Taita Fiscal

SCI Name:  Lanius dorsalis
Protonym:  Lanius (Fiscus) dorsalis J.Orn. 26 p.205,225
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Laniidae / Lanius
Taxonomy Code:  taifis1
Type Locality:  Ndi, Teita.
Author:  Cabanis
Publish Year:  1878
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

LANIUS
(Laniidae; Ϯ Great Grey Shrike L. excubitor) L. lanius  butcher  < laniare  to tear to pieces. The shrikes were formerly known as ‘butcher-birds,’ from their habit of storing prey by impaling it on thorns and sharp twigs, giving the resemblance to a butcher’s shambles or slaughterhouse (Mod. L. Lanius (Ray 1713) shrike, butcher-bird); “I reject the compound-name of Butcher-Bird, and retain the old English name of Shrike, from the noise” (Pennant 1773). In nomenclature lanius is used in a variety of combinations for birds with stout, hooked or toothed bills or with the general appearance of a shrike; "43. LANIUS.  Rostrum rectiusculum, dente utrinque versus apicem, basi nudum.  Lingua lacera." (Linnaeus 1758); "Lanius Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1, p. 93. Type, by subsequent designation, Lanius excubitor Linnaeus (Swainson, 1824, Zool. Journ., 1 (1825), p. 294)." (Rand in Peters 1960, IX, 342). This is the fourth diagnosed genus in avian taxonomy. Linnaeus's Lanius comprised ten species (L. cristatus, L. Excubitor, L. Collurio, L. Tyrannus, L. Carnifex, L. Schach, L. Senator, L. cærulescens, L. jocosus, L. Garrulus).   
Var. Lanii, Larius.   
Synon. Caudolanius, Cephalophoneus, Collurio, Creurgus, Enneoctonus, Fiscus, Lanioides, Leucometopon, Neolanius, Neofiscus, Otomela, Phoneus.

lanius
L. lanius  butcher  < laniare  to tear to pieces.

dorsale / dorsalis
L. dorsalis (properly dorsualis)  dorsal, of the back  < dorsum  back.
● ex “Chorlito à dos noir” of de Buffon (Sonnini ed.) 1800-1802 (syn. Calidris melanotos).