Gilbert's Honeyeater

SCI Name:  Melithreptus chloropsis
Protonym:  Melithreptus chloropsis BirdsAustr. pt30 pl.73
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Meliphagidae / Melithreptus
Taxonomy Code:  whnhon3
Type Locality:  Swan River, Western Australia.
Author:  Gould
Publish Year:  1848
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MELITHREPTUS
(Meliphagidae; Ϯ White-naped Honeyeater M. lunatus) Gr. μελιθρεπτος melithreptos  honey-fed  < μελι meli, μελιτος melitos  honey; θρεπτα threpta  feeding  < τρεφω trephō  to nourish; "162. HEOROTAIRE, Melithreptus.  Certhia, Linn. Gm. Lath.  Bec arrondi à la base, entier, plus court, ou plus long que la tête, arqué en faucille, acuminé.—Langue ou divisée en 2 filets, ou ciliée à la pointe.—Les première et deuxième remiges les plus longues.  2 sections.   Esp. Heorotaire fuscalbin.—Hoho, Vieill. Ois. dorés.   ...   Melithreptus [μελιθερωτος [sic], melle nutritus]." (Vieillot 1816); "Melithreptus Vieillot, 1816, Analyse, p. 46. Type, by subsequent designation (Gadow, 1884, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., 9, p. 204), Certhia lunulata Shaw (error for lunata) = Certhia lunata Vieillot.¹   ...   ¹ This is the first correct type designation. It is usually stated that the type designation is based on monotypy, but Vieillot actually placed two species in his Melithreptus, namely "Heorotaire fuscalbin" (= Certhia lunata Vieillot) and "Hoho" (= Certhia pacifica Gmelin), referring to Vieillot, 1802, Oiseaux Dorés, 2, pls. 61, 63, respectively. G. R. Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, ed. 1, p. 15 cited Melithreptus as a synonym to Acanthorhynchus, but in the second edition (1841, p. 16) stated that he wanted to retain Melithreptus as the name for the "first section" (i.e. Certhia lunata), "to which it seems more proper that it should be applied." This cannot be accepted as a definite type designation." (Salomonsen in Peters 1967, XII, 394).
Var. Melethreptus, Melithreptes, Melitreptus, Melitihreptus.
Synon. Dialis, Eidopsarus, Gymnophrys, Haematops.

CHLOROPSIS
(Chloropseidae; † Javan Leafbird C. cochinchinensis) Gr. χλωρος khlōros  green; οψις opsis  appearance; "GENUS CHLOROPSIS, NOBIS.   TURDUS, Gmel. — PHILEDON, Cuvier. — CERTHIA, Shaw.   ...   CHAR. GEN. —Rostrum mediocre, subgracile, teretiusculum, incurvum, acutum, basi trigonum, medio ad apicem compressum; mandibula tomiis inclinantibus, pone apicem leviter utrinsecus emarginatis; mesorhinio carinatim elevato, angulo mentali rotundato.  Lingua longa apice fibroso.  Nares basales, laterales, membrana nuda postice tectæ.  Alæ rotundatæ mediocres.  Remige primo spurio, brevissimo, secundo tertioque longioribus, quarto quintoque longissimis, subæqualibus.  Cauda æqualis, mediocris, rectricibus duodecim.  Pedes insessores; tarsi et digiti breves, externo cum medio antico, basi coalito; hallux robustior; acropodia scutulata.  Ungues sulcati, compressi incurvi, hallucis validior.   Typus genericus, TURDUS cochinsinensis, Lath.   ...   The species at present known, and strictly referable to the genus, are few, and are all natives of the warm climates of Asia. From the formation of their tongue, which is long, extensile, and furnished at the tip with a pencil of cartilaginous fibres, they are supposed to feed principally upon the nectar of flowers: or, what is still more probable (judging from the strength of their bill, as compared with that of the true nectariferous species) on the juices or flesh of the tropical fruits.   ...   SYNOPSIS SPECIERUM.  CHLOROPSIS.   1. C. COCHINSINENSIS   ...   2. C. MALABARICUS   ...   3. C. SONNERATI   ...   4. C. GAMPSORYNCHUS   ...   CHLOROPSIS MALABARICUS, (NOBIS).  Malabar Chloropsis.  Plate V.   ...   Upper parts sap-green, changing in its intensity according to the light in which it is placed, and passing into gamboge-yellow behind the eyes, and where it comes in contact with the black throat. Under parts sap-green, lighter towards the vent" (Jardine & Selby 1827); "Chloropsis Jardine & Selby, 1827, Illustrations of Ornithology, 1, pt. 1, text to pl. V.   Type, by original designation, Turdus cochinsinensis Latham, 1790 = Turdus cochinchinensis Gmelin, 1789" (JAJ 2020).
Var. Chloroposis.
Synon. Phyllornis.

chloropsis
Gr. χλωρος khlōros green; οψις opsis appearance.