Cape Grassbird

SCI Name:  Sphenoeacus afer
Protonym:  Muscicapa afra Syst.Nat. 1 pt2 p.940
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Macrosphenidae / Sphenoeacus
Taxonomy Code:  capgra1
Type Locality:  Cape of Good Hope.
Author:  Gmelin, JF
Publish Year:  1789
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

SPHENOEACUS
(Macrosphenidae; Ϯ Cape Grassbird S. afer) Gr. σφην sphēn, σφηνος sphēnos  wedge; οιαξ oiax, οιακος oiakos  helm (i.e. tail); "Genus SPHENŒACUS *, n.g.  < Motacilla, Gm., < Malurus, Sw., < Sphenura, Licht.   Diff. Char.—Beak much compressed; tail cuneate.   Rostrum mediocre, compressum, ad basin elevatum, culmine subrecto, juxta apicem deorsum, gonyde pariter sursum curvato, tomio maxillari emarginato, commissura leviter deflexa.  Nares oblongæ, membrana supra tectæ.  Vibrissæ nullæ.  Alæ breves rotundatæ, remigibus 4^a, 5^a, 6^a, 7^a, æqualibus, primam duplo excedentibus.  Cauda longiuscula, maxime cuneata, rectricibus strictis, acutis, subdecompositis, intermediis exteriores triplo superantibus.  Pedes fortes, tarsis longiusculis, acriotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis integris, digitis lateralibus æqualibus.  Ungues modice curvati, acuti.  Ptilosis rigida, pennis subdecompositis.  Habitat in Africa.  Species unica, S. Africanus (Gm.), Levaill. Ois. d'Af., pl. 112. f. 2. (Sphenura tibicen, Licht.)   ...   * Σφην, a wedge; οιαξ, a helm." (Strickland 1841); "Sphenoeacus Strickland, 1841, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 28. Type, by monotypy, Muscicapa afra Gmelin." (Traylor in Peters 1986, XI, 36).
Var. Sphenaeacus.

afer
L. Afer, Afra  African  < Africa  Africa, originally the territory of Carthage.
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “Red-breasted Green Creeper” of Edwards 1764 (Cinnyris).
● Africa (= Senegal); ex “Black-bellied Grosbeak” of Brown 1776 and Latham 1783 (Euplectes).
● Madagascar; ex “Cuculus madagascariensis major” of Brisson 1760, “Grand coucou de Madagascar” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 587, “Vourou-driou” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “African Cuckow” of Latham 1782 (syn. Leptosomus discolor).
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “Black-breasted Titmouse” of Latham 1783 (Melaniparus).
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “Variété du Coucou Edolio” of Levaillant 1806, pl. 209 (syn. Oxylophus levaillantii).
● Africa (= Benguella); ex “Perdrix d’Afrique” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 180, and “Perdrix rouge d’Afrique” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Pternistis).
● Senegal; ex “Pie du Sénégal” of Brisson 1760 (Ptilostomus).
● Maoflang, Khasi Hills, Assam (syn. Pycnonotus cafer) (probably a wordplay on cafer).
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “African Warbler” and “Spotted Yellow Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (Sphenoeacus).
● Senegal; ex “Turtur Senegalensis” of Brisson 1760 (Turtur).
● "60. TROCHILUS.   ...   afer.  2. T. curvirostris, corpore viridi, alis cæruleis, rectricibus nigris: intermediis longissimis.  Habitat in Æthiopia.  J. Burmannus." (Linnaeus 1758) (unident.; nom. dub.).

SUBSPECIES

Cape Grassbird (excisus)
SCI Name: Sphenoeacus afer excisus
excisa / excisus
L. excisus  removed, banished  < excidere  to be cut out  < caedere  to cut down.

Cape Grassbird (natalensis)
SCI Name: Sphenoeacus afer natalensis
natalensis
Natal or Port Natal / Durban, South Africa (named Terra Natalis Land of the Holy Birth, by Vasco da Gama when his expedition sailed along the coast in December 1497).

