Little Curlew

SCI Name:  Numenius minutus
Protonym:  Numenius minutus Proc.Zool.Soc.London(1840) (1840), Pt8 no.95 p.176
Taxonomy:  Charadriiformes / Scolopacidae / Numenius
Taxonomy Code:  litcur
Type Locality:  New South Wales.
Author:  Gould
Publish Year:  1841
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

NUMENIUS
(Scolopacidae; Ϯ Eurasian Curlew N. arquata) Gr. νουμηνιος noumēnios  bird mentioned by Hesychius, traditionally associated with the curlew by reason of its crescent-shaped bill  < νουμηνια noumēnia  new moon  < νεος neos  new; μηνη mēnē, μηνης mēnēs  moon (cf. L. numen, numinis  nodding with the head  < nuere  to nod, to consent); "Numenius. Genus 78.  ...  Genus Numenii ...  Rostrum deorsum arcuatum  ...  **1. LE COURLY.  ...  NUMENIUS" (Brisson 1760): based on "Numenius" and "Arquata" of Gessner 1555, and other authors, and Scolopax Arquata Linnaeus, 1758; "Numenius Brisson, Orn., 1760, 1, p. 48; 5, p. 311. Type, by tautonymy, Numenius Brisson = Scolopax arquata Linné." (Peters 1934, II, 260); "Numenius Brisson, Orn., 1, p. 48, 5, p. 311, 1760—type, by tautonymy, "Numenius" Brisson = Scolopax torquata [sic] Linnaeus." (Hellmayr & Conover, 1948, XIII, 90).
Var. Neomenius, Numerius, Numineus, Neumenius.
Synon. Arquata, Cracticornis, Mesoscolopax, Micronumenius, Palnumenius, Phaeopus, Zarapita.

minutum / minutus
L. minutus  little  < minuere  to make smaller (see also minuta).
● ex “Becque Fleur” of Levaillant 1801-1804, pl. 124 (Anthoscopus).
● ex “Lesser Ibis” (= ☼) of Edwards 1764 (syn. Eudocimus ruber).
● ex “Petit Râle de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 847, and “Little Rail” of Latham 1785 (syn. Hapalocrex flaviventer).
● ex “Little Brown Bittern” of Edwards 1760, and “Blongios” of Brisson 1760 (Ixobrychus).
● "62. MERGUS.  ...  minutus.  5. M. capite griseo lævi. Fn. svec. 115.  Te wezel-coot. Alb. av. l. p. 84. t. 88.  Habitat in Europa.  In alis macula atra, antice & postice alba." (Linnaeus 1758) (syn. Mergellus albellus ♀).
● ex “Petit Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 831, fig. 2 (syn. Myrmotherula brachyura).