Black-headed Apalis

SCI Name:  Apalis melanocephala
Protonym:  Burnesia melanocephala J.Orn. 32 p.56
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Cisticolidae / Apalis
Taxonomy Code:  blhapa1
Type Locality:  Pangani, coastal Tanganyika.
Author:  Fischer & Reichenow
Publish Year:  1884
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

APALIS
(Cisticolidae; Ϯ Bar-throated Apalis A. thoracica) Gr. ἁπαλος hapalos  soft, delicate (cf. Gotch 1981, erroneously suggested Apalis might be from an African name); "[plate 119] APALIS thoracica   ...   [text] APALIS thoracia [sic].  Gorget Warbler.   Family Sylviadæ.  Sub-fam: Sylvianæ.   Genus (?) Apalis.   GENERIC (?) CHARACTER.  General structue [sic] of Prinea, but the bill shorter, the plumage more compact, and the outer toe not connected to the middle as far as the first joint.   ...   Le Plastron Noir. Le Vaill. Ois. d'Af. 3 pl. 123. f. 1 male. 2 fem.  Motacilla thoracia [sic]. Nat. Miss [sic].  22. pl. 969.   THIS is one of the pretty warblers of Southern Africa, discovered by Le Vaillant: it is very common and widely distributed in the interior, but rare near the Cape.   ...   That this bird is of a tenuirostral type, is almost certain; seeing that it is an obvious representation of Motacilla, Pachycephala, Tamatia, Trichas, Charadrius, and many other collared groups: but whether it forms part of the genus Prinea, or represents the tenuirostral genus between that and Culicivora, is very uncertain. We suspect that this latter station is filled by the Taylor-Warblers of India, not one of which is to be found in our public Museums." (Swainson 1832); "Apalis Swainson, 1832, Zool. Illus., ser. 2, 3, p. 119, pl. 119. Type, by monotypy, Motacilla thoracica Shaw and Nodder." (Traylor in Peters, 1986, XI, p. 154). 
Var. Hapalis. 
Synon. Chlorodyta, Drymoterpe, Euprinodes.

melanocephala / melanocephalon / melanocephalos / melanocephalum / melanocephalus
Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● ex “Black-headed Shrike” of Latham 1783 (syn. Brachypodius atriceps).
● ex “Pato cabeza negra” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 438 (syn. Heteronetta atricapilla).
● ex “Manakin à tête noire de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 303, fig. 1 (syn. Manacus manacus).
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  melanocephalus.  33. P. brachiurus viridis subtus luteus, pileo nigro, pectore albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p.  Psittacus coccineus, ventre albo. Edw. av. 169. t. 169.  Habitat in Mexico." (Linnaeus 1758) (Pionites).
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  melanocephala.  26. L. lutea, capite atro.  Coccothraustes gambogia. Alb. av. 3. p. 58. t. 62.  Habitat in Gvinea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ploceus).
● ex “Pluvian du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 918, and de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Black-headed Plover” of Latham 1785 (syn. Pluvianus aegyptius).
● ex “Black-headed Ibis” of Latham 1787, and “Tantalus de Macé” of Cuvier 1804 (Threskiornis).
● ex “Black-headed Roller” of Latham 1787 (syn. Urocissa erythrorhyncha).
● ex “Pie Bleue à Tête Noire” of Levaillant 1800, pl. 58 (unident.; ?syn. Urocissa sp.).

SUBSPECIES

Black-headed Apalis (melanocephala)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala melanocephala
melanocephala / melanocephalon / melanocephalos / melanocephalum / melanocephalus
Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● ex “Black-headed Shrike” of Latham 1783 (syn. Brachypodius atriceps).
● ex “Pato cabeza negra” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 438 (syn. Heteronetta atricapilla).
● ex “Manakin à tête noire de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 303, fig. 1 (syn. Manacus manacus).
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  melanocephalus.  33. P. brachiurus viridis subtus luteus, pileo nigro, pectore albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p.  Psittacus coccineus, ventre albo. Edw. av. 169. t. 169.  Habitat in Mexico." (Linnaeus 1758) (Pionites).
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  melanocephala.  26. L. lutea, capite atro.  Coccothraustes gambogia. Alb. av. 3. p. 58. t. 62.  Habitat in Gvinea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ploceus).
● ex “Pluvian du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 918, and de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Black-headed Plover” of Latham 1785 (syn. Pluvianus aegyptius).
● ex “Black-headed Ibis” of Latham 1787, and “Tantalus de Macé” of Cuvier 1804 (Threskiornis).
● ex “Black-headed Roller” of Latham 1787 (syn. Urocissa erythrorhyncha).
● ex “Pie Bleue à Tête Noire” of Levaillant 1800, pl. 58 (unident.; ?syn. Urocissa sp.).

Black-headed Apalis (nigrodorsalis)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala nigrodorsalis
nigrodorsalis
L. niger black; dorsalis (properly dorsualis) dorsal, of the back < dorsum back.

Black-headed Apalis (moschi)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala moschi
moschi
Moschi (= Moshi), Tanganyika (= Tanzania).

Black-headed Apalis (muhuluensis)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala muhuluensis
muhuluensis
Muhulu Forest, Mahenge District, southern Tanganyika / Tanzania.

