Jungle Bush-Quail

SCI Name:  Perdicula asiatica
Protonym:  Perdix asiatica IndexOrn. 2 p.649
Taxonomy:  Galliformes / Phasianidae / Perdicula
Taxonomy Code:  jubqua1
Type Locality:  Mahratta region, India.
Author:  Latham
Publish Year:  1790
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PERDICULA
(Phasianidae; Ϯ Jungle Bush Quail P. asiatica) Mod. L. (1677)  perdicula  little partridge  < dim. L. perdix, perdicis  partridge; "GUNGA's No. 6, is rare with us, as it is to the westward. It is not a quail proper, nor yet a partridge, but a compound of the two, having the wing and spur of the latter, and the size and form of the former; and its habits and manners are correspondently osculant. Those who love to trace the links by which nature connects all her works, will perhaps recognise the propriety of my separation of this species, under the generic appellation of perdicula, or the little partridge, with the trivial or specific name of Rubicola that is, Bush-loving.  Tetraonidæ, Perdicinæ, Genus or Subgenus, Perdicula nobis.   INDICATION OF THE GENERIC CHARACTER.  Size and aspect of Coturnix; bill stronger and more compressed, higher than broad at the base, with the ridge somewhat flattened. Wings firm, gradated, but less so than in Perdix; all the primes, except the 1st, strongly sinuated on the outer web; intire on the inner. Tail 127 rounded, longer and firmer than in Coturnix; Tarsi furnished with a blunt spur, common in both sexes, but smaller in the females.  Type. Bush quail of Bengal Sportsman.  Latham's Lawa partridge?  Coturnix Argoonda, Sykes?  Found chiefly in the Subhemalayan valleys and their neighbourhood: Migratory: much less abounding than the common quail; bush haunting, in small coveys. Flight short and very noisy, general habits assimilating somewhat with those of the Turnixes." (Hodgson 1837) (OD per Martin Schneider); "Perdicula, Hodgson, Bengal Sport. Mag., 9, 1837, p. 344. Type, by original designation, Perdicula rubicola Hodgson = Perdix asiatica Latham." (Peters 1934, II, 97).
Var. Perdicola, Persicula.
Synon. Cryptoplectron, Microperdix, Microplectron, Ortygiometra, Rubicola.

asiae / asiatica / asiaticus
L. Asiaticus Asiatic < Gr. Ασιατικος Asiatikos Asiatic < Ασια Asia. The Romans generally and indiscriminately applied the name Asia to Asia Minor (Turkey or Anatolia), the more extensive eastern and southern portions of the great continent being known as Asia Maior. In nomenclature the toponym is nearly synonymous with India.
● ex "Gaur Bunting" of Latham 1787 (?syn. Amandava x Lonchura).
● ex “Bombay Goatsucker” of Latham 1787 (Caprimulgus).
● Erroneous TL. Asia (= Africa) (syn. Caprimulgus pectoralis).
● ex “Purple Indian Creeper” of Edwards 1760, and “Yellow-winged Creeper” of Latham 1787 (Cinnyris).
● ex “Indian Jabiru” of Latham 1787 (Ephippiorhynchus).
● ex “Blue-cheeked Curucui” of Latham 1787 (Megalaima).
● Erroneous TL. The Indies (= Jamaica); ex “Brown Indian Dove” of Edwards 1751, and “Columba subfusca media” of Browne 1756 (Zenaida).

SUBSPECIES

Jungle Bush-Quail (punjaubi)
SCI Name: Perdicula asiatica punjaubi
punjaubi
Punjaub (an earlier spelling of Punjab), India.

Jungle Bush-Quail (vidali)
SCI Name: Perdicula asiatica vidali
vidali / vidalii
● Prof. Dr Ignacio Vidal Cros (1815-1859) Spanish zoologist (subsp. Athene noctua, syn. Sylvia hortensis).
● George William Vidal (1845-1907) British civil servant in India 1867-1897 (subsp. Perdicula asiatica, subsp. Todiramphus chloris).

Jungle Bush-Quail (asiatica)
SCI Name: Perdicula asiatica asiatica
asiae / asiatica / asiaticus
L. Asiaticus Asiatic < Gr. Ασιατικος Asiatikos Asiatic < Ασια Asia. The Romans generally and indiscriminately applied the name Asia to Asia Minor (Turkey or Anatolia), the more extensive eastern and southern portions of the great continent being known as Asia Maior. In nomenclature the toponym is nearly synonymous with India.
● ex "Gaur Bunting" of Latham 1787 (?syn. Amandava x Lonchura).
● ex “Bombay Goatsucker” of Latham 1787 (Caprimulgus).
● Erroneous TL. Asia (= Africa) (syn. Caprimulgus pectoralis).
● ex “Purple Indian Creeper” of Edwards 1760, and “Yellow-winged Creeper” of Latham 1787 (Cinnyris).
● ex “Indian Jabiru” of Latham 1787 (Ephippiorhynchus).
● ex “Blue-cheeked Curucui” of Latham 1787 (Megalaima).
● Erroneous TL. The Indies (= Jamaica); ex “Brown Indian Dove” of Edwards 1751, and “Columba subfusca media” of Browne 1756 (Zenaida).

Jungle Bush-Quail (ceylonensis)
SCI Name: Perdicula asiatica ceylonensis
ceylanensis / ceylanica / ceylonense / ceylonensis / ceylonicus / ceylonus
Ceylon (Portuguese name Ceilaõ given to the island by early explorers, from Pali Sinhalana land of lions) / Sri Lanka.
● ex “Drongri” of Levaillant 1805, pl. 170, and “Drongri Shrike” of Latham 1822 (syn. Dicrurus leucophaeus).
● ex “Ceylonese Crested Falcon” of Latham 1781 (subsp. Nisaetus cirrhatus).