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Phalacrocoracidae (1 Viewer)

Linnaeus 1758:
66. PELECANUS. [...]
Carbo.
3. P. cauda aequali, corpore nigro, rostro edentulo.
Pelecanus corpore atro, subtus albicante, rectricibus quatuordecim. Fn. svec. 116.
Carbo aquaticus. Gesn. av. 137.
Cervus aquaticus. Aldr. orn. I. 19. c. 55. Jonst. av. t. 47. Will. orn. 248. t. 63. Raj. av. 122. Mars. danub. 16. t. 36. Alb. av. 2. p. 74. t. 81.
Habitat in Europa; nidificat in altis arboribus.
Cauda longior & laxior quam in reliquis aquaticis.
"PELECANUS" is the generic name (meaning "pelican", used by Linnaeus for all totipalmate birds -- pelicans, cormorants, ganets, frigatebirds).
"Carbo" is the species name (meaning "charcoal"; apparently a latinisation by Gesner of "charbon", which Gesner said was used to denote this bird in French; see the ref. below).
Then come:
In principle, in the absence of a more formal definition of the name bearing type, "the type series of a nominal species-group taxon consists of all the specimens included by the author in the new nominal taxon (whether directly or by bibliographic reference)"; these specimens are "all [...] syntypes and collectively [...] constitute the name-bearing type". If you include the birds described in the references cited by Linnaeus, the original type series of Pelecanus carbo included birds from an area ranging from the river Tyne in Scotland (Willughby) to the Danube in Romania (Marsigli), thus was quite unquestionably a mixture of what we now call carbo and sinensis.

As Björn says, the breeding populations in S Sweden are recent. Interestingly, there are subfossil remains of cormorants from the Baltic area, but these are consistent (in size) with nominate birds rather than sinensis.

Hartert 1920 restricted the application of the name to the rock-nesting form of the North Atlantic Ocean:
Augenblicklich brüten keine Kormorane in Schweden (Lönnberg, in litt.); die nicht selten daselbst erlegten Stücke gleichen nach Lönnbergs Mitteilungen (in litt.) solchen aus Island und Grönland, dagegen ist anzunehmen, daß die früher auf Bäumen in Blekinge horstenden Paare der mitteleuropäischen Form angehörten, zu der auch die deutschen Kormorane zu rechnen sind. Ich beschränke daher Linnés Namen carbo auf die an Felsen nistende Form des nordatlantischen Ozeans. In der Fauna Suecica 1746, p. 42, sagte Linné "Habitat in maris scopulis, arboribusque insidet"; erst in Syst. Nat. Ed. X sagt er, entweder aus Versehen, oder weil er andere Nachrichten erhalten, "nidificat in altis arboribus". Ph. c. carbo brütet fast stets an Felsen, P. c. subcormoranus meist auf Bäumen, was aber teilweise nur der vorhandenen Gelegenheit zuzuschreiben ist.
This restriction is globally accepted. (Albeit it has no formal standing under the ICZN. The "type locality" is defined in the ICZN as the place of origin of the name-bearing type(s). It's not something that can be "designated" or "restricted" at will. The only way to act upon it, is to act upon the name-bearing type itself -- which means designating one of several original syntypes as a lectotype; or, in exceptional cases and when none of the original syntypes still exists, designating a neotype. Hartert did not do this.)
 
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"Habitat in maris Scopulis, arboribusque insidet", which, to me (a non-Latin scholar) says something like "Inhabits rocky shores, situated upon trees" (or similar).
The meaning is "Inhabits sea crags, and sits upon trees".
Willughby, referenced by Linnaeus, wrote (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41442129 -- this is the English translation; perhaps easier than the Latin text I linked above ;)):
This Bird builds not only on the Sea-Rocks, but also upon trees. For (faith certain Englishman mentioned by Aldrovand) I have seen their Nests on the Rocks near the mouth of the River Tine, and in Norfolk upon high trees together with the Herons. Which same thing we also have observed. For on the Rocks of Prestholm Island near Beaumaris we saw a Cormorants Nest, and on the high trees near Sevenhuys in Holland abundance.
Linnaeus' "Habitat" statement could quite easily merely have been paraphrasing this.
 
