Blue-breasted Quail

SCI Name:  Synoicus chinensis
Protonym:  Tetrao chinensis Syst.Nat.ed.12 ed.12 p.277
Taxonomy:  Galliformes / Phasianidae / Synoicus
Taxonomy Code:  blbqua1
Type Locality:  China and the Phihppines = Nanking, China, ex Edwards.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1766
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

SYNOICUS
(Phasianidae; Ϯ Brown Quail S. ypsilophorus australis) Gr. συνοικος sunoikos  living together  < συν sun  together; οικος oikos  dwelling  < οικεω oikeō  to inhabit; "SYNOICUS AUSTRALIS. Australian Partridge.  ...  Moo-réete, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.  Brown Quail, Colonists of Swan River and Van Diemen's Land.  ...   Its call is very similar to that of the Common Partridge, and like that bird it is found in coveys of from ten to eighteen in number, which simultaneously rise from the ground and pitch again within a hundred yards of the spot whence they rose. It sits so close, that it will often admit of being nearly trodden upon before it will rise." (Gould 1843); "Synoicus Gould, Bds. Austr., pt. 12, 1843, pl. [13], (= 5, pl. 89.) Type, by monotypy, Perdix australis Latham." (Peters 1934, II, 94).
Var. Synaecus, Synoecus, Syonicus.
Synon. Excalfactoria, Ypsilophorus.

synoicus
Mt. Sinai, Egypt (pace Cabard & Chauvet 2003, “du grec sunoikos (qui vit dans la même maison, inséparable”) (Carpodacus).

chinensis
Mod. L. Chinensis of China, Chinese. This toponym was frequently amended to sinensis.
● ex “Poule-Sultane de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 896 (syn Amaurornis phoenicurus).
● Erroneous TL. China (= Tenasserim); ex “Rollier de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 620, “Rolle de la Chine” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Chinese Roller” of Latham 1781 (Cissa).
● China Sea; ex “Albatros de la Chine” (= ☼) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 963 (syn. Diomedea albatrus).
● ex “Petit Geay de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1782 (Dryonastes).
● Erroneous TL. China (= Amboina, Moluccas) (syn. Eos rubra).
● ex “Perdrix de la Chine” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Francolinus pintadeanus).
● ex “Chinese Jacana” of Latham 1785 (syn. Hydrophasianus chirurgus).
● Erroneous TL. China (= Philippines); ex “Loriot de la Cochinchine” of Brisson 1760 (Oriolus).
● ex “Béccassine de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 881 (syn. Rostratula benghalensis).
● ex “Tourterelle grise de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1782 (Spilopelia).
● China and the Philippines; ex “Chinese Quail” of Edwards 1758 and "Coturnix philippensis" of Brisson 1760 (Synoicus).

SUBSPECIES

Blue-breasted Quail (chinensis)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis chinensis
chinensis
Mod. L. Chinensis of China, Chinese. This toponym was frequently amended to sinensis.
● ex “Poule-Sultane de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 896 (syn Amaurornis phoenicurus).
● Erroneous TL. China (= Tenasserim); ex “Rollier de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 620, “Rolle de la Chine” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Chinese Roller” of Latham 1781 (Cissa).
● China Sea; ex “Albatros de la Chine” (= ☼) of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 963 (syn. Diomedea albatrus).
● ex “Petit Geay de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1782 (Dryonastes).
● Erroneous TL. China (= Amboina, Moluccas) (syn. Eos rubra).
● ex “Perdrix de la Chine” of Brisson 1760 (syn. Francolinus pintadeanus).
● ex “Chinese Jacana” of Latham 1785 (syn. Hydrophasianus chirurgus).
● Erroneous TL. China (= Philippines); ex “Loriot de la Cochinchine” of Brisson 1760 (Oriolus).
● ex “Béccassine de la Chine” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 881 (syn. Rostratula benghalensis).
● ex “Tourterelle grise de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1782 (Spilopelia).
● China and the Philippines; ex “Chinese Quail” of Edwards 1758 and "Coturnix philippensis" of Brisson 1760 (Synoicus).

Blue-breasted Quail (trinkutensis)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis trinkutensis
trinkutensis
Trinkut I., Nicobar Is.

Blue-breasted Quail (lineatus)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis lineatus
lineatum / lineatus
L. lineatus  marked with lines, lined  < linea  line  < linum  thread  < Gr. λινον linon  flax, thread.
● ex “Barred-breasted Buzzard” of Latham 1781, and “Red-Shouldered Falcon” of Pennant 1785 (Buteo).
● ex “Pic noir hupé de Cayenne” of Brisson 1760 (Hylatomus).
● ex “Onoré rayé de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 860 (Tigrisoma).

