Apus Melba Bird

English Name:  Alpine Swift
Latin Name:  Apus melba
Protonym:  Hirundo Melba Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.192
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Apodidae / Apus
Taxonomy Code:  alpswi1
Type Locality:  Gibraltar.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

APUS
(Apodidae; Ϯ Common Swift A. apus) Specific name Hirundo apus Linnaeus, 1758; "APVS. BELLON. Alæ arcuatæ, ultra caudam sedentis extensæ. Nares ellipticæ, duplicatura in exteriore cantho instructæ. Mandibula utraque apice deflexa. Digiti quatuor, omnes anticis.  HIRVNDO Apus. LINN." (Scopoli 1777); “Three generic names have been used at various times for the Swifts. Apus Scopoli  ...  is preoccupied by Apos, introduced by the same author on p. 404 for a genus of Crustaceans. As these names are identical except for the interchange of “o” and “u,” the earlier one only is valid. The second is Micropus Meyer & Wolf [1810]  ...  This has been rejected by Sharpe (Hand-List, ii. 1900, p. 95), as the same name was applied to a genus of plants by Linnaeus, but under the present rules this no longer renders a name invalid for zoology, and Micropus should therefore be used. The third name, Cypselus Illiger, 1811, was used in the 1^st edition of the List and by most of the earlier authors” (BOU 1915); "Apus Scopoli, Intr. Hist. Nat., 1777, p. 483. Type, by tautonymy, Hirundo apus Linné.¹   ...   ¹ Not preoccupied by Apos Scopoli, 1777, Crustacea.  Replaces Cypselus Illiger, 1811, of Sharpe's Hand-list and Micropus Meyer and Wolf, 1810, of many recent authors." (Peters, 1940, IV, p. 244).   
Synon. Apodium, Brachypus, Brevipes, Caffrapus, Colletoptera, Cypselus, Drepanis, Epicypselus, Micropus, Tetragonopyga.

apus
● L. apus, apodis  swift, type of swallow said to have no feet  < Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind  < negative prefix α- a- ; πους pous, ποδος podos  foot; "101. HIRUNDO.  ...  Apus.  5. H. nigricans, gula alba, digitis omnibus quatuor anticis.  Hirundo tota nigra, gula albicante. Fn. svec. 246.  Hirundo Apus. Bell. av. 100. a. Gesn. av. 166. Aldr. orn. l. 17. c. 10. Jonst. av. 119. t. 42. Will. orn. 156. t. 39. Raj. av. 72. n. 4. Alb. av. 2. p. 51. t. 55. Frisch. av. 3. t. 17. f. 1.  Habitat in Europæ altis.  In terram decidens non evolat; capitur hamo Cicadæ inserto. Bell. 16." (Linnaeus 1758) (Apus).
● Gr. απους apous, αποδος apodos  bird of the swallow kind; ex “Becque Fleur” of Levaillant 1803, pl. 134 (syn. Anthoscopus minutus).

melba
● Etymology undiscovered; "98. FRINGILLA.  ...  Melba.  10. F. facie caudaque rubris, abdomine albo nigroque undato, dorso viridis.  Cardueli affinis viridis. Edw. av. 128. t. 128.  Habitat in China." (Linnaeus 1758, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, I, 180); perhaps from a supposed Chinese word or place. The Emberiza melbensis of Cuvier 1817, is a lapsus for Emberiza maelbyensis Sparrman, 1786 (= Emberiza hortulana ☼)  (Pytilia).
● Etymology undiscovered; "101. HIRUNDO.  ...  Melba.  8. H. fusca, gula abdomineque albis.  Hirundo riparia maxima.  Edw. av. 27. t. 27.  Klein. av. 83.  Habitat ad fretum Herculeum." (Linnaeus 1758, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, I, 192).  Coomans de Ruiter et al. 1947, write, “Melber is een Z.-Duitsch woord voor meel-handelaar, hetgeen te denken geeft, als men weet, dat de Huiszwaluw [Delichon] in Duitschland Mehlschwalbe heet.”  Macleod 1954, mentions “Melba” as an Old German name for a gull Larus referred to in Albertus Magnus (De Avibus, 1479).  I was unable to locate this name in Albertus Magnus, but Björn Bergenholtz has found the following passage (Lib. 8, p. 246), dealing with pugnacity in nature: "Eadem autem causæ pugnæ est avibus & animalibus marinis: pugnant enim adinuicem bathiom, quod est species merguli, quod pisces venatur: & avis quæ vocatur latrom: & est avis alba & marina quam nos melbam vocamus: & est causa pugnæ præda piscium", and, later (p. 562), on the names of gulls: "Laros est avis alba marina quam nos melbam (meuvam) vocamus."  This is certainly the origin of the name, and may be a corrupt transposition of "alba et marina," or, more likely, a corruption of Old German Meuuw  gull (cf. German Möwe  gull).  Here there could be a tenuous connection between the Alpine Swift (long thought to be a kind of swallow Hirundo) and a gull (related to the terns or sea swallows Sterna).  Eigenhuis & Swaab 1992, hesitantly posit that ‘melba’ might be a short form for ‘melanoalba’ or ‘melalba’ (Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos black; L. albus, white).  Linnaeus certainly referred to these two colours in his diagnosis (as he did also re Pytilia), but he tended not to be prone to such playful fancies (Tachymarptis).