Thanks all!

As Linnaeus's Phalacrocorax carbo (1758) is the nominate itself I assume it must be of ssp. P. c. carbo. ;).

Obviously, yes - but if Linnaeus's specimens were the same as what we now call sinensis, then sinensis becomes a junior synonym of the nominate, and the rocky island, non-tree subspecies would need a new name ...

Though, it's true that these Cormorants are "currently common around nearby Stockholm", but it was a completely different situation back in the mid-1700's. In those days Cormorants were a Rare sight (and certainly so in the vicinity of Stockholm and Uppsala).
But was it rare then? It certainly became rare, even locally extinct, through the 1800s-1900s due to systematic deliberate killing because of their imagined effect on fish stocks. But Linnaeus's time - before the invention of cheap, accurate guns - was very likely before they had been wholesale eradicated (much the same as raptor persecution in Britain, where the declines and extinctions were in the late 1800s to mid 1900s, not in the 1750s) :t:

Worth adding that there were still inland-nesting Cormorants in Northumbs until the late 1700s / early 1800s (Wallis 1769, Selby 1833), it was only later they became confined to sea islands (primarily the Farne Islands) by increased persecution.

Linnaeus worked a long while in The Netherlands, where it was common by then.
Which, if it was the source of the type, would definitely mean sinensis was a synonym of carbo . . . :eek!:

In principle, in the absence of a more formal definition of the name bearing type, "the type series of a nominal species-group taxon consists of all the specimens included by the author in the new nominal taxon (whether directly or by bibliographic reference)"; these specimens are "all [...] syntypes and collectively [...] constitute the name-bearing type". If you include the birds described in the references cited by Linnaeus, the original type series of Pelecanus carbo included birds from an area ranging from the river Tyne in Scotland (Willughby) to the Danube in Romania (Marsigli), thus was quite unquestionably a mixture of what we now call carbo and sinensis.
Useful, thanks!

As Björn says, the breeding populations in S Sweden are recent. Interestingly, there are subfossil remains of cormorants from the Baltic area, but these are consistent (in size) with nominate birds rather than sinensis.
Recent recolonisation, yes, but (as above) I'd very much doubt that the previous populations had completely vanished by Linnaeus's time. Was the Blekinge colony cited by Hartert known to Linnaeus? Every possibility it was, and could very easily have been the source of his primary details.

Hartert 1920 restricted the application of the name to the rock-nesting form of the North Atlantic Ocean:
Augenblicklich brüten keine Kormorane in Schweden (Lönnberg, in litt.); die nicht selten daselbst erlegten Stücke gleichen nach Lönnbergs Mitteilungen (in litt.) solchen aus Island und Grönland, dagegen ist anzunehmen, daß die früher auf Bäumen in Blekinge horstenden Paare der mitteleuropäischen Form angehörten, zu der auch die deutschen Kormorane zu rechnen sind. Ich beschränke daher Linnés Namen carbo auf die an Felsen nistende Form des nordatlantischen Ozeans. In der Fauna Suecica 1746, p. 42, sagte Linné "Habitat in maris scopulis, arboribusque insidet"; erst in Syst. Nat. Ed. X sagt er, entweder aus Versehen, oder weil er andere Nachrichten erhalten, "nidificat in altis arboribus". Ph. c. carbo brütet fast stets an Felsen, P. c. subcormoranus meist auf Bäumen, was aber teilweise nur der vorhandenen Gelegenheit zuzuschreiben ist.
This restriction is globally accepted. (Albeit it has no formal standing under the ICZN. The "type locality" is defined in the ICZN as the place of origin of the name-bearing type(s). It's not something that can be "designated" or "restricted" at will. The only way to act upon it, is to act upon the name-bearing type itself -- which means designating one of several original syntypes as a lectotype; or, in exceptional cases and when none of the original syntypes still exists, designating a neotype. Hartert did not do this.)
This is the important detail, thanks! Odd that e.g. HBW does not say "Europe, restricted by Hartert 1920 to Atlantic coasts of NW Europe" as it does frequently cite similar later restrictions of vaguely located early descriptions. Sad I guess that Hartert may well have been wrong in his choice (in conflicting with Linnaeus over tree nesting), but I guess it isn't worth challenging?
 
