Red-breasted Meadowlark

SCI Name:  Leistes militaris
Protonym:  E.[mberiza] militaris Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.178
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Icteridae / Leistes
Taxonomy Code:  rebbla1
Type Locality:  'in America, Asia'' ; Surinam designated by Berlepsch and Hartert, 1902, Novit. Zool., 9, p. 33.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

LEISTES
(Icteridae; Ϯ Red-breasted Blackbird L. militaris) Gr. λῃστης lēistēs  robber  < λῃστευω lēisteuō  to rob (cf. λῃζομαι lēizomai  to plunder); "Sturnus prædatorius ... This notorious and celebrated corn-thief, the long reputed plunderer and pest of our honest and laborious farmers" (Wilson 1811); "I shall group these species together by the following characters under the generick name of LEÏSTES.  Rostrum crassum, rectum, basi altum, mandibulæ inferioris margine angulato; naribus rotundatis membrano partim tectis.  Alæ; remigibus 4^tis extimis fere æqualibus longissimis.  Cauda æqualis, rectricum apice angulato, rhachibus plerumque prolongatis, nudis.  Pedes mediocres, tarsis gracilibus.   The following birds may be referred to this group, the Oriolus Americanus, Gmel. being taken as the type.    Oriolus phœniceus. Linn. Syst. Vol. I. p. 161. sp. 5.  Icterus pterophœniceus. Briss. Orn. Tom. I. p. 97. sp. 12.  Le Commandeur. Buff. Ois. Tom. III. p. 214.  La Troupiale à ailes rouges. Pl. Enl. 402.  Red winged Starling. Cat. Car. Vol. I. t. 13.  Alb. Vol. I. t. 38.  Sturnus prædatorius. Wils. Am. Orn. Vol. 4. p. 30. pl. 30. f. 1, 2.     Oriolus Americanus. Gmel. Syst. Vol. I. p. 386. sp. 29.  Troupiale de Cayenne. Pl. Enl. 236. f. 2.  Red breasted Oriole. Lath. Gen. Syn. Vol. II. p. 430. sp. 14. - Vol. III. p. 120. sp. 43. Ed. 2^da.  Fœm.     Oriolus Guianensis. Linn. Syst. Vol. I. p. 162. sp. 9.  Icterus Guianensis, Briss. Orn. Tom. II. p. 107. sp. 18. t. 11. f. 2.  Troupiale de la Guiane, Pl. Enl. 536." (Vigors 1825); "Leistes Vigors, 1825, Zool. Journ., 2, p. 191. Type, by original designation, Oriolus americanus Gmelin = Emberiza militaris Linnaeus." (Blake in Peters 1968, XIV, 175).
Synon. Hylike, Pedotribes.

militaris
L. militaris  military, martial, soldier-  < miles, militis  soldier.
● ex “Great Green Maccaw” of Edwards 1764; "Military Macaw  ... the whole bird having much the appearance of the German military uniform, from which circumstance it not inappropriately derives its distinctive name" (Perry 1811) (Ara).
● ex Coracina militaris Latham 1801, and “Grand Cotinga” of Levaillant 1801 (syn. Haematoderus militaris).
● ex “Rubicilla fusca major” of Edwards 1751, and “Turdus ater, pectore coccineo” of Linnaeus 1754 (Leistes).
● ex “Etourneau des terres Magellaniques” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 113 (syn. Leistes loyca).