Some of Burton's birds ... (1 Viewer)

Sigh! I thought the Thick-billed Seedeater a k a ditto Canary alt. Serin (in Swedish: burtonsiska) should be a quick one ...

• Thick-billed Seedeater (Serinus) Crithagra burtoni GRAY 1862 (here) as "Strobilophaga Burtoni", without any dedication nor explanation (not for that particular bird!), but the nextcoming one, following directly after, have an clear and out-spoken dedication;
• the invalid "Cosmetornis Burtoni"* GRAY 1862:

The British Museum is indebted to the liberality of Capt. Burton, H.M. Vice-Consul, who has just sent it with other zoological specimens, all marked as from Fernando Po, and after whom I have the pleasure of naming this interesting bird.

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To me this looked like an "obvious one", all my notes and searches regarding this eponym pointed at the same guy ... also backed up by Jobling's Helm Dictionary of Scientific bird names (2010) where this eponym was explained as:

burtoni [...] • Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890), British explorer, scholar and linguist (Serinus)

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And that´s what I believed, aimed at (the larger-than-life-charachter) Sir Richard Francis Burton (here), as he in the early 1860's served as British (vice) Consul on the Island Fernando Pó (today's Bioko, in Equatorial Guinea), and while there he spent much of this time exploring the coast of West Africa [the Type of (Serinus) Crithagra burtoni was collected in Cameroon Mountains, West Africa].

Well, all clues connected, case closed ... I thought ... until I noted that today's HBW Alive Key now gives us:

burtoni
[...]
● Lady Isabel Burton née Arundell (1831-1896) wife of British explorer Capt. Sir Richard Francis Burton (Crithagra).
[...]

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His wife!? :eek!:

James, what made you change it? And why? Would Gray really have called it burtoni if he inteded it for Mrs. Burton? And would he have used the same name twice, on exactly the same page (both with masculine ending -i), with different intentions, without a remark?

Note that Gray, in the same paper, first page, first bird, on p. 443, also described "Cossypha Isabellæ" (there with feminine ening-æ), with the clear dedication: "This bird is named in compliment to Mrs. Isabel Burton." [i.e. today's Mountain Robin-Chat (Oreocossypha/ Sheppardia) Cossypha isabellae GRAY 1862 a k a Cameroon Mountain Robin (-Chat)].

None of the above mentioned birds to confuse with Spectacled Finch Callacanthis burtoni GOULD 1838 (here) as "Carduelis Burtoni" ... [which also gave us the invalid Generic name "Burtonia" BONAPARTE 1850 (syn. Callacanthis REICHENBACH 1850)]

Or have I got it all wrong regarding the Thick-billed one? And if so; where did I go astray?

Please enlighten me/us.

Björn

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*not listed in the Key! A synonym for Pennant-winged Nightjar (Macrodipteryx/ Smeiophorus) Caprimulgus vexillarius GOULD 1838.
Regarding its synonymity see Cleere (2003), here, p.181-182.

Björn, I agree with you about the non-feminine termination of the specific Strobilophaga burtoni, but fall back on George Gray's opening remarks, "They were brought to this country by Mrs. Isabel Burton, the estimable lady of the distinguished traveller and Vice-Consul, Capt. Burton, and kindly presented by her to the British Museum."
The Cosmetornis Burtoni, dedicated to Capt. Burton, is added on as an afterthought or appendage ("To these may be added .."). I shall include this nightjar name in the Key.

Fair enough, James, it´s your Key, however on this one I agree to disagree, in my MS, I will say:

• Thick-billed Seedeater (Serinus) Crithagra burtoni GRAY 1862
= Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, ... etc., etc.

That is if nothing additional turns up, of course.

Serenity can´t always rule.

(Serinus) Crithagra burtoni

I (apparently) have a hard time letting go/understanding/accepting James's alternate new interpretation/explanation ...

See, again GRAY 1862, here, when listing some "Mammals from the Camaroon Mountains, collected by Capt. Burton", where he clearly did dedicate the Squirrel "Sciurus isabella" for: "... Mrs. Isabel Burton, ..." a k a "Lady Burton's Rope Squirrel (today: Funisciurus isabella). And the Shell "Achatina Isabel" BAIRD 1863 (here, p.284), no out-spoken dedication, simply: ... from Camarons Mountains (but see previous pages).

Same conditions behind the description of the viper "Pœcilostolus Burtoni" GÜNTHER 1863 (here): "...discovered by Major Burton, in the Camaroon conutry." Or Burton's Vlei Rat Otomys burtoni THOMAS 1918 (here): "... named in honour of its famous collector Sir Richard Burton, ..."

A full, complete list of similar examples would be far longer, but I´ll stop here, before I get tedious.