The meaning is "Inhabits sea crags, and sits upon trees".
...
Thanks, Laurent, my novice interpretation; "Inhabits rocky shores, situated upon trees" versus your more skilled version (above) wasn't all that bad!

But, if there ever was such a habitat, like a "rocky shore", (or even some "sea crags"), situated (located) "upon trees", I'd bet those Cormorants would have loved it!

;)

/B
 
Recent recolonisation, yes, but (as above) I'd very much doubt that the previous populations had completely vanished by Linnaeus's time. Was the Blekinge colony cited by Hartert known to Linnaeus?
Try reading: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228502463, http://vastmanlandsfaglar.se/OS_11_155_170.pdf
Although it is not known for sure, the Blekinge population is thought to have become established in the early 19th C.
Archaeological remains suggest nominate carbo was breeding in the Baltic until at least the mid-16th C.
...Which taxon were "the previous populations" in Linnaeus' time ?
Odd that e.g. HBW does not say "Europe, restricted by Hartert 1920 to Atlantic coasts of NW Europe" as it does frequently cite similar later restrictions of vaguely located early descriptions.
The Peters Check-List (vol. 1, 2nd ed.) has something along these lines: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108806
 

"Nutty", I´m quite familar with that certain look of any, and all those, Island/s where Cormorants are breeding, there's quite a few of them in the Stockholm archipelago. I see them just about every time I go there. They're pretty hard to miss, with their barren, desolate, somewhat spooky look.

That certain appearance is the very reason why so many islanders here (mostly summer guests) dislike this bird with such a frenzy ... (except for the delusion of their "massive" pressure on the fish stock, of course).

I think Björn imagines that image upside down! the rocks on top of the trees ...
True Niels, it was nothing but a joke, a figment of imagination, a deliberate misreading, of my own halting text (my somewhat short, or failed, attempt on translation). Sigh. Trying to be funny/witty, in a Foreign language is (apparently) harder than I believed. Onwards I will try to be low-key, a bit more low-voiced, less spirited.

I've said it before; I really, really should try to avoid anything Latin (but I doubt I will manage it). ;)

We'll see.

/B
 
"Nutty", I´m quite familar with that certain look of any, and all those, Island/s where Cormorants are breeding, there's quite a few of them in the Stockholm archipelago. I see them just about every time I go there. They're pretty hard to miss, with their barren, desolate, somewhat spooky look.

That certain appearance is the very reason why so many islanders here (mostly summer guests) dislike this bird with such a frenzy ... (except for the delusion of their "massive" pressure on the fish stock, of course).

True Niels, it was nothing but a joke, a figment of imagination, a deliberate misreading, of my own halting text (my somewhat short, or failed, attempt on translation). Sigh. Trying to be funny/witty, in a Foreign language is (apparently) harder than I believed. Onwards I will try to be low-key, a bit more low-voiced, less spirited.

I've said it before; I really, really should try to avoid anything Latin (but I doubt I will manage it). ;)

We'll see.

/B
Yep, just joining the joke! (hence the ":king:") ;)
 
Try reading: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228502463, http://vastmanlandsfaglar.se/OS_11_155_170.pdf
Although it is not known for sure, the Blekinge population is thought to have become established in the early 19th C.
Archaeological remains suggest nominate carbo was breeding in the Baltic until at least the mid-16th C.
...Which taxon were "the previous populations" in Linnaeus' time ?
I'd think in that case, it is safe to assume it was still relict populations of nominate carbo, as eradication technology was not perfected until after Linnaeus's time. Then later, recolonisation of the empty cormorant niche by sinensis coming in from protected colonies further south. In Britain, recolonisation of inland sites (including tree nesting) started with nominate carbo, and joined later by immigrant sinensis from the Netherlands. So carbo will nest in trees, contrary to what some may say.


