Cuculus variegatus Vieillot

Jansen, Justin J. F. J., 2017, Rene Mauge's ornithological collections from Kupang Bay, West-Timor, Indonesia, August-November 1801, with special regard to type-specimens, Zoosystematics and Evolution 93 (2), pp. 467-492 : 470

Cuculus variegatus Vieillot

Cuculus variegatus Vieillot, 1817, Nouv. Dict. Nat. éd. 8: 224 (Australasie).

Heteroscenes pallidus (Latham, 1801). See Mathews 1913: 154, Hellmayr 1916: 110 and Voisin and Voisin 1999: 392. - Now.

Type materials.

SYNTYPE: MNHN-ZO-MO-1997-1224 [MNHN A.C. 1954], immature, collected near Kupang Bay, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, West-Timor (10°11'0"S; 123°35'0"E), between 22 August and 13 November 1801, by René Maugé.

Pedestal underside: Timor / M. Maugé / 1954 / Cacomantis pallidus / Lath. / Cacomantis variegatus / Vieill. Type. Pedestal label: Cacomantis Heteroscenes pallidus / Lath, / M. Maugé / Timor.

SYNTYPE: MNHN-ZO-2014-426 [MNHN A.C. 1956], immature, collected near Kupang Bay, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, West-Timor (10°11'0"S; 123°35'0"E), between 22 August and 13 November 1801, by René Maugé.

Pedestal underside: Timor / M. Maugé / 1956 / Cacomantis pallidus / Lath. Pedestal label: Cacomantis pallidus / (Lath.) / M. Maugé Timor.

Comments.

Vieillot does not mention the number of birds examined, but his description mentions both adults and immature birds, so clearly more birds were involved. He also does not mention which collection were used, but as most of the birds he examined for his contributions to the Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle (1816-19) were housed in the MNHN, it can safely be assumed that this is where he made his description. The MNHN specimens were catalogued around 1854 (MNHN Laboratory, ZMO-GalOis 1) and were the only specimens in the MNHN for a long time. They were followed by a bird collected on the L’Uranie voyage captained by Louis de Freycinet (1817-1820). The type locality is erroneous (Australasie), and therefore corrected and restricted to: West-Timor, near Kupang Bay (article 76a.2.A (ICZN 1999)). Vieillot named this species Cuculus variegatus or ‘variegated’ ( Jobling 2017).