Regarding the bird in question [(Serinus) Crithagra burtoni GRAY 1862] also see here.

Well, my mind is made up, nothing´s changed (this far, still as in Post #3).

Anyone who can convince me otherwise?

Does anyone know of any example of any taxon (species, subspecies, fish, plant ... whatever) that clearly, beyond doubt, has been named burtoni for Mrs. Burton?

Björn
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In 1862 Captain Burton was consul on Fernando Po and went on trips to the west coast of Africa. He met his wife on Madeira in 1862 and she evidently brought back his bird skins to England. In the Gray article there is one bird isabelae and two burtoni one of which is explicitly named for Captain Burton. I assume that means the other burtoni is for the wife??

mb1848 said:

I assume that means the other burtoni is for the wife??

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If so, wouldn't´t he have called it "Strobilophaga Isabellæ" ... like the first one; "Cossypha Isabellæ" (also singularly, explicitly named, but for Mrs. Burton) ... ?

To my understanding the erudite scholarly George Gray was fully aware of the traditions of how to use feminine vs non-feminine termination.

And; in the same paper, on just about the same page!?

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He should have called it burtonae. Like the plant named for Mrs. Burton, Farsetia burtonae Oliver 1879.

mb1848 said:

He should have called it burtonae. ....

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That´s right, and that´s exactly the issue here, that´s the only other possible version (at least, in my mind).

What does Laurent (our Latin and Nomenclature Expert) think about this case?

Calalp said:

What does Laurent (our Latin and Nomenclature Expert) think about this case?

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By default at least, I understand burtoni as "of Mr Burton", and burtonae as "of Mrs/Miss Burton".
In the absence of an explicit dedication, and knowing that both a Mr and a Mrs Burton were demonstrably involved, I would be inclined to 'trust' the author's Latin grammar -- i.e., I would read the masculine genitive ending as an implicit dedication to the involved Mr Burton.
But I admit it's not a definitive proof.

I think that the separation between Cosmetornis Burtoni and all the preceding species in Gray's text must be primarily understood as reflecting the fact that the nighjar is from Fernando Po, while all the other birds were from W Africa. It may also be that birds from Fernando Po reached Gray through another channel than via Mrs Burton, but I can't be really sure of this from the evidence I have seen. (The 1862 description of C. burtoni was apparently long overlooked, which resulted in the specimen not being recognised as a type -- see Cleere 2002 [here] -- and its specifics are not included in published lists of type specimens.)

Thanks Laurent!

I agree, sure; "... not a definitive proof", but that goes both ways ... well, I will stop here, stuck in a different corner than James [on the Thick-billed Seedeater (Serinus) Crithagra burtoni], I can live with that. Enough said in this topic. Time to push on.

See you all in other threads!

Mr. & Mrs. Burton ... over and out.

OK two questions remain.

• Crithagra burtoni (Gray, GR, 1862) = Strobilophaga Burtoni (really for both plural)
• Cosmetornis Burtoni (Gray, GR, 1862) = Caprimulgus vexillarius (Gould, 1838)

Even with the introduction sentence I see the honor to the same person.

Why not in The Key to Scientific Names for Cossypha isabellae Gray, GR, 1862 Lady Isabel Burton née Arundell (1831-1896) as in #1? This one is in the same article.

Taphrospilus said:

• Crithagra burtoni (Gray, GR, 1862) = Strobilophaga Burtoni (really for both plural)
• Cosmetornis Burtoni (Gray, GR, 1862) = Caprimulgus vexillarius (Gould, 1838)

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Had a slightly closer look at these, but I'm still under the same impression.

In his 1862 paper, Gray started with the description of a set of birds "collected on the Cameroon Mountains" by RF Burton, and that were "brought to this country [...] and kindly presented [...] to the British Museum" by his wife Isabel; among these birds he named one isabellae and one burtoni.
(The types among these were all listed by Warren as collected by "R Burton" / "Captain Burton" and presented by "Mrs Burton" -- e.g. Cossypha isabellae here, Strobilophaga burtoni here. Ditto in the NHM database : the collection event is "recorded by: R Burton" / "Captain Burton"; the donor name is "Mrs Burton" -- e.g. here, here. These specimens have accession numbers that indicate they were received on 1 Dec 1862.)
If Gray's opening remarks justify isabellae, I don't think it is needed to construe them as explaining burtoni as well. It makes sense to me that, in this particular set of birds, isabellae was intended to honour Mrs Burton who presented the specimens to the British Museum, while the masculine burtoni honoured her husband who collected them (even if this is not explicit in the paper); it would be much less logical for Gray to have named two birds from the same set isabellae and burtoni after the same person.