The speculation in Ericson's paper
The reason why the breeding distributions of the two subspecies has changed is unknown, but their different ecological adaptations might be important.
seems to me to miss out completely the importance of varying human persecution; I don't think there can be any doubt carbo was lost to Sweden due to persecution, rather than anything like changing salinity; and that it was better protection in parts of Germany, Netherlands, that left sinensis in the better place to enact the recolonisation.


The Peters Check-List (vol. 1, 2nd ed.) has something along these lines: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108806
Thanks! As I mentioned above, the oddity is that HBW did not repeat this statement. But it was only Volume 1, still slightly 'experimental', and they didn't give as much detail in that volume as in later volumes.
 
It seems in Denmark the cormorant was absent from 1850-70 (sources disagree a little) until it reestablished itself between 1938-1950. I do not know if this is correct, but I remember reading somewhere that the birds that came during that second period came from a colony in Poland.

Niels
 
Let's go pre-Linnaean (pre-1758), with Linnaeus himself. And let's stroll back-wards, in time and history ...

Systema naturæ, Edition 9 (Leiden, 1756) = here, "Carbo aquaticus", with one single reference: "Fn. 116" (i.e. Fauna Svecica, No. 116, see link in #39).

Systema naturæ, (Haartman's) Edition 8 (Stockholm, 1753) = here, but don't bother about this certain Edition, added to this list simply for completeness sake, it's of minor importance/relevance to us, as it seems to only deal with Plants.)

Systema naturæ, Edition 7 (Leipzig, 1748) = here (the same "Carbo aquaticus. Fn. 116"

Systema naturæ, Edition 6 (Stockholm, 1748) = here (ditto)

Systema naturæ, (Agnethler's) Edition 5 (Halle, 1747) = here (below/in: "52. GRACULUS", but without references)

Systema naturæ, Edition 4 (Paris, 1744) = here (no references)

Systema naturæ, Edition 3 (Halle, 1740) = here (in: GRACULUS, and note the old German name: "Der Wasser-Rabe" [meaning; the Water Raven, all in line with the equaly old Swedish name Hav-korp, or Havs-korp]

In older times (here in Sweden) the Cormorant (today's P. carbo) was a k a Havs-korp (1734–1889), or Hav-korp (1755), meaning; "Raven of the Sea" alt. simply "Sea Raven", from hav (Sea) + korp, which is the good old, Swedish name for the [all charcoal, carbon, or lamp black; Northern/Common/American] Raven Corvus corax. A combined name in line with those even older epithet/s; "Corvus marinus", or "Corvus aquaticus" (for the same Cormorant).

Systema naturæ, Edition 2 (Stockholm, 1740) = here (again without references, again in: GRACULUS, and please (just for the fun of it) note the old Swedish name "hafstiäder"
+ the above mentioned "hafskorp", which is only an older, or alternate Swedish spelling of the same hav/haf (Sea), as always most spellings differ, as they did, back in the 1700's.

The same old Cormorant has also been called "Hafstiäder" (in Swedish, also by Linnaeus himself, even as early as in 1731, see below); coined from the older Haf, for the same hav (Sea) + the old spelling tiäder, for (the almost as black) tjäder (today's Western/Eurasian/Common Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus)! Quite simply the: "Capercaillie of the Sea". An odd, or somewhat unexpected, comparison!

Systema naturæ, Edition 1 (Leiden, 1735) = here (in "Graculus", no references)

---

To this List/bibliography the following two titles must be added (as we're having a particular Swedish approach to this issue, dealing with an allegedly "Swedish" bird, searching for a possible Swedish geographic origin):

Fauna Svecica, though not only the First Edition of 1746 (as of the link in post #39), but also the Second Edition (even if it's a post-Linnaean/post-1758 work), from 1761 (here), where we, of course, find it in "Pelecanus", with just about the same references as in the 10th Edition of Linnaeus's Systema naturæ (1758), and with the added: "Suecis: Hafs-Tjäder".

