Short-tailed Finch

SCI Name:  Idiopsar brachyurus
Protonym:  Idiopsar brachyurus Proc.Acad.Nat.Sci.Philadelphia 18(1866) p.414
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Thraupidae / Idiopsar
Taxonomy Code:  shtfin1
Type Locality:  'La Paz,'' Bolivia.
Author:  Cassin
Publish Year:  1867
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

IDIOPSAR
(Thraupidae; Ϯ Short-tailed Finch I. brachyurus) Gr. ιδιος idios  peculiar, distinct; ψαρ psar, ψαρος psaros  starling; "III. Genus IDIOPSAR, nobis.  In the collection of the Smithsonian Institution I find a specimen of a very interesting and singular bird, evidently Icterine, and allied to Quiscalus and Scolecophagus, but not to be referred with any considerable degree of propriety to either of those or to any other genus of this group. The tail is short, nearly even at the end, and emarginate, and the wings long.  General form short and compact, bill about the length of the head, strong, slightly curved, with the commissure much inflexed in both mandibles, culmen distinct. Legs and feet moderate.   1. IDIOPSAR BRACHYURUS, nobis.  Entire plumage of the head and body bluish cinereous or plumbeous, darker on the upper parts and lighter on the under parts" (Cassin 1866); "Idiopsar Cassin, 1866, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 414. Type, by monotypy, Idiopsar brachyurus Cassin." (Paynter in Peters 1970, XIII, 115). In ornithology psar also signifies members of the American Icteridae, formerly united with the starlings Sturnidae (Cassin believed his new bird to be an icterid). Schwenckfeld 1603, used psar as an alternative name for strouthos, the House Sparrow. More recently this bird has been called Andean Boulder-finch.

brachyurus
Gr. βραχυς brakhus  short; -ουρος -ouros  -tailed  < ουρα oura  tail.

Brachyurus
Gr. βραχυς brakhus  short; ουρα ourα  tail.
• (Conopophagidae; syn. Conopophaga † Black-cheeked Gnateater C. melanops) "Brachyurus THUNBERG, Kongl. Vetenskaps Akad. Handl., 1821, Part 2, p. 371 (types Brachyurus gularis and B. ruber = Conopophaga m. melanops [VIEILLOT])." (Hellmayr, 1924, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. III, 25) (see next sub-entry).  Laurent Raty in litt. considers Hellmayr's statement of multiple types (latterly treated as the male and female of the same species) as invalid.
• (Pittidae; syn. Pitta † Indian Pitta P. brachyura) "Denne fogel finnes tecknad uti Museo Carlsoniano, Tom. 4 och Tab. 84 under namn af Turdus triostegus.  ...  Jag har ansett det kunna få namn af BRACHYURUS och sin plats ibland Passeres, näst efter Turdus.  Character Generis blifver då    Rostrum capite brevius, rectum.  Mandibula superior conico-trigona apice incurvo, longior, intra apicem utrinque excisa; inferior brevior, recta.  Cauda alis (non longior) æqualis, rotundata.  ...  Förutan BRACHYURUS triostegus ifrån Ön Ceilon, har Brasilien i sednare tider skänkt osstvenne andra arter  ...  BRACHYURUS gularis.  B. supra olivaceus pileo rubro; temporibus atris; subtus fuscus gula crissoque albis.   ...   BRACHYURUS ruber.  B. supra fuscus maculis dorsalibus testaceis; subtus ferrugineis." (Thunberg 1821); "Brachyurus Thunberg, 1821, Kongl. Vetenskaps Akad. Handling., II, p. 371.  Type, by subsequent designation (G. Gray, 1840, List Genera Birds, p. 26), Turdus triostegus Sparrman, 1789 = Corvus brachyurus Linnaeus, 1766." (Laurent Raty in litt.) (JAJ 2020).   
Var. Brachiurus.