Graceful Honeyeater

SCI Name:  Meliphaga gracilis
Protonym:  Ptilotis gracilis Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt2 p.217
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Meliphagidae / Meliphaga
Taxonomy Code:  grahon2
Type Locality:  Cape York, northern Queensland.
Author:  Gould
Publish Year:  1866
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

MELIPHAGA
(Meliphagidae; Ϯ Lewin's Honeyeater M. lewinii) Gr. μελι meli,  μελιτος melitos  honey; -φαγος -phago  -eating  < φαγειν phagein  to eat; "OR. PICÆ.  GEN. MELIPHAGA.  CHARACTER OF THE GENUS.  BEAK arched, stout, and almost three-sided, Pl. 3. b.   NOSTRILS long, and covered with a membrane.  TONGUE long, and split into a number of hairs at the end, Pl. 3. a.  FEET formed for climbing, the outer toe joined to the middle one, as far as the first joint.  The birds of this genus feed on the nectarine juice, concentrated in all the flowers of this country, which they extract with the bunch of hair at the end of their long tongues.   Meliphaga Phrygia.  Pl. 3.  WARTY-FACED HONEYSUCKER.  ...  Meliphaga Cyanops.  Pl. 4.  BLUE-CHEEKED HONEYSUCKER.  ...  Meliphaga Chrysotis.  Pl. 5.  YELLOW-EARED HONEYSUCKER.  ...  Meliphaga Chrysocephala.  Pl. 6.  GOLDEN-CROWNED HONEYSUCKER." (Lewin 1808); "Meliphaga Lewin, 1808, Birds New Holland, p. 4 and pl. 5. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1840, List Genera Birds, ed. 1, p. 15), Meliphaga chrysotis Lewin = Ptilotis lewinii Swainson." (Salomonsen in Peters 1967, XII, 364).
Var. Melliphaga, Miliphaga, Chelliphaga.
Synon. Dorothina, Ptilotina, Ptilotis.
● (syn. Anthochaera Ϯ Regent Honeyeater A. phrygia) "MELIPHAGA ^b, Lewin, (1808).  Zanthomyza, Swains. (1837). Merops, Lath. Philemon, Vieill. Anthochæra, V. and H. Xanthomyza, Strickl. (1841). Philedon, 3rd div. Cuv. (1817). 2nd div. Cuv. (1829).   M. phrygia, (Lath.) Lew. B. of N. H., pl. 3  ...  ^b On examining Lewin's work for the purpose of ascertaining the proper type of his genus Meliphaga, I unfortunately, for my former edition, looked at the one published in 1822, where he placed his short characters on the page in which he described his M. chrysotis, so that I considered that species to be the type. But I have since consulted the original edition of 1808, where I find that he established the genus on his M. phrygia, as he not only gave generic characters on the same page with the specific description of that bird, but also figured the bill and tongue of that species in illustration of his genus. It must therefore, if we "ought always to retain the original name for that part of the old genus which was considered typical by its author," be kept as the type of the genus Meliphaga of Lewin, as established in 1808. The C. novæ hollandiæ, as proposed by Vigors and Dr. Horsfield for the type of Meliphaga, is not even noticed by Lewin in his work, and cannot therefore on any principle be regarded as the type of his genus" (G. Gray 1841); "Meliphaga G. R. Gray, 1841, List Gen. Birds, ed. 2, p. 20. Type, by original designation, Merops phrygius Shaw. Not Meliphaga Lewin, 1808." (Salomonsen in Peters 1967, XII, 436).
● (syn. Phylidonyris Ϯ New Holland Honeyeater P. novaehollandiae)  "Genus. MELIPHAGA*. Lewin et Auct.  ...  *The species of the family of Meliphagidæ appear very numerous, and every arrival from New Holland and the Australian islands brings an addition to their number. At the same time the species themselves are but ill-defined; and in the present imperfect state of our knowledge , and while information is daily increasing, we consider it unadviseable to attempt more than a rude sketch of this interesting family. The group which we have selected above as representing the Meliphaga of Lewin and Authors, is the only assemblage of these birds of which we can speak with any satisfaction to ourselves. The species accord in their general characters; and in their habits and the structure of their tongue they are represented as agreeing most perfectly. They exhibit five prominent modifications of form, according to the variation chiefly of the characters of the bill and tail. At present we wish to consider these types of form as sections only of the group, which we name provisionally the genus Meliphaga. When the species become more known, the present sections may justly be considered genera, and the higher group may be denominated the subfamily Meliphagina. When this subdivision takes place, the section which stands first in our text may be considered the true Meliphaga.  The Mel. Novæ Hollandiæ will form the type." (Vigors & Horsfield 1827); "MELIPHAGA NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ, Vig. and Horsf.  New Holland Honey-eater.  ...  I QUITE agree with Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield in making the bird forming the subject of the present Plate [vol. IV, pl. 23] the type of the restricted genus Meliphaga. Independently of its claim to this distinction from the circumstances of its being the oldest known, it is the species to which the generic term is especially applicable, since, I conceive, it feeds less upon insects and more upon nectarine juices than any other of the family." (Gould 1843); "Meliphaga Vigors and Horsfield, 1827, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 15, p. 311. Type, by original designation, Certhia novaeHollandiae Latham. Not Meliphaga Lewin, 1808 (Meliphagidae)." (Salomonsen in Peters 1967, XII, 425). 

gracilis
L. gracilis or gracilus  slender, elegant, slim, thin.
● “has many characters in common with the Ptilotis chrysotis ... and the Ptilotis similis ... but it differs from both in the greater slenderness of its form, in its diminutive size, and, especially from the former, in the uniform colouring of its throat and abdomen” (Gould 1866) (Microptilotis).
● ex “Gracile Goatsucker” of Latham 1801 (syn. Podargus strigoides).

SUBSPECIES

Graceful Honeyeater (gracilis)
SCI Name: Meliphaga gracilis gracilis
gracilis
L. gracilis or gracilus  slender, elegant, slim, thin.
● “has many characters in common with the Ptilotis chrysotis ... and the Ptilotis similis ... but it differs from both in the greater slenderness of its form, in its diminutive size, and, especially from the former, in the uniform colouring of its throat and abdomen” (Gould 1866) (Microptilotis).
● ex “Gracile Goatsucker” of Latham 1801 (syn. Podargus strigoides).

Graceful Honeyeater (imitatrix)
SCI Name: Meliphaga gracilis imitatrix
imitatrix
L. imitatrix, imitatricis  she that imitates  < imitator, imitatoris  imitator   < imitari  to copy.
● "1205. Ptilotis gracilis imitatrix subsp. n.  Cairns Little Yellow-spotted Honey Eater  ...  Differs from P. g. gracilis in its much darker green coloration above and much greener under-surface, especially on the flanks, and also in its larger size" (Mathews 1912) (subsp. Microptilotis gracilis).
● ex “Traquet Imitateur” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 181; "LE MOTTEUX IMITATEUR,  Œnanthe imitatrix  ...  Le nom que M. Levaillant a imposé à cet oiseau, lui convient parfaitement, puisqu'il a, dit-il, le talent d'imiter le chant du coq, le caquetage de la poule, le cri des oies, le bêlement des brebis, l'aboiement d'un chien: il s'approprie même le chant de tous les oiseaux qui se trouvent dans son canton; enfin, son ramage naturel lui a valu le nom de nat-gaal qui, en hollandais, signifie rossignol." (Vieillot 1818) (syn. Oenanthe pileata).