But even more important:

Methodus avium sveticarum (from 1731), an often long-forgotten or ditto missed, alt. overlooked book, by Linnaeus (simply as it wasn't published until 1907, here)

In this book Linnaeus's list of references, for the same old Cormorant, is far shorter (and note, as far as I can tell, in this text there are no binary names, but simply Latin words, and sentences, as well as quotes):
[...]

[gen] 5. GRACULUS rostrum acutum apice adunco ...
[...]

... Graculus cauda 14 pennis instructa. Corvus aqvaticus, GESN: 350. sin. fig. WILL. 248. LXIII. Rs: 122:3. Carbo aqvaticus. GESN: 137: c: fig. JONST: Tab.47.

[...]
[All links to those (clearly fewer, and even earlier) references, are incl. in Laurent's detailed post (#41), covering Systema naturæ, Edition 10 (from 1758)]

Thereby, I guess, the true source, and very origin, for Linnaeus name carbo itself ought to be found in either one of those far fewer references.

---

And here the list stops, here I have to leave all those books in more capably hands, simply as it's far, far beyond my understanding to figure out if it's possible to establish, or even tell, the actual geographic origin of the bird, or birds, dealt with in Gesner's (alt. Gessner's) Latin text ... [which, in my mind, ought to be the very first use of the word Carbo, in connection to this certain Cormorant (I assume it's not a "name" in his text, not in today's meaning of the word, at least not a scientific one) ;)].

Good luck trying to make sense of it all!

Björn
--
 
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Thanks!
I guess what it does show is that Cormorants would have been at least reasonably familiar to people in Sweden in the early 1700s?
 
You're welcome "Nutty"

Though I don't know if you/we truly can make such an assumption, that it truly was the Cormorants (themselves) that "would have been reasonably familiar to people in Sweden in the early 1700s", or if it, at that point, only were their different names that was known (as in; still known, as legends). Even today most people/Swedes knows that there are birds like Storks, Eagles or Owls, without ever having seen either one.

The simple fact that Linnaeus in some of his earliest Works used the lesser known versions (actually the very most uncommon ones) of any Swedish names for the Cormorant talks somewhat against that he himself was familiar with it. The old Swedish name "Hafstiäder", as used by Linnaeus was, according to the Bird name Etymologist Ivar Hortling, 1944 (even if, by the latter, written as "havstjäder"), a name most commonly used in the archipelago of Åland [on the Åland Islands, in today's Finland, in those day's a part of Sweden, and still today they speak Swedish there], a place not visited by Linnaeus in the early 1700's, and the other old (and equally rare) one, "hafskorp", also used by Linnaeus, could be even older (even if not recorded in Swedish literature, prior to 1734).

However, back to the topic itself:
A query arising out of side discussion in this thread - what is the type locality and precise [subspecific] identity of Linnaeus's Phalacrocorax carbo? All that Linnaeus says about location is 'Europe', but also that it is nidificat in altis arboribus, "nesting in tall trees". I've not seen any subsequent reference restricting the location at all; given Linnaeus's nationality, one might expect that (like many other familiar N European birds) it would be Sweden, likely not far from Uppsala. The species is currently common around nearby Stockholm, where they nest in trees. According to some authors (though not others!) this is a defining behavioural character of what is now called P. c. sinensis with nominate carbo, contrary to Linnaeus's statement, largely restricted to ground nesting on marine islands. Is there any designated type specimen on which the gular angle can be measured?

