark (woodwardi)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica woodwardi
woodwardi
• Bernard Henry Woodward (1846-1916) British immigrant to Australia, son of Prof. S. P. Woodward, assayer, Curator of Perth Mus., Western Australia 1889-1916 (Amytornis, subsp. Anthochaera carunculata, Colluricincla, syn. Dromaius novaehollandiae, syn. Eudyptula minor novaehollandiae, subsp. Mirafra javanica, syn. Porphyrio melanotus).
• Dr Sir Arthur Smith Woodward (1864-1944) English palaeontologist involved in the Piltdown Man hoax 1912 (‡Buteo).
• Revd. Richard Blake Woodward (1847-1919) and his brother Revd. John Deverell Stewart Woodward (1849-1919) English missionaries to Natal, naturalists, explorers, collectors, emigrated to Australia 1905 (Paul Scofield in litt.) (subsp. Cryptolybia olivacea, subsp. Sylvia borin).

Australasian Bushlark (halli)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica halli
hallae / halli
● Beryl Patricia Hall née Woodhouse (1917-2010) English ornithologist, collector (subsp. Acrocephalus scirpaceus, subsp. Alophoixus ochraceus, syn. Anthus similis dewittei, subsp. Chamaetylas poliocephala, subsp. Cisticola fulvicapilla, syn. Eurillas virens, syn. Sheppardia bocagei chapini).
● Robert Hall (1867-1949) Australian ornithologist, President of the RAOU 1912-1913 (subsp. Aptenodytes patagonicus, subsp. Ceyx pusillus, Macronectes, subsp. Mirafra javanica, syn. Neophema splendida).
● Maj. Harold Wesley Hall (1888-1964) Australian marine researcher, philanthropist (Pomatostomus).

Australasian Bushlark (forresti)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica forresti
forresti / forrestia
● George Forrest (1873-1932) Scottish botanist, explorer, collector in the Himalayas, Tibet and south-western China (subsp. Dryocopus javensis, subsp. Hypothymis azurea, subsp. Lioparus chrysotis, Phylloscopus, subsp. Pomatorhinus superciliaris, syn. Streptopelia tigrina, syn. Trochalopteron chrysopterum woodi).
● Sir John Forrest 1^st Baron Forrest of Bunbury (1847-1918) Australian politician, explorer, first Premier of Western Australia 1890-1901 (subsp. Gavicalis virescens).
● Forrest River, Western Australia (subsp. Mirafra javanica).

Australasian Bushlark (melvillensis)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica melvillensis
melvillense / melvillensis / melvilli
Melville I., Northern Territory, Australia.

Australasian Bushlark (soderbergi)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica soderbergi

Australasian Bushlark (rufescens)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica rufescens
rufescens
L. rufescens, rufescentis  reddish  < rufescere  to become reddish  < rufus  red.
● ex “Aigrette rousse de la Louisiane” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 902, “Aigrette rousse” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Reddish Egret” of Pennant 1785, and Latham 1785 (Egretta).
● ex “Gobe-mouche roux de Cayenne” (= ♀) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 453, fig. 1, and de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Rufous Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Pachyramphus rufus).
● ex “Red-backed Pelican” of Latham 1785 (Pelecanus).
● ex Tringa fulicaria Linnaeus, 1758, and “Phalarope roussâtre” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Phalaropus fulicarius).
● ex “Ynambú guazú” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 326 (Rhynchotus).
● ex “Crombec” or “Figuier à Bec Courbi” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 135 (Sylvietta).

Australasian Bushlark (athertonensis)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica athertonensis
athertonensis
Atherton Tablelands, northern Queensland, Australia.

Australasian Bushlark (horsfieldii)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica horsfieldii
horsfieldi / horsfieldii
Dr Thomas Horsfield (1773-1859) US naturalist, explorer, collector in the East Indies 1796-1818 (subsp. Aethopyga nipalensis, syn. Chrysomma sinense, syn. Cincloramphus mathewsi, syn. Cuculus optatus, syn. Dryocopus javensis, syn. Eurylaimus javanicus, syn. Gallinago stenura, syn. Icthyophaga ichthyaetus, syn. Lophura lathami, syn. Microhierax fringillarius, subsp. Mirafra javanica, Myophonus, syn. Nisaetus cirrhatus limnaeetus, syn. Oriolus chinensis, Pomatorhinus, syn. Tringa nebularia, syn. Tringa stagnatilis, subsp. Zoothera aurea).

Australasian Bushlark (secunda)
SCI Name: Mirafra javanica secunda
secunda / secundus
L. secundus  subordinate, inferior  < sequi  to follow.