Rifleman

SCI Name:  Acanthisitta chloris
Protonym:  Sitta chloris Mus.Carls. fasc.2 no.xxxiii
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Acanthisittidae / Acanthisitta
Taxonomy Code:  riflem1
Type Locality:  Cape of Good Hope; error, type from Queen Charlotte Sound, South Island, New Zealand, fide Oliver, 1955, New Zealand Birds, ed. 2, p. 449.
Author:  Sparrman
Publish Year:  1787
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ACANTHISITTA
(Acanthisittidae; Ϯ Rifleman A. chloris) Portmanteau of genera Acanthiza Vigors & Horsfield, 1827, thornbill, and Sitta Linnaeus, 1758, nuthatch; "G. ACANTHISITTE.  ACANTHISITTA. De Lafr.  ...  Ce petit genre, particulier à la Nouvelle-Zélande et peut-être à d'autres parties de l'Australie, est très voisin de celui de Sittella (Swainson) ayant pour type la Sittine aux ailes d'or, Sitta chrysoptera, Lath. Il en diffère néanmoins sous plusieurs points assez importants pour nous avoir engagé à l'en séparer; ce sont des ailes courtes et obtuses, tandis qu'elles sont longues et aiguës, chez le premier genre, une queue extrêmement courte et grêle, elle est assez étoffée en largeur et coupée carrément chez l'autre, des tarses et des doigts plus longs et plus grêles, un bec plus long et plus délié. Nous l'avons nommé Acanthisitta, à cause de ses rapports avec les genres Acanthiza et Sitta.   A. TÉNUIROSTRE. A. tenuirostris. De Lafr.   Acanthisa tenuirostris. Nob. Rev. zool., 1841, p. 242.  Ce très petit oiseau, le seul que nous connassions de ce genre, a tout le dessus du corps vert-olive avec le front d'un brunâtre enfumé" (de La Fresnaye 1842); "Acanthisitta Lafresnaye, 1842, Mag. Zool., [Paris], ser. 2, 4, pl. 27 and pp. 1-2 of text. Type, by monotypy, [Acanthisa tenuirostris de La Fresnaye =] Sitta chloris Sparrman." (Mayr in Peters 1979, VIII, 331). The New Zealand wrens belong to an ancient lineage and should, perhaps, be separated from other passerines in a distinct order Acanthisittiformes.
Var. Acanthidositta.
Synon. Chlorisitta.

CHLORIS
(Fringillidae; Ϯ European Greenfinch C. chloris) Specific name Loxia chloris Linnaeus, 1758; "Verdiers ...... Chloris" (Cuvier 1800); "Chloris Cuvier, 1800, Lecons Anat. Comp., 1, tab. 2. Type, by tautonymy, Loxia chloris Linnaeus." (Paynter in Peters, 1968, XIV, p. 234). 
Synon. Chlorospiza, Hypacanthis, Ligurinus.
● (Parulidae; syn. Setophaga Ϯ Northern Parula S. americana) Gr. myth. Chloris the nymph, also known as Flora, wife to Zephyrus and goddess of flowers and springtime (Bob Dowsett in litt.); "Chloris: Sylv. americana Lath.  u.s.w." (Boie 1826); "Chloris (not of Cuvier, 1800) Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 972—type, by virtual monotypy, Sylvia americana Latham = Parus americanus Linnaeus." (Hellmayr, 1935, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. VIII, p. 347).

