Rufous-necked Snowfinch

SCI Name:  Montifringilla ruficollis
Protonym:  Montifringilla ruficollis Proc.Asiat.Soc.Bengal 10,11 p.277
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Passeridae / Montifringilla
Taxonomy Code:  runsno1
Type Locality:  Kangra Lama Pass, N. Sikkim.
Author:  Blanford
Publish Year:  1871
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MONTIFRINGILLA
(Passeridae; Ϯ White-winged Snowfinch M. nivalis) L. mons, montis  mountain; fringilla  finch; "II. G. Bergfink. Montifringilla, Brehm.   1. Der Schneebergfink, M. nivalis Br.   2. Der Eisbergfink, M. glacialis Br." (Brehm 1828); "Die Bergfinken sind unter den Finken, was die Sporner unter den Ammern sind; allein sie leben auf den höchsten Bergen über dem Holzwuchse, neben, unter und über dem ewigen Eise und Felsen und auf dem Boden, fast immer in Gesellschaft  ...  Der Schneebergfink. Montifringilla nivalis, Br. (Fr. nivalis, Linn. N.W.V. Th. Taf. 117, 1, 2.)" (Brehm 1831); "Montifringilla Brehm, 1828, Isis von Oken, col. 1277. Type, by subsequent designation, Montifringilla nivalis Brehm = Fringilla nivalis Linnaeus (Gray, 1840, List Gen. Birds, p. 46)." (Greenway in Peters 1962, XV, 26).   
Var. Motifringilla, Mantifringilla.   
Synon. Chionospina, Eurhinospiza, Geospiza, Oreospiza, Orites, Plectrofringilla.

montifringilla
Mod. L. montifringilla (Turner 1544)  mountain finch, brambling  < L. mons, montis  mountain; fringilla  finch.
● "98. FRINGILLA.  ...  Montifringilla.  3. F. alarum basi subtus flavissima. Fn. svec. 198. t. 2. f. 198.  Montifringilla s. Fringilla montana. Jonst. av. 99. t. 38. Will. orn. 187. t. 45. f. 5. Raj. av. 88. Alb. av. 3. p. 60. t. 64. Frisch. av.  . t. 3. f. 2. 3. Olin. av. 32. Aldr. orn. l. 18. c. 7.  Habitat in Europa." (Linnaeus 1758) (Fringilla).

ruficollis
Mod. L. ruficollis  red-necked, rufous-necked  < L. rufus  red, ruddy, rufous; Mod. L. -collis  -necked, -throated  < L. collum  neck.
● ex “Black-bellied Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Rufous-throated Tanager” of Latham 1783 (syn. Euneornis campestris).
● ex “Pica flores pecho de cañela” and “Pica flores pecho de topacio” of de Azara 1802-1805, nos. 290, 291 (syn. Hylocharis chrysura).
● ex "Cola aguda cola de canela obscura" of de Azara, no. 240 (syn. Phacellodomus sibilatrix).
● ex “Red-necked Grebe” of Latham 1785 (syn. Podiceps grisegena).
● ex “Rufous-throated Tanager” of Latham 1785 (subsp. Pyrrhulagra violacea).
● ex “Fringilla ruficollis” of Lichtenstein MS (syn. Sporophila ruficollis).

SUBSPECIES

Rufous-necked Snowfinch (ruficollis)
SCI Name: Montifringilla ruficollis ruficollis
ruficollis
Mod. L. ruficollis  red-necked, rufous-necked  < L. rufus  red, ruddy, rufous; Mod. L. -collis  -necked, -throated  < L. collum  neck.
● ex “Black-bellied Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Rufous-throated Tanager” of Latham 1783 (syn. Euneornis campestris).
● ex “Pica flores pecho de cañela” and “Pica flores pecho de topacio” of de Azara 1802-1805, nos. 290, 291 (syn. Hylocharis chrysura).
● ex "Cola aguda cola de canela obscura" of de Azara, no. 240 (syn. Phacellodomus sibilatrix).
● ex “Red-necked Grebe” of Latham 1785 (syn. Podiceps grisegena).
● ex “Rufous-throated Tanager” of Latham 1785 (subsp. Pyrrhulagra violacea).
● ex “Fringilla ruficollis” of Lichtenstein MS (syn. Sporophila ruficollis).

Rufous-necked Snowfinch (isabellina)
SCI Name: Montifringilla ruficollis isabellina
isabellina / isabellinus
Mod. L. isabellinus  isabelline-coloured, greyish-yellow  < French  Isabelle  < Spanish  Isabella. The origin of the colour term ‘isabelline’ is now unknown. The most likely candidate is Isabel I Queen of Castile and Spain (reigned 1474-1504), said to have promised not to change her undergarments until Spain was freed from the Moors (Granada, the last Moorish ta’ifa, fell in 1492). In 1600, a gown of isabella colour is referred to in an inventory of the wardrobe of Elizabeth I Queen of England (Macleod 1954). The link with the Archduchess Isabella, daughter of Philip II of Spain, who vowed not to change her linen until Ostend (beseiged 1601-1604) was taken, is discounted by SOED 1944 (cf. "I came across an alternative explanation, that the word 'isabelline' is actually a corruption of the Italian word zibellino. This name was given to a pelt of an animal such as a marten or Sable, worn by wealthy women during the 16th century. It may originally derive from an Arabic word meaning 'lion' and therefore mean 'lion-coloured'" (Stephen Moss 2017, Birdwatch, 299, 77)). 
● ex “Isabelle” of Levaillant 1802 (syn. Acrocephalus baeticatus).
● ex “Emerillon de Cayenne” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (subsp. Falco sparverius).