Tit-hylia

SCI Name:  Pholidornis rushiae
Protonym:  Diceum Rushiae Proc.Acad.Nat.Sci.Philadelphia 7 p.325
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Macrosphenidae / Pholidornis
Taxonomy Code:  tithyl1
Type Locality:  Moonda River, Gabon.
Author:  Cassin
Publish Year:  1855
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PHOLIDORNIS
(Scotocercidae; Ϯ Tit Hylia P. rushiae) Gr. φολις pholis, φολιδος pholidos  scale; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird; "DICEUM RUSHIÆ, nobis.  ...  Plumage of entire head and breast scale-like and rough to the touch  ...  In its colors, however, it is quite different from any other known species of this genus [Dicaeum], and the scale-like feathers of the head and breast are quite peculiar" (Cassin 1855); "Pholidornis, nob.   156. Rushiae, (Cass.)  ...  die Federn des Kopf's, des Halses und der Brust sind von härtlicher fester Structur und erscheinen schuppenartige" (Hartlaub 1857); "Pholidornis Hartlaub, 1857, Syst. Ornith. Westafrika, p. 54. Type, by monotypy, Diceum (sic) Rushiae Cassin.    This orphan genus has been placed at various times in the Dicaeidae, Sylviidae, Paridae, Nectariniidae, Hyliidae, Meliphagidae, and Estrildidae. I am no closer to knowing its proper relationship, and it is kept in the present family [Estrildidae] only because that is the first place where most students will seek it." (Traylor in Peters 1968, XIV, 389).

rushiae
Phoebe Ann Rush née Ridgway (1799-1857) wife of US pioneer psychologist Dr James Rush (d. 1869) (Pholidornis).

SUBSPECIES

Tit-hylia (ussheri)
SCI Name: Pholidornis rushiae ussheri
ussheri
Herbert Taylor Ussher (1836-1880) British diplomat at the Gold Coast 1866-1872, Gov. of Labuan, Borneo 1875-1879, Gov. of Gold Coast 1879-1880 (syn. Baeopogon indicator leucurus, Bradornis, Erythropitta, subsp. Indicator minor, subsp. Pholidornis rushiae, Scotopelia, syn. Sylvia borin, subsp. Tchagra australis, Telacanthura).

Tit-hylia (rushiae)
SCI Name: Pholidornis rushiae rushiae
rushiae
Phoebe Ann Rush née Ridgway (1799-1857) wife of US pioneer psychologist Dr James Rush (d. 1869) (Pholidornis).

Tit-hylia (bedfordi)
SCI Name: Pholidornis rushiae bedfordi
bedfordi
Herbrand Arthur Russell 11th Duke of Bedford (1858-1940) sponsor of Ruwenzori Expedition, President of the Zoological Society of London 1899-1936, Trustee of British Museum 1906-1927 (syn. Bradypterus baboecala msiri, subsp. Pholidornis rushiae, subsp. Sitta europaea, Terpsiphone).

Tit-hylia (denti)
SCI Name: Pholidornis rushiae denti
denti
Capt. Richard Edward Dent (1882-1942) British settler in Kenya, planter, collector, game-warden (syn. Apalis rufogularis nigrescens, subsp. Pholidornis rushiae, Sylvietta).