SUBSPECIES

Alpine Swift (melba)
Latin Name: Apus melba melba
melba
● Etymology undiscovered; "98. FRINGILLA.  ...  Melba.  10. F. facie caudaque rubris, abdomine albo nigroque undato, dorso viridis.  Cardueli affinis viridis. Edw. av. 128. t. 128.  Habitat in China." (Linnaeus 1758, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, I, 180); perhaps from a supposed Chinese word or place. The Emberiza melbensis of Cuvier 1817, is a lapsus for Emberiza maelbyensis Sparrman, 1786 (= Emberiza hortulana ☼)  (Pytilia).
● Etymology undiscovered; "101. HIRUNDO.  ...  Melba.  8. H. fusca, gula abdomineque albis.  Hirundo riparia maxima.  Edw. av. 27. t. 27.  Klein. av. 83.  Habitat ad fretum Herculeum." (Linnaeus 1758, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, I, 192).  Coomans de Ruiter et al. 1947, write, “Melber is een Z.-Duitsch woord voor meel-handelaar, hetgeen te denken geeft, als men weet, dat de Huiszwaluw [Delichon] in Duitschland Mehlschwalbe heet.”  Macleod 1954, mentions “Melba” as an Old German name for a gull Larus referred to in Albertus Magnus (De Avibus, 1479).  I was unable to locate this name in Albertus Magnus, but Björn Bergenholtz has found the following passage (Lib. 8, p. 246), dealing with pugnacity in nature: "Eadem autem causæ pugnæ est avibus & animalibus marinis: pugnant enim adinuicem bathiom, quod est species merguli, quod pisces venatur: & avis quæ vocatur latrom: & est avis alba & marina quam nos melbam vocamus: & est causa pugnæ præda piscium", and, later (p. 562), on the names of gulls: "Laros est avis alba marina quam nos melbam (meuvam) vocamus."  This is certainly the origin of the name, and may be a corrupt transposition of "alba et marina," or, more likely, a corruption of Old German Meuuw  gull (cf. German Möwe  gull).  Here there could be a tenuous connection between the Alpine Swift (long thought to be a kind of swallow Hirundo) and a gull (related to the terns or sea swallows Sterna).  Eigenhuis & Swaab 1992, hesitantly posit that ‘melba’ might be a short form for ‘melanoalba’ or ‘melalba’ (Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos black; L. albus, white).  Linnaeus certainly referred to these two colours in his diagnosis (as he did also re Pytilia), but he tended not to be prone to such playful fancies (Tachymarptis).

Alpine Swift (tuneti)
Latin Name: Apus melba tuneti
tuneti
L. Tunes, Tunetis  Tunis, a port of Carthage, now Tunisia.

Alpine Swift (archeri)
Latin Name: Apus melba archeri
archeri
● Anthony L. Archer (b. 1933) British big-game hunter in Kenya (cf. “collected at Archer’s Post on the Ewaso Ng’iro River, Samburu District” (Cunningham-van Someren 1984)) (syn. Buphagus erythrorhynchus).
● Sir Geoffrey Francis Archer (1882-1964) British explorer, Gov. of British Somaliland 1919-1922, Gov.-Gen. of the Sudan 1924-1926 (syn. Buteo augur, Dessonornis, subsp. Falco tinnunculus, syn. Eremomela icteropygialis griseoflava, Heteromirafra, subsp. Platalea leucorodia, subsp. Scleroptila gutturalis, subsp. Tachymarptis melba).

