Brown-headed Gull

SCI Name:  Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus
Protonym:  Larus brunnicephalus MadrasJ.Lit.Sci. 12 p.225
Taxonomy:  Charadriiformes / Laridae / Chroicocephalus
Taxonomy Code:  bnhgul1
Type Locality:  West coast of Indian peninsula.
Author:  Jerdon
Publish Year:  1840
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

Chroicocephalus
(Laridae; syn. Larus † Black-headed Gull L. ridibundus) Gr. χρωικος khrōikos  coloured  < χρωζω khrōzō  to colour, to stain; -κεφαλος  -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head; "SUB GENUS 3.  CHROICOCEPHALUS.  Nobis.   Sp. 1. C. CAPISTRATUS.  Temminck.  Syn. Larus Capistratus, Temm. Jenyns.  Mouette a Mosque [sic] Brun, Temm.  Brown-headed Gull, Eyton.   Sp. 2. C. RIDIBUNDUS. Linnæus.  Syn. Larus Ridibundus, Lath. Shaw, Linn. Gmel.  L. Cinerarius Linn. Gmel.  Gavia Ridibunda Phænicopos, Briss.  L. Cinereus, Ray. Will.  La Mouette Rieuse ou à Capuchon Brun, Temm.  Le Mouette Rieuse, and Le Petite Mouette Cendrée, Buff.  Black-headed Gull, and Red-legged Gull, Penn. Lath. Bewick.   Sp. 3. C. MINUTUS. Pallas.  Syn. Larus Minutus, Pall. Gmel. Shaw, Temm.  L. Atricilloides, Gmel.   Mouette Pygmiée [sic], Temm.  Little Gull, English Authors." (Eyton 1836); "Chroicocephalus for a new subgenus under Larus, Linn., for the reception of such gulls as have the tarsi slender, thighs considerably denuded, hind toe very small, head only, or head and upper part of neck, dark-coloured in the summer state of plumage   ...   derived from two Greek words, κροικος, coloured, and κεφαλη, head; signifying that the birds classed under that name have coloured heads" (Eyton per Wharton 1878); "Chroicocephalus Eyton, Hist. Rar. Brit. Bds., Cat., p. 53, 1836—type, by subs. desig. (Gray, List Gen. Bds., p. 79, 1840), Larus capistratus Temminck = Larus ridibundus Linnaeus." (Hellmayr and Conover, 1948, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (3), p. 253).
Var. Chroecocephalus, Chroeocephalus, Chroiococephalus, Chroiocephalus, Chraeococephalus, Chraecocephalus, Chroocephalus, Croicocephalus, Kroikocephalus, Kroicocephalus, Krokocephalus.

brunnicephalus
Mod. L. brunneus  brown  < Med. L. brunius  brown; Gr. -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.