To this set of birds, Gray then added the nightjar, also collected by "Capt. Burton, H.M. Vice-Consul" who had "just sent it with other zoological specimens, all marked as from Fernando Po". This bird was presumably not presented by Mrs Burton at all (this specimen was accessioned on a different date -- 28 Nov 1862 as per its accession number, see Cleere 2002; in the NHM database, here, no separate collector is recorded and the donor is just "Burton"), and Gray named it burtoni as well -- this time with an explicit dedication to the collector.
As this bird was not part of the same set of specimens as the others, I would tend not to make its naming interfere with the interpretation of the naming of the others.

Taphrospilus said:

Why not in The Key to Scientific Names for Cossypha isabellae Gray, GR, 1862 Lady Isabel Burton née Arundell (1831-1896) as in #1? This one is in the same article.

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See Wikipedia

Isabel Burton (née Arundell; 20 March 1831 – 22 March 1896)

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Taphrospilus said:

Isabel Burton (née Arundell; 20 March 1831 – 22 March 1896)

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Their grave: File:Richard Francis Burton Enscriptions.jpg - Wikipedia

In the 1861 census and on her marriage banns she is Isabella. Isabella is the name of her father's first wife. Perhaps her mother did not like being reminded of the saintly Mary Isabella Clifford Constable (née Arundell; 1801-1828).

Taphrospilus said:

...

• Crithagra burtoni (Gray, GR, 1862) = Strobilophaga Burtoni (really for both plural.

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Martin, if George Robert Gray (in 1862) aimed the Thick-billed Seedeater/Serin/Canary Crithagra/Serinus burtoni [originally "Strobilophaga Burtoni"] for the Burton Couple (in plural), why would he have used the singular male form (-i), when he was clearly aware of the plural -orum form ... ?!?

[Remember that he did coin the name Miro forsterorum, far earlier (in 1843): ... for John Reinhold Forster, and his son George.]

As I see it, it's pretty obvious that Gray directly after the OD of "Strobilophaga Burtoni" added "Cosmetornis Burtoni" (see the OD/s, link in post #1), named after the one and same: "Capt. Burton, H. M. Vice-Consul, who has ..."

Note that today's (updated) Key seems to hesitate on the former bird, now leaving the interpretation to the reader:

burtoni
[...]
● "The following descriptions of a few birds, which appear new to the fauna of West Africa, may interest some of your readers. They were collected on the Cameroons Mountains, at an elevation of 7000 feet above the level of the sea. They were brought to this country by Mrs. Isabel Burton, the estimable lady of the distinguished traveller and Vice-Consul, Capt. Burton, and kindly presented by her to the British Museum" (G. Gray 1862) (Crithagra).
[...]

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To me, quoting this text (alone) is somewhat misleading, as it doesn't tell the reader that "Mrs. Isabel Burton, the estimable lady", got a Mountain-Chat of her own (isabellae), in the very same article/report.

Either way, in my MS, and notes, it's (still):
• the Thick-billed Seedeater (burtoni, G. R. GRAY 1862) = Mr Burton
• the invalid Nightjahr (burtoni, G. R. GRAY 1862) = Mr Burton
• the Mountain Robin-Chat (isabellae, G. R. GRAY 1862) = Mrs Burton

For what it's worth.

Björn

PS. Neither I have any idea of why James didn't use the "née Arundell" part re. Mrs Burton, in the entry [in the (New/BoW) Key to Scientific Names] for the Mountain Robin-Chat Oreocossypha/Cossypha isabellae.

PScofield said:

In the 1861 census and on her marriage banns she is Isabella. Isabella is the name of her father's first wife. Perhaps her mother did not like being reminded of the saintly Mary Isabella Clifford Constable (née Arundell; 1801-1828).

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Regardless of the "1861 census and on her marriage banns", I'd use the way her name was written in the OD,
... as well as on their shared grave:


Also see the Book The Life of Captain Sir Richard Burton, K.C.M.G., F.R.G.S., ... with Numerous Portraits, Illustrations and Maps (1893), by Lady Burton herself (Vol II, here):

... in which she ("his wife, Isabel Burton") describes her husband as:
"... my earthly god and king" (on p.331, in Vol. 1).

It's not really worth reading. Better accounts, about the spectacular Life of Mr/Captain Burton, are:
• Captain Richard Francis Burton: The Secret Agent Who Made the Pilgrimage to Makkah, Discovered the Kama Sutra, and brought the Arabian Nights to the West, by Edward Rice (1990),
• The Life of Sir Richard Burton, by Thomas Wright (in two volumes, 1906).

Both far more reliable, and more trustworthy (far less uncritical, and less glorified, than Lady Burton's attempt).

/B