Black-headed Apalis (adjacens)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala adjacens
adjacens
L. adiacens, adiacentis  adjacent, neighbouring  < adiacere  to be adjacent.
● "I now restrict A. m. lightoni to coastal Moçambique between the Zambesi and Save Rivers, separating the referred Malawi population as:— Apalis melanocephala adjacens, subsp. nov.  ...  From the contiguous races A. m. tenebricosa and A. m. fuliginosa differs in that the male is relatively grey above, not deep brownish black, and is lighter below, less washed with dusky over the breast, sides and flanks.  Female lighter" (Clancey 1969) (subsp. Apalis melanocephala).
● "Myiobius atricaudus adjacens, new subspecies.  TYPE from Puerto Indiana, Perú.  ...  Differs from typical M. a. atricaudus of Panamá by browner back and warmer brownish breast, sides, and upper margin of the flanks.  Distinguished from M. a. portovelae of western Ecuador by much darker coloration throughout." (Zimmer 1939) (subsp. Myiobius atricaudus).

Black-headed Apalis (fuliginosa)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala fuliginosa
fuliginosa / fuliginosum / fuliginosus
Late L. fuliginosus  sooty, covered with soot  < L. fuligo, fuliginis  soot.
● ex “Soui-manga carmelite” of Audebert & Vieillot 1802 (Chalcomitra).
● ex “Grimpar Enfumé” of Levaillant 1807, pl. 28 (Dendrocincla).
● ex “Sooty Petrel” of Latham 1785 (Nesofregetta).
● ex “Sooty or Brown Albatros” of Latham 1785 (syn. Phoebetria palpebrata).
● ex “Hirondelle de Mer à grande envergure” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Sooty Tern”, “Simple Tern, var. A” and “Dusky Tern” of Latham 1785 (syn. Onychoprion fuscatus).
● ex “Gobe-mouche brun de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 574, fig. 1, and “Brown Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (unident.; has been linked with Cnemotriccus fuscatus and with Contopus cinereus).

Black-headed Apalis (lightoni)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala lightoni
lightoni
Norman Charles Kingsley Lighton (1904-1981) South African architect, bird artist (subsp. Apalis melanocephala).

Black-headed Apalis (tenebricosa)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala tenebricosa
tenebricosa / tenebricosus
L. tenebricosus  dark, obscure  < tenebricus  dark, gloomy  < tenebrae  darkness.

Black-headed Apalis (addenda)
SCI Name: Apalis melanocephala addenda
addenda / addendum / addendus
L. addendum  that which is to be added, addendum  < addere  to add, to annexe (e.g. larger, more pale).
● "901A.  ACANTHIZA CHRYSORRHOA ADDENDA, subsp. n.  Port Augusta Yellow-rumped Tit.  Differs from A. c. perksi (from Mt. Lofty) in being paler above and whiter on the chest."  (Mathews 1912) (syn. Acanthiza chrysorrhoa).
● "A recently collected series of topotypical Apalis melanocephala lightoni Roberts, 1938  ...  shows that the sample from the Massinga district of Save do Sul referred by Clancey and Lawson, Ostrich, vol. xxxiii, 3, 1967, p. 195, to lightoni actually represents an undescribed race.   Apalis melanocephala addenda, subsp. nov.  ...  Similar to A. m. lightoni of Moçambique to the north of the Save R., but with the throat clearer and brighter buff  ...  medio-ventral plane whiter, less marbled or overlaid with pale olivaceous-grey and flanks lighter.  On upper-parts slightly more sooty, less slate, black.  Similar in size." (Clancey 1968) (subsp. Apalis melanocephala).
● "27. Cacomantis addendus sp. nov.  Two evidently fully adult birds, both marked as males, from Kulambangra, 20.2. and 5.3.1901, are apparently most nearly allied to the form from New Britain, which Shelley (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XIX., p. 273) identifies with insperatus of Gould, while Finsch (Not. Leyden Mus. XXII., p. 85) unites it with what he calls dumetorum, and Salvadori (Orn. Pap. I. p. 337) used to term it assimilis.  ...  The much stronger bill distinguishes this cuckoo from merulinus and threnodes.  How far the different forms of Cacomantis can be considered to be species or subspecies is a question which requires a long study." (Rothschild & Hartert 1901) (subsp. Cacomantis variolosus).
● "Gelochelidon nilotica addenda, subsp. n.; China (breeding).  This form approaches nearest to the North American in its short bill, but it is stouter in this form, and the stoutness in conjunction with its shortness, gives it an unmistakeable appearance." (Mathews 1912) (syn. Gelochelidon nilotica).
● "385A.  NINOX CONNIVENS ADDENDA, subsp. n.  South-western Winking Owl.  Differs from N. c. connivens in its larger size." (Mathews 1912) (syn. Ninox connivens).
● "633.  PETROICA CHRYSOPTERA ADDENDA, subsp. n.  Flame-breasted Robin.  Differs from P. c. phœnicea (from South Australia) in its larger size and lighter upper surface." (Mathews 1912) (syn. Petroica phoenicea).
● "1256  Ptilotis flava addenda subsp. n.  Inkerman Yellow Honey Eater.  ...  Differs from P. f. flava in its larger size, and greener tint above and below."(Mathews 1912) (subsp. Stomiopera flava).
● "LITTLE GREENSHANK.  ...  Eastern specimens in summer-plumage are certainly lighter on the upper surface, the black markings being less noticeable, while the spotting on the breast and flanks is not so bold" (Mathews 1913); "ILIORNIS STAGNATILIS ADDENDA, subp.[sic] n.  Fully described and figured in my Birds of Australia, Vol. III., p. 200, pl. 149." (Mathews 1915) (syn. Tringa stagnatilis).