Island Monarch

SCI Name:  Monarcha cinerascens
Protonym:  Drymophila cinerascens Pl.Col. livr.72 pl.430 fig.2,text
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Monarchidae / Monarcha
Taxonomy Code:  islmon1
Type Locality:  Timor.
Author:  Temminck
Publish Year:  1827
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MONARCHA
(Monarchidae; Ϯ Black-faced Monarch M. melanopsis) L. monarcha  monarch  < Gr. μοναρχος monarkhos  monarch, sovereign, dictator (see Tyrannus); "Genus. MONARCHA.   Rostrum forte, subelongatum, basi latum, subdepressum; culmine carinato, apice arcuato; mandibula superiore emarginata; naribus basalibus, rotundis, setis plumulisque opertis; rictu vibrissis fortibus instructo.  Alæ mediocres, subrotundatæ; remige prima brevi, secunda duplo longiore, tertia et quinta æqualibus, quarta quæ est longissima, paulo breviori; cæteris gradatim breviscentibus: tertiæ ad sextam inclusam pogoniis externis paulatim in medio latioribus.  Cauda mediocris, æqualis.  Pedes mediocres, acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis integris.   The powerful construction of the bill of this group separates it at once from the other species of the Muscicapidæ, with which in the depression and breadth at the base of that member, the strength of the rictal bristles, and the general characters of the wings and legs, it otherwise accords. This strength of bill would incline us to place the bird among the Laniadæ, and in the subfamily of Tyrannina, Swains., of which it might thus be considered to form the Australian representative, did not the other characters of its structure evince a more predominant inclination to the Muscicapidæ than to the Tyranni. The group may, however, be considered to stand intermediately between the two families; and might perhaps be referred with equal propriety to either, according to the characters which each naturalist would select as most predominant, and most convenient to guide him in his subdivisions. The habits of the birds of this group, hitherto unknown, will have much influence in determining its exact station.    1. CARINATA.  ...  Muscipeta carinata.  Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 147." (Vigors & Horsfield 1827); "Monarcha Vigors and Horsfield, 1827, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 15, p. 254. Type, by monotypy, Muscipeta carinata Swainson, 1823 = Muscicapa melanopsis Vieillot, 1818." (Mayr in Peters 1986, XI, 500).
Var. Monacha, Monarches (Gr. μοναρχης monarkhēs monarch).
Synon. Bathmisyrma, Monarcharses, Neopomarea.

MONASA
(Bucconidae; Ϯ Black Nunbird M. atra) Gr. μονας monas, μοναδος monados  female hermit, nun  < μονος monos  solitary  < μοναχοω monakhoō  to make single; "35. MONASE, Monasa.  Cuculus, Gm.  Bucco, Lath.  Bec garni de soies à la base, plus long que la tête, comprimé par les côtés, entier; mandibules courbées en en base.  Esp. Coucou noir de Cayenne, Buff.   ...   Monasa [μονασης, qui solus vivit]." (Vieillot 1816); "Monasa Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, p. 27. Type, by monotypy, Coucou noir de Cayenne of Buffon = Cuculus ater Boddaert." (Peters 1948, VI, 21).
Var. Monassa, Monasta, Monacha, Monesa, Monaca.
Synon. Barbacou, Barbaculus, Monadon, Monastes, Scotocharis.

cinerascens
Late L. cinerescens, cinerescentis  ashen  < cinerescere  to turn to ashes  < L. cinis, cineris  ashes.
● ex “Mésange Grisette” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 138 (Melaniparus).

SUBSPECIES

Island Monarch (cinerascens)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens cinerascens
cinerascens
Late L. cinerescens, cinerescentis  ashen  < cinerescere  to turn to ashes  < L. cinis, cineris  ashes.
● ex “Mésange Grisette” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 138 (Melaniparus).

Island Monarch (inornatus)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens inornatus
inornata / inornatum / inornatus
L. inornatus  plain, unadorned  < in-  not; ornatus  adorned, decorated  < ornare  to adorn.
● See: mavornata

Island Monarch (steini)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens steini
steini
Dr Georg Hermann Wilhelm Stein (1897-1976) German zoologist, collector in the East Indies and New Guinea (subsp. Aerodramus vanikorensis, subsp. Butorides striata, subsp. Cormobates placens, syn. Crateroscelis robusta sanfordi, syn. Gennaeodryas placens, subsp. Microptilotis montanus, subsp. Monarcha cinerascens, subsp. Myzomela nigrita, subsp. Poecilodryas hypoleuca, subsp. Rallicula forbesi, syn. Zosterops montanus).

Island Monarch (geelvinkianus)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens geelvinkianus
geelvinkiana / geelvinkianum / geelvinkianus
Geelvink Bay, New Guinea (Dutch East India Company exploring vessel Geelvink, in Australasian waters 1696-1697).

Island Monarch (fuscescens)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens fuscescens
fuscescens
Mod. L. fuscescens, fuscescentis  blackish  < L. fuscare  to darken  <  fuscus  dark, black.
● ex “Petit Pic à Baguettes d’Or” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 253 (Dendropicos).
● ex “Aguila parda” (= ☼) of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 9 (syn. Geranoaetus melanoleucus).
● ex “Worm-eater” of Sloane 1707-1725, “Ficedula jamaicensis” of Brisson 1760, “Figuier brun” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Brown-throated Warbler” of Latham 1783 (unident.).
● ex “Orange-vented Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (unident.).

Island Monarch (nigrirostris)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens nigrirostris
nigrirostris
L. niger  black; -rostris  -billed  < rostrum  beak.
● ex “Black-jawed Warbler” of Latham 1783 (unident.).

Island Monarch (fulviventris)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens fulviventris
fulviventer / fulviventre / fulviventris
L. fulvus  tawny; venter, ventris  belly.

Island Monarch (perpallidus)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens perpallidus
perpallida / perpallidus
L. perpallidus  very pale  < per-  very, all; pallidus  pale  < pallere  to be pale.

Island Monarch (impediens)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens impediens
impediens
L. impediens, impedientis  impeding, hindering  < impedire  to entangle.
● "31. Monarcha cinerascens impediens subsp. nov.   8♂♀, Feni Island, May and June 1924, half of them immature.   It is not without a careful comparison of all our material that I name the form of Feni (and Nissan)." (Hartert 1926) (subsp. Monarcha cinerascens).   

Island Monarch (rosselianus)
SCI Name: Monarcha cinerascens rosselianus
rosseli / rosseliana / rosselianus
Rossel I. (= Yela), Louisiade Archipelago, New Guinea.