Azores Bullfinch

SCI Name:  Pyrrhula murina
Protonym:  Pyrrhula murina Ibis (2) 2 (5) p. 97-98
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Fringillidae / Pyrrhula
Taxonomy Code:  eurbul1
Type Locality:  Sao Miguel, eastern Azores.
Author:  Godman
Publish Year:  1866
IUCN Status:  Vulnerable

DEFINITIONS

PYRRHULA
(Fringillidae; Ϯ Eurasian Bullfinch P. pyrrhula) Late Med. L. pyrrhula  Bullfinch  < Gr. πυρρουλας purrhoulas  worm-eating bird, mentioned by Aristotle, later identified as either the Robin Erithacus or the Bullfinch; "Le genre du Bouvreuil.  Genus Pyrrhulæ" (Brisson 1760): based on "Pyrrhula" and "Rubicilla" of many authors, "Rubrica" of Gessner 1555, "Fringilla sanguinea" of Schwenckfeld 1603, "Fringilla Rubecula" of Frisch 1733-1743, "Coccothraustes sanguinea" of Klein 1750, and "Loxia artubus nigris ..." of Linnaeus 1746; "Pyrrhula Brisson, 1760, Ornithologie, 1, p. 36. Type, by tautonymy, Loxia pyrrhula Linnaeus." (Paynter in Peters 1968, XIV, 293). In ornithology the combination pyrrhul- is often used for thick-billed birds, or for those with red breasts. The Eurasian Bullfinch is accused of eating cultivated fruits or nipping buds and is still persecuted in some areas.
Var. Pyhrrhula, Pyrhula, Phyrrula, Pyrrhulas, Pirrula, Pirula, Pitalla, Purrhula.
Synon. Protopyrrhula, Pyrrhia.

pyrrhula
Gr. πυρρουλας purrhoulas  worm-eating bird mentioned by Aristotle, since identified as either the robin Erithacus or the bullfinch; "96. LOXIA.  ...  Pyrrhula.  4. L. artubus nigris, tectricibus caudæ remigumque posticarum albis. Fn. svec. 178.  Rubicilla s. Pyrrhula. Gesn. av. 733. Aldr. orn. l. 17. c. 31. Jonst. av. . . t. 43. Will. ornith. 130. t. 43. Raj. av. 86. Alb. orn. I. t. 59. 60. Frisch. av. . . t. 2. f. 1. 2. Olin. av. 40.  Habitat in Europæ sylvis, Sorbi disseminator.  Mas subtus ruber, Femina subtus fusco-cinerea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Pyrrhula).

murina
Mod. L. murinus  mouse-grey  < L. murinus  of mice, mouse-  < mus, muris  mouse.
● ex “Murine Warbler” of Latham 1783 (unident.).