Cape Grassbird (intermedius)
SCI Name: Sphenoeacus afer intermedius
intermedea / intermedia / intermedianus / intermedium / intermedius
L. intermedius  intermediate, that is between (cf. Late L. intermedium  intervention, between two others; Med. L. intermedium  interval).  These epithets are common in ornithology, highlighting forms considered to have intermediate plumage, size, distribution, etc.; only a few are shown below.
• “Genus Ardea.   ...   A. intermedia.  ...  Habitat in insula Java.  Simillima habitu ac colore Ardeae flavirostri, eadem dimidio fere minor.” (Wagler 1829) (Ardea).
• "73.  Coracina papuensis papuensis Gm.   ...   The birds from the Snow Mts. are exactly intermediate between C. p. papuensis from N. W. New Guinea and C. p. meekiana from S. E. New Guinea; so I propose to call the race found on the south side of the Central Range.   Coracina papuensis intermedia subsp. nov." (Rothschild 1931) (subsp. Coracina papuensis).
• "Ce tinamou présente, comme nous l'avons dit, des caractères de transition entre Calopezus elegans et Calopezus formosus.  Cette nouvelle espèce, ou peut-être race intermédiaire, qui paraît localisée dans les régions montagneuses du Nord-ouest de la République Argentine, nous la distinguerons avec le nom de:  Calopezus intermedius n. sp.   ...   Il est possible que Calopezus intermedius et Calopezus formosus représentent seulement des formes géographiques de Calopezus elegans" (Dabbene & Lillo 1913) ( subsp. Eudromia elegans).
• "Formicivora   ...   F. grisea  ...  Kommt in Brasilien, Cayenne und Guiana vor.   ...   F. rufatra  ...  Vaterland: Brasilien und Bolivien.   ...   F. intermedia.  ...  Vaterland: Columbien" (Cabanis 1847) (Formicivora).
• "Falco pondicerianus apud Horsfield is a race intermediate to Haliastur indus of India proper and H. leucosternum of Australia, having dark central streaks to the white portion of the plumage, but considerably less developed than (constantly) in the Indian bird..  ...  Of very many examples of the Indian race examined or beheld close, I certainly have never seen one that had the dark streaks or lines so little developed as in the Javanese bird, or most assuredly I should have remarked it.  To what extent the Indian and Australian races may thus grade into each other, in other intermediate localities, remains to be ascertained.  ...  Mr. Gurney informs me that he thinks the Javanese race should be distinguished by the name intermedius." (Blyth 1865) (subsp. Haliastur indus).
• "Then we have in Tenasserim, most abundant in the hills, but extending in the cold weather to the sea-board and the plains of Pegu, a race of melaschistus, which I will, for convenience sake, denominate VOLVOCIVORA  INTERMEDIA.  It is very close to melaschistus, and as such I originally identified it, but with 24 specimens before me I find that sex being ascertained no specimen of it can be mistaken for a specimen of the corresponding sex of melaschistus, but it is much the same size, and the old males are nearly as possible the same colour as the females of melaschistus.  ...  I am very doubtful whether this should be considered a subspecies or not, but it is a very distinguishable and perfectly constant race, and not one single specimen of true melaschistus has occurred to us throughout the region in which it is so abundant, and it may be best therefore to characterize it by a distinct name." (Hume 1877) (subsp. Lalage melaschistos).
• "5.  SETOPHAGA  INTERMEDIA, Nob.  ...  Espèce typique intermédiaire entre la S. vulnerata et la S. verticalis, Lafresn.  Elle diffère de la première par un bec plus grand et plus large, par la gorge cendrée, par le coloris de la queue, par la couleur de l'abdomen; la S. verticalis, Lafr. est jaune d'œuf en dessous." (Hartlaub 1852) (subsp. Myioborus miniatus).
• "3. CRYPTOLOPHA  INTERMEDIA  La Touche, sp. n.   Near C. tephrocephala (Anders.) and C. affinis (Hodgs.).  Differs from the former in having a much shorter bill, and the secondary coverts distinctly tipped with pale yellow, forming a well-marked bar; from C. affinis it differs in having a ring of feathers round the eye, yellow." (La Touche 1898) (Phylloscopus).
• “728. —  Pipreola viridis intermedia  ...  Forme intermédiaire entre la P. viridis de la Bolivie et la P. melanolæma de l’Ecuador, plus voisine de la dernière.” (Taczanowski 1884) (Pipreola).
• "Ploceus intermedius.  Sehr nahe mit meinem Ploceus larvatus verwandte Art.  Vorderkopf bis über den hintern Augenwinkel, Kehle, Oberhals und Ohrengegend schwarz, Hinterkopf und Nacken röthlich braungelb.  Mitte der Brust orangengelb, Seiten des Halses und Unterkörpers citrongelb.  Rücken gelbgrün, gegen den Schwanz hin citronengelb." (Rüppell 1845) (Ploceus).
• “This species is somewhat intermediate between Palaeornis schisticeps and P. cyanocephala in size and coloration, but is nearer P. schisticeps” (Rothschild 1895) (syn. Psittacula cyanocephala x Psittacula himalayana).
• "RHIPIDURA  INTERMEDIA, sp. nov.  ...  Dr. Sharpe's description of Rhipidura rufifrons in the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," vol. iv., p. 319 (1879), evidently applies to this species, for he describes the tail feathers as being "distinctly tipped with white."  The type of Rhipidura rufifrons characterized by Dr. Latham, was obtained in New South Wales, and has the tips of the tail feathers pale brown, not white.  In the latter respect Rhipidura intermedia agrees with R. torrida, described and figured (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 477, pl. xxviii.) by Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, from the island of Ternate, but R. torrida differs from R. intermedia in having the ear-coverts and upper breast black." (North 1902) (subsp. Rhipidura rufifrons).
• "Sp. intermedia n. sp.  ... Der [Sp.] hypoleuca im Schnabel und der ganzen Gestalt äusserst ähnlich, nur etwas kleiner, von dieser durch die nicht weisse, sondern graue Färbung der Kehle und Brust verschieden, mithin fast ganz so gefärbt wie Sp. plumbea, von welcher intermedia sich nur unterscheidet durch den grössern Schnabel und die kürzeren abgerundeteren, daher nicht so zugespitzten Flügel; auch sind Kehle und Brust etwas dunkler als in plumbea und fehlt das weisse Fleckchen an der Wurzel des Unterkiefers; der weisse Spiegel auf dem Flügel ist kleiner und versteckter" (Cabanis 1851) (Sporophila).
• "Thamnistes anabatinus intermedius subsp. nov.  ...  This form, based on but one specimen, is clearly an intermediate between T. æquatorialis of eastern Ecuador and southeastern Colombia, and the quite different T. anabatinus group of Panama to Mexico.  Its crown and back closely agree in color with those of æquatorialis while the underparts are similar to those of T. a. coronatus; the tail and wings externally are intermediate but nearer to those of coronatus." (Chapman 1914) (subsp. Thamnistes anabatinus).
• "33.  Thamnophilus intermedius, sp. nov.   SP. CHAR.—Adult male: Similar to that of T. nigricristatus LAWR., but bill larger, and feathers of crest largely white in middle portion; adult female similar to that of T. doliatus, but with larger bill." (Ridgway 1888) (subsp. Thamnophilus doliatus).
• "ZOSTEROPS  INTERMEDIA.  ...  Very near Z. flava, but a little larger, more yellow on the forehead and less on the upper tail-coverts, and the black subocular streak not extending so far forward  ...  Hab. Macassar and Lombock.   Remark.—Mr. G. R. Gray attached the MS. name of intermedius to my Macassar specimen." (Wallace 1864) (subsp. Zosterops chloris).