I've looked around for a while, though not in any serious depth, only now and then, since this Linnaeus/carbo topic appeared here on BirdForum, about ten days ago (19-20 October), mostly just for the fun of it, and, of course, due to its Swedish connection, and ... well, I simply cannot tell, I don't know if Linnaeus ever spotted a (living) Cormorant himself, in person, in Sweden (neither in the Netherlands, for that matter, though I somewhat doubt that he ever saw one, alive, in real life, anywhere), even if he apparently was fully aware of some of their old Swedish names (note; there are other Swedish Common/Vernacular names, even older ones, far more frequently used).

In my mind, it's quite possible, and even likely, that Linnaeus didn't have (and never had) a single specimen of a Cormorant, on his desk, in front of him, when he wrote those words and sentences (re-written, and copied, over and over, again and again), leading up into his Major work, of 1758.

This could very well be, and it probably is, a case where Linnaeus (when he compiled his Systema naturæ, of all the species, in all the Classes, of all the World, like in so many, many cases), simply trusted older scholars and earlier writers, in the claim that such a bird existed (the long-known Cormorant, the [Corvus/Graculus/Pelecanus] "Carbo"), simply believing them and their words/writings, in how it looked and where it lived, regardless if it was present in contemporary Sweden, or not.

Remember that Linnaeus isn't famous for having done any major explorations, or investigations of the Fauna in neither the Roslagen archipelago, nor the Stockholm ditto (which would have been the closest place/s for him) where any Cormorants would have been possible to find [and even if so, there those birds favours its middle and outer parts (as in today's sinensis, that is)]. Also consider that Uppsala, where Linnaeus spent most of his days, isn't located by the sea, but an inland town, located some 60 km from the nearest (Baltic) sea coast line. In the vicinity of Uppsala itself, an observation of a Cormorant would have been quite remarkable (in those days). And I don't know if he ever visited the coast nearest to his home.

Either way, Linnaeus didn't mention any Cormorants in his book Västgöta resa 1746, when he visited the West coast of Sweden, including Bohuslän, where the nominate P. c. carbo probably would have, or could have, been expected to be found, even in those days (today it certainly is) [but he did (as a pure sidetrack, to this topic) receive a specimen of a Paradise bird, from a Mr Sahlberg in Gothenburg (Göteborg), and it actually did have both legs and feet, contrary to what had been claimed earlier!], neither did Linnaeus (to my knowledge) write anything about having sighted any Cormorants, or even a single Cormorant, anywhere else during his other trips in Sweden.

But I can be wrong in this conclusion. If so, please, don't hesitate to enlighten (and correct) me.


To be continued.
-
 
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P. c. carbo continuation ...

On the other hand, it's pretty hard to tell, and even harder (read: impossible) to guess or assume what birds Linnaeus had, or didn't have, alive or not. At times, (later) during his life, he had the most unexpected species, at home or close by, not only Parrots and other "common" cage birds, but also, for example/s; a (Southern) Cassowary Casuarius casuarius, and some Black Curassows Crax alector, as well as a flock of native, Swedish (Black) Grouse Lyrurus tetrix, all walking, strolling around, all live and well. But most of those were later, when he started to get famous. In the early 1730's he was still in the beginning of his career (with little funding). Having a tame Cormorant would, I guess, have been somewhat trickier (simply due to its food preferences).

Either way (matters of curiosity apart), also note the remark: " ... most likely, cormorants did not breed in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries." (Engstrom, 2001, p.157, see Laurent's second link in post #47).

Somewhat contradictory to this claim by Engström is the sentence below, from (yet another often long-forgotten book) Forsius's Physica, from 1611 (though not in print until 1952), by the early Swedish Naturalist Sigfrid Aron Forsius (ca.1550–ca.1624) [in Latin; Sigfridus Aronus Forsius], where we find the following phrase, regarding the Bird Fauna of Sweden, and in particular regarding "Siöössfoglar" (the "Birds of Water, alt. "Water Birds"), written and typed, in an old, ancient Swedish [my blue, and bolds]:

