Mr. Trischitta and Mrs. Nicoll ... and their birds (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Here´s a small side-step from James's original issues in the on-going thread Etymologies (part 2); ...the end of the beginning (here). I choose to put it in a thread of its own, not to take focus from any attempts trying to find those last, still missing OD's.

...
P.S. And yes from The Ibis, Vol 106 p xiv his name is Antonino Pietro Trischitta.

[From the PS. in post No.9, here, a short comment on the old thread Antonino P. Trischitta (1892-1966), here]

Well found and thanks, Martin! :t: I thought it was, but wasn´t all convinced.

That would mean, simply trusting the HBW Alive Key (and the opposite way around vs raffonei, with a feminine ending -ae … !?):

trischittae
● the invalid subspecies Accipiter gentilis "trischittae" RAGIONERI 1946 (OD* unseen, by me) [syn. Accipiter gentilis marginatus PILLER & MITTERPACHER 1783 (if valid) or A. g. gentilis LINNAEUS 1758 …?, from Toscana, Italy: "foreste dell'Alto Casenino in Toscana"]
= Dr Antonino Pietro Trischitta (1892–1966), …

Maybe those Italians weren´t all that fuzzy about Gender!?

_________________________________________________
*Rivista italiana di ornitologia, ser. 2, 16, (Fasc. 3): p. 121

Anyone know where to find that OD?



And a possible small bonus!

Meinertshagen's more than five pages long Preface (in Vol. 1) of Nicoll's birds of Egypt 1930 tells us a lot on how this book came to be, and the Man behind it. And it also gives us some additional info; the full (maiden) name of Mr. Nicoll's wife: "In October 1912 he married Norris Elisabeth Pryor Lyon." She must be (or?) the one commemorated in the scientic name:

norrisae
● as in the invalid "Sylvia norrisæ" NICOLL 1917 (here) [syn. (Curruca) Sylvia melanocephala momus HEMPRICH & EHRENBERG 1833]

I propose the above name for this new bird, after my wife.

In today's HBW Alive Key she is presented as follow:

norrisae
Norris Nicoll née Lyon (fl. 1925) wife of English ornithologist Michael John Nicoll (syn. Sylvia melanocephala momus).

And that´s all I know of her. I don’t even know if "Pryor" is an English Female Christian name or if it´s the first part of her (maiden) double Surname? Or if Richard Meinertzhagen got it all wrong!?

Anyone keen on a genealogy search might be helped by the following facts of Mr. Nicholl:
Born the 29th of September, at Bepton Rectory, Midhurst, Sussex, England … and he died 31 October 1925, in Leeds. His father was "Rev. Charles Nicoll".

Good luck trying to find Mrs. Nicholl.
---

 

[l_raty]

That would mean, simply trusting the HBW Alive Key (and the opposite way around vs raffonei, with a feminine ending -ae … !?):

trischittae
● the invalid subspecies Accipiter gentilis "trischittae" RAGIONERI 1946 (OD* unseen, by me) [syn. Accipiter gentilis marginatus PILLER & MITTERPACHER 1783 (if valid) or A. g. gentilis LINNAEUS 1758 …?, from Toscana, Italy: "foreste dell'Alto Casenino in Toscana"]
= Dr Antonino Pietro Trischitta (1892–1966), …

Maybe those Italians weren´t all that fuzzy about Gender!?

I think I must have written this ten times already on various places on the web, but genitives in -ae in Latin characterise a-stem words, which are not strictly feminine at all (all words with a nominative in -a [be them fem. or masc., quite a few are masc. -- Numa, -ae (Pompilius), Roman king], words of Greek origin with a nominative in -as or -es [always masc. -- Aeneas, -ae, Trojan prince; Anchises, -ae, father of the latter]). Genitives in "-ai", on the other hand, although quite frequent in nomenclature, are about as Latin as 万歳 (banzai) is English. Maybe those Italians were just fussy about using correct grammar...?

(The same can't really be said about genitives in -i. A few second-declension nouns are feminine "by meaning" -- for example, all tree names are feminine in Latin because the word "arbor" (a tree, fem.) is always understood: this includes second-declension fagus, -i, quercus, -i, alnus, -i, juniperus, -i, pinus, -i, corylus, -i, prunus, -i, etc. -- but to my knowledge no woman ever had a second-declension personal name. Thus -ae for a man is quite normal and correct if his name ends in -a, -i for a woman is not.)

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Well explained, Laurent!

One misconception less!

My error. I´ll try not to repeat it again.

Thanks!

 

[Taphrospilus]

_________________________________________________
*Rivista italiana di ornitologia, ser. 2, 16, (Fasc. 3): p. 121

Anyone know where to find that OD?

Here are many libraries as owner of Rivista italiana di ornitologia mentioned.

Or if Richard Meinertzhagen got it all wrong!?

If we read The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud Meinertzhagen was not always a reliable person. But I hope he did not cheat with just a name.

 

[Taphrospilus]

norrisae
● as in the invalid "Sylvia norrisæ" NICOLL 1917 (here) [syn. (Curruca) Sylvia melanocephala momus HEMPRICH & EHRENBERG 1833] In today's HBW Alive Key she is presented as follow:And that´s all I know of her. I don’t even know if "Pryor" is an English Female Christian name or if it´s the first part of her (maiden) double Surname? Or if Richard Meinertzhagen got it all wrong!?

Anyone keen on a genealogy search might be helped by the following facts of Mr. Nicholl:
Born the 29th of September, at Bepton Rectory, Midhurst, Sussex, England … and he died 31 October 1925, in Leeds. His father was "Rev. Charles Nicoll".

Good luck trying to find Mrs. Nicholl.
---

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

Sardinian Warbler ssp. Sylvia melanocephala norrisae Nicoll, 1917 EXTINCT
Mrs Norris Nicoll née Lyon (fl.1917) was the wife of the describer, Michael John Nicoll (q.v.). This warbler subspecies, from Faiyum, Egypt, is believed extinct (c. 1940).

The Key to Scientific Names

Norris Elisabeth Pryor Nicoll née Lyon (fl. 1925) wife of English ornithologist Michael John Nicoll (subsp. Sylvia melanocephala).

So life dates are still missing.

 

[PScofield]

Name	Norris Elizabeth Pryor Lyon
Baptism	2 May 1881 Ely, Cambridge, England

Marriage Oct 1912 Hastings, Sussex

Death	Jan 1945 Battle, Sussex, England