Cape Grassbird (afer)
SCI Name: Sphenoeacus afer afer
afer
L. Afer, Afra  African  < Africa  Africa, originally the territory of Carthage.
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “Red-breasted Green Creeper” of Edwards 1764 (Cinnyris).
● Africa (= Senegal); ex “Black-bellied Grosbeak” of Brown 1776 and Latham 1783 (Euplectes).
● Madagascar; ex “Cuculus madagascariensis major” of Brisson 1760, “Grand coucou de Madagascar” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 587, “Vourou-driou” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “African Cuckow” of Latham 1782 (syn. Leptosomus discolor).
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “Black-breasted Titmouse” of Latham 1783 (Melaniparus).
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “Variété du Coucou Edolio” of Levaillant 1806, pl. 209 (syn. Oxylophus levaillantii).
● Africa (= Benguella); ex “Perdrix d’Afrique” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 180, and “Perdrix rouge d’Afrique” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Pternistis).
● Senegal; ex “Pie du Sénégal” of Brisson 1760 (Ptilostomus).
● Maoflang, Khasi Hills, Assam (syn. Pycnonotus cafer) (probably a wordplay on cafer).
● Cape of Good Hope; ex “African Warbler” and “Spotted Yellow Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (Sphenoeacus).
● Senegal; ex “Turtur Senegalensis” of Brisson 1760 (Turtur).
● "60. TROCHILUS.   ...   afer.  2. T. curvirostris, corpore viridi, alis cæruleis, rectricibus nigris: intermediis longissimis.  Habitat in Æthiopia.  J. Burmannus." (Linnaeus 1758) (unident.; nom. dub.).