Alpine Swift (africanus)
Latin Name: Apus melba africanus
africanus
L. Africanus  African.
● ex “African Jacana” of Latham 1785 (Actophilornis).
● Erroneous TL. Africa (= ?Sumatra); ex “Rhinoceros avis secunda varietas” of Willughby 1676, “Trompette de Brac” or “Oiseau trompette” of Labat 1728, “Hydrocorax africanus” of Brisson 1760, “Brac” or “Calao d’Afrique” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “African Hornbill” of Latham 1781 (unident; ?syn. Buceros rhinoceros).
● ex “Pique-Boeuf” of Brisson 1760 (Buphagus).
● Erroneous TL. Country of the Auteniquoi, South Africa (= ?Europe); ex “Buse Gantée” of Levaillant 1797, pl. 18 (syn. Buteo lagopus).
● ex “Engoulevent à Collier” of Levaillant 1799, and “Bombay Goatsucker” of Latham 1802 (syn. Caprimulgus pectoralis).
● ex “African Pheasant” of Latham 1787 (syn. Crinifer piscator).
● ex “African Shag” of Latham 1785 (Microcarbo),.
● ex “Loriot Coudougnan” of Levaillant 1808, pl. 261 (syn. Oriolus larvatus) (see coudougan).
● ex “Coure-vite à double collier d’Afrique” of Temminck 1807 (Smutsornis).
● Erroneous TL. Great Namaqualand (= ?); ex “Faucon à Culotte Noire” of Levaillant 1798, pl. 29 (unident.).

Alpine Swift (maximus)
Latin Name: Apus melba maximus
maximus
L. maximus greatest < super. magnus great.
● ex “Cayenne Gallinule” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aramides cajanea).
● ex “Grand Promérops de la nouvelle Guinée” of Sonnerat 1776 (syn. Epimachus fastosus).
● ex “Tangara des grands bois de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 205, and “Grand Tangara” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Saltator).
● ex “Hirondelle de Mer de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 988 (Thalasseus).

Alpine Swift (marjoriae)
Latin Name: Apus melba marjoriae
marjoriae
● Marjorie G. Winterbottom (b. 1904) wife of South African ornithologist Prof. J. M. Winterbottom (subsp. Mirafra apiata).
● Marjorie Bradfield (fl. 1935) wife of South African farmer R. D. Bradfield (subsp. Tachymarptis melba (see majoriae), syn. Tockus monteiri).

Alpine Swift (willsi)
Latin Name: Apus melba willsi
willsi
Revd. James Wills (1836-1898) British geologist, missionary to Madagascar 1870-1898 (subsp. Tachymarptis melba).

Alpine Swift (nubifugus)
Latin Name: Apus melba nubifugus
nubifuga / nubifugus
L. nubifugus  cloud-chasing  < nubes, nubis  cloud; fugere  to flee.

Alpine Swift (dorabtatai)
Latin Name: Apus melba dorabtatai
dorabtatai
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Bombay (established by Sir Dorab Tata (1859-1932) Indian industrialist, philanthropist) (syn. Tachymarptis melba nubifuga).

Alpine Swift (bakeri)
Latin Name: Apus melba bakeri
bakeri
● Edward Charles Stuart Baker (1864-1944) British ornithologist, oologist, collector, Indian Police 1883-1912 (subsp. Cuculus canorus, syn. Garrulax monileger stuarti, subsp. Liocichla phoenicea, syn. Lonchura malacca (ex Munia malacca orientalis Baker, 1925), subsp. Napothera epilepidota, syn. Pericrocotus flammeus fraterculus, subsp. Polyplectron bicalcaratum, subsp. Pomatorhinus ruficollis, Psittiparus, syn. Thalasseus bergii velox, subsp. Tachymarptis melba, syn. Turdinus macrodactylus, Yuhina, subsp. Zapornia fusca).
● Dr John Randal Baker (1900-1984) British scientist, cytologist, collector in the New Hebrides 1922-1923, 1927 (Ducula).
● Dr Allan John Baker (1943-2014) New Zealand/Canadian ornithologist (subsp. Fringilla coelebs).
● George Fisher Baker, Jr. (1878-1937) US banker, collector, trustee of the AMNH (Sericulus).