chloris
● Gr. χλωρις khlōris, χλωριδος khlōridos  greenfinch  < χλωρος khlōros  green. In Gr. myth. Chlōris was one of the daughters of Pierus, who, having failed to best the Muses in a singing contest, was transformed into a finch (or a magpie, according to some!) (Acanthisitta, Chloris (see below), syn. Chlorodrepanis flava, Piprites).
● Mod. L. chloris  green, greenish  < Gr. χλωρις khlōris, χλωριδος khlōridos  greenfinch < χλωρος khlōros  green (cf. Gr. myth. Meliboea, a daughter of Niobe and Amphion, who was so traumatised by the slaughter of her siblings by a vengeful Apollo that she turned pale and changed her name to Chloris, the pale one) (Anthus, syn. Camaroptera brachyura (ex “Olivert” of Levaillant 1801-1804, pl. 125), subsp. Melanocharis longicauda, Nicator, syn. Picus canus, subsp. Sicalis olivascens, subsp. Thapsinillas affinis, Todiramphus (ex “Martin-pêcheur à tête verte du cap de Bonne Espérance” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 783, fig. 2, and “Green-headed Kingsfisher” of Latham 1782), Zosterops, unident. (ex “Chloris Indicus” of Aldrovandus 1599-1603, and “Oriolus Indicus” of Brisson 1760)).
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  Chloris.  20. L. flavicanti-virens, remigibus primoribus antice luteis, rectricibus lateralibus quatuor basi luteis.  Fringilla eadem. Fn. svec. 202.  Chloris. Gesn. av. 259. Will. orn. 129. Raj. av. 85. n. 4. Alb. av. I. p. 56. t. 58. Frisch. av. l. 8. f. 3. 4. Aldr. orn. l. 18. c. 18.  Habitat in Europa.  Media quasi inter Loxias & Emberizas, sed rostrum crassius quam in Emberizis." (Linnaeus 1758) (Chloris).

SUBSPECIES

Rifleman (granti)
SCI Name: Acanthisitta chloris granti
granti
● William Robert Ogilvie-Grant (1863-1924) English ornithologist at BMNH 1882-1918 (subsp. Acanthisitta chloris, subsp. Accipiter nisus, subsp. Aerodramus vanikorensis, syn. Alopecoenas beccarii solomonensis, subsp. Camaroptera chloronota, Horizocerus, syn. Lophura nycthemera, syn. Melaenornis pallida parvus, subsp. Microptilotis mimikae, subsp. Napothera epilepidota, syn. Neocossyphus poensis praepectoralis, Ninox, syn. Oriolus szalayi, syn. Pellorneum ruficeps olivaceum, Penelope, subsp. Ptiloprora plumbea, Ptilopsis, subsp. Rhipidura rufifrons (ex Rhipidura harterti Ogilvie-Grant), subsp. Sericornis spilodera, subsp. Sturnus vulgaris, Sula).
● Capt. Claude Henry Baxter Grant (1878-1958) British ornithologist at BMNH 1898-1903, 1932-1958, in East Africa 1916-1932 (subsp. Bradypterus lopezi, subsp. Crithagra mozambica, subsp. Cyanomitra olivacea, syn. Malimbus malimbicus, subsp. Phoeniculus damarensis, syn. Pyrenestes ostrinus minor, subsp. Sheppardia poensis, subsp. Smutsornis africanus, subsp. Terpsiphone viridis, subsp. Treron delalandii).
● Lt.-Col. James Augustus Grant (1827-1892) British Army, explorer with Speke in East Africa 1860-1863 (syn. Guttera pucherani).
● Robert Grant (1854-1923) Scottish miner and immigrant to Australia 1879, taxidermist at Australian Mus. 1887-1917, collector, explorer (subsp. Paradisaea raggiana).

Rifleman (chloris)
SCI Name: Acanthisitta chloris chloris
CHLORIS
(Fringillidae; Ϯ European Greenfinch C. chloris) Specific name Loxia chloris Linnaeus, 1758; "Verdiers ...... Chloris" (Cuvier 1800); "Chloris Cuvier, 1800, Lecons Anat. Comp., 1, tab. 2. Type, by tautonymy, Loxia chloris Linnaeus." (Paynter in Peters, 1968, XIV, p. 234). 
Synon. Chlorospiza, Hypacanthis, Ligurinus.
● (Parulidae; syn. Setophaga Ϯ Northern Parula S. americana) Gr. myth. Chloris the nymph, also known as Flora, wife to Zephyrus and goddess of flowers and springtime (Bob Dowsett in litt.); "Chloris: Sylv. americana Lath.  u.s.w." (Boie 1826); "Chloris (not of Cuvier, 1800) Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 972—type, by virtual monotypy, Sylvia americana Latham = Parus americanus Linnaeus." (Hellmayr, 1935, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. VIII, p. 347).