Monarcha Melanopsis Bird

English Name:  Black-faced Monarch
Latin Name:  Monarcha melanopsis
Protonym:  Muscicapa melanopsis Nouv.Dict.Hist.Nat. 21 p.450
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Monarchidae / Monarcha
Taxonomy Code:  blfmon1
Type Locality:  New South Wales = Sydney, fide Mathews, 1930, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, p. 521.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1818
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MONARCHA
(Monarchidae; Ϯ Black-faced Monarch M. melanopsis) L. monarcha  monarch  < Gr. μοναρχος monarkhos  monarch, sovereign, dictator (see Tyrannus); "Genus. MONARCHA.   Rostrum forte, subelongatum, basi latum, subdepressum; culmine carinato, apice arcuato; mandibula superiore emarginata; naribus basalibus, rotundis, setis plumulisque opertis; rictu vibrissis fortibus instructo.  Alæ mediocres, subrotundatæ; remige prima brevi, secunda duplo longiore, tertia et quinta æqualibus, quarta quæ est longissima, paulo breviori; cæteris gradatim breviscentibus: tertiæ ad sextam inclusam pogoniis externis paulatim in medio latioribus.  Cauda mediocris, æqualis.  Pedes mediocres, acrotarsiis scutellatis, paratarsiis integris.   The powerful construction of the bill of this group separates it at once from the other species of the Muscicapidæ, with which in the depression and breadth at the base of that member, the strength of the rictal bristles, and the general characters of the wings and legs, it otherwise accords. This strength of bill would incline us to place the bird among the Laniadæ, and in the subfamily of Tyrannina, Swains., of which it might thus be considered to form the Australian representative, did not the other characters of its structure evince a more predominant inclination to the Muscicapidæ than to the Tyranni. The group may, however, be considered to stand intermediately between the two families; and might perhaps be referred with equal propriety to either, according to the characters which each naturalist would select as most predominant, and most convenient to guide him in his subdivisions. The habits of the birds of this group, hitherto unknown, will have much influence in determining its exact station.    1. CARINATA.  ...  Muscipeta carinata.  Swains. Zool. Illust. pl. 147." (Vigors & Horsfield 1827); "Monarcha Vigors and Horsfield, 1827, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 15, p. 254. Type, by monotypy, Muscipeta carinata Swainson, 1823 = Muscicapa melanopsis Vieillot, 1818." (Mayr in Peters 1986, XI, 500).
Var. Monacha, Monarches (Gr. μοναρχης monarkhēs monarch).
Synon. Bathmisyrma, Monarcharses, Neopomarea.

MONASA
(Bucconidae; Ϯ Black Nunbird M. atra) Gr. μονας monas, μοναδος monados  female hermit, nun  < μονος monos  solitary  < μοναχοω monakhoō  to make single; "35. MONASE, Monasa.  Cuculus, Gm.  Bucco, Lath.  Bec garni de soies à la base, plus long que la tête, comprimé par les côtés, entier; mandibules courbées en en base.  Esp. Coucou noir de Cayenne, Buff.   ...   Monasa [μονασης, qui solus vivit]." (Vieillot 1816); "Monasa Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, p. 27. Type, by monotypy, Coucou noir de Cayenne of Buffon = Cuculus ater Boddaert." (Peters 1948, VI, 21).
Var. Monassa, Monasta, Monacha, Monesa, Monaca.
Synon. Barbacou, Barbaculus, Monadon, Monastes, Scotocharis.

melanopsis
Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; οψις opsis  face.
● Specific name Atlaptes melanops Valqui & Fjeldså, 1999 (= syn. Atlapetes melanopsis); Gr. οψις opsis appearance (Atlapetes).
● ex “Black-faced Thrush” of Latham 1783 (syn. Dryonastes chinensis).