Blue-breasted Quail (novaeguineae)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis novaeguineae
novaeguinae / novaeguineae / novaeguineensis
L. novus  new; Mod. L. Guineensis  Guinean  < Guinea  Guinea, West Africa; i.e. New Guinea (first named Nueva Guinea in 1545 by the Spanish explorer Ortíz de Retes, because aborigines in the Mamberano region reminded him of those he had encountered earlier in African Guinea).
● ex “Lori noir de la Nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Black Lory” of Latham 1781 (syn. Chalcopsitta atra).
● ex “Choucas de la Nouvelle Guinée” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 269, and “New-Guinea Crow” of Latham 1781 (syn. Coracina striata).
● Erroneous TL. New Guinea (= New South Wales); ex “Grand Martin-pêcheur de la Nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1766, “who had received the specimen from Cook’s botanist, Joseph Banks, at Cape Town. Sonnerat had never travelled to either New Guinea or Australia” (Robin 2001) (Dacelo).
● ex “Crabier de la Nouvelle Guinée” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 926, “Crabier noir” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “New Guinea Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Egretta sacra).
● ex “Caille de la nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776, and “New Guinea Quail” of Latham 1783 (unident.).

Blue-breasted Quail (papuensis)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis papuensis
papuanus / papuense / papuensis
Papua or New Guinea.
● ex “Petit Lori Papou” of Sonnerat 1776, and “Papouan Lory” of Latham 1781 (syn. Charmosyna papou).
● ex “Choucari de la Nouvelle Guinée” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 630, and “Papuan Crow” of Latham 1781 (Coracina).
● Erroneous TL. New Guinea (= Philippines); ex “Manikor de la Nouvelle Guinée” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 707, fig. 2, “Manikor” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Papuan Manakin” of Latham 1783 (syn. Dicaeum australe).

Blue-breasted Quail (lepidus)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis lepidus
lepidus
L. lepidus  charming, elegant  < lepos, leporis  charm.

Blue-breasted Quail (colletti)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis colletti
colletti
Prof. Robert Collett (1842-1913) Norwegian zoologist, Director of Christiana Mus. 1882-1913 (subsp. Cracticus argenteus, subsp. Macronyx capensis, syn. Pachycephala rufiventris falcata, syn. Poecile montanus borealis, syn. Sturnus cineraceus, subsp. Synoicus chinensis).

Blue-breasted Quail (victoriae)
SCI Name: Synoicus chinensis victoriae
victoria / victoriae
● Victoria, Australia (named after Alexandrina Victoria Queen of Great Britain) (syn. Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris, syn. Alcedo azurea, subsp. Climacteris picumnus, syn. Colluricincla harmonica, syn. Coracina papuensis robusta, syn. Dasyornis brachypterus, syn. Drymodes brunneopygia, syn. Eurostopodus mystacalis, syn. Halobaena caerulea, syn. Ixobrychus minutus novaezelandiae, syn. Malurus splendens melanotus, subsp. Menura novaehollandiae, syn. Microeca fascinans, syn. Ninox strenua, syn. Oxyura australis, syn. Platycercus elegans, syn. Podargus strigoides, syn. Rhipidura albiscapa alisteri, subsp. Synoicus chinensis).
● Mt. Victoria (= Nat Ma Taung), Chin Hills, Burma (subsp. Aethopyga nipalensis, syn. Certhia manipurensis, subsp. Pellorneum ruficeps, subsp. Pyrrhula nipalensis, Sitta, syn. Siva strigula yunnanensis, subsp. Trochalopteron austeni).
● Alexandrina Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India (1819-1901; reigned 1837-1901) (syn. Ardea alba, Goura, Lophorina).
● Lake Victoria (= Victoria Nyanza), East Africa (syn. Cisticola chiniana fischeri, Ploceus).
● Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise Crown-Princess of Germany and Prussia (1840-1901), eldest child of Queen Victoria, and wife to Friedrich Wilhelm Crown-Prince of Germany and Prussia (Lamprolia).
● Marie Anne Victoire Mulsant née Jacquetton (1777-1854) mother of French ornithologist Martial Mulsant (Lesbia).
● Sierra La Victoria, southern Baja California, Mexico (subsp. Vireo gilvus).