Gemene Siöfoglar äre allom nästan kunnoghe, såsom Anckor och Änder ... Item Suärtor, Allaar, Wiggiar, Knijpor, [...] ... , Skarfuen, Åålkråkan ...
The very first word in this quote, the Swedish word "Gemene", is not (in this context) to be confused with the similar Swedish word gemen (even of the same origin), that today also could have the meaning; simple (or even dirty, low). However; the meaning of it all is fairly clear (except for some minor twist-and-turns of wording and grammar, that could be interpreted in different ways), though the listed, mentioned birds/species/names are all beyond doubt. In a somewhat more modern English version it would be something like (in bolds):

"[The alt. in] General [or, The Common, alt. Commonly] Sea Birds almost everyone knows, such as Tame Ducks and (Wild) Ducks [Änder was/is, at times, used solely for Mallards], ... likewise Scooters [Suärtor, i.e. the Velvet/White-winged ones), Longtails [Allaar is today's alfåglar i.e. Longtailed ducks (not Little Auks Alle alle)], Tufted Ducks [Wiggiar (not Wigeons)], Goldeneyes [Knijpor], ... (and onwards, until we reach) ... The Cormorant, [Skarfuen, also incl. the latter, Åålkråkan, meaning "The Eel Crow", which is just another old Swedish Vernacular (nick-)name for the same Cormorant]"

Apparently Forsius (and people in general) knew it, or knew of it, in the early 1600's, as either one of those two names, (which would indicate Cormorants as Common, or fairly Common, in that certain Era, at least to the degree worthy of mentioning). This is the first use known, of any certain name (or names) for the Cormorant in Swedish literature, but the Cormorant itself was most likely known (or even well-known), in Sweden, even earlier (see below).

Though, if Cormorants was still around, more than a hundred year later, in the first half of the 1700's, for Linnaeus to meet them, alive, in person, and even if so exactly where (and of which, of today's ssp., they would, or ought to have been) ... who knows? Linnaeus himself was born in 1707, raised in Råshult, inland Småland, Southern Sweden, far from Cormorant habitats [Råshult is actually just a few kilometers away from that certain spot in Lake Möckeln where I myself spotted those three Cormorants, in the 1970's – some 270 years later (as mentioned in the PS., of post #39)].

Note also that Linnaeus, didn't visit the Swedish coast (at least not for a substantial amount of time, as far as I know) until 1732, when he worked his way North, during his Expedition to Lapland, following the coast (on land) of the Baltic Sea, from Gävle to Umeå, without spotting any Cormorants (at least he didn't put them in his Diary), though he did see some Marine/Sea species, for example, the Razorbill Alca torda, even if he only had a glimpse ("fragmenta") of it, a short, brief look at it, just off Normaling, in "Angermannia" (today's Ångermanland), but it does show us that he did keep his eyes open for any odd, or rare, bird (also for the decidedly maritime ones). And I don't think (simply cannot remember), that he ever made any notes of any single Cormorant when he later, in May–July 1741, travelled and explored the Islands Öland and Gotland, also in the Baltic Sea (though I couldn't be bothered going through it all again, it's a far more complicated text than one might believe at first sight).

The Swedish name today for the Cormorant/s is/are (still) skarv, resp. skarvar, in plural, all in line with the above mentioned skarfuen (a noun in singular definite form, of skarf), we also know of the use of skarfr in about those times (also as in the similar; skarfar, both noun in plural indefinite), even if linguists believe it to to have been used even earlier, way, way back, as its present in similar versions in Scandinavian literature, as prior to 1330 [also compare with the Old English, Anglo-Saxon name/word; scræf], but (disclaimer!) at that point, when we're that far, far back in history, it's hard (extremely so) to tell if they, in those days and in those very first records, truly was telling us about what we today would call a Cormorant (it's even worse if trying to pin-point it to any certain species, and utterly impossible when it comes to the level of today's ssp.). There's even a Scandinavian record of the name Skarfr, even further back, from the Viking Age, but at that point it's a name of a person, not a bird (even if the former guy/Viking probably, in his turn, had taken his name from the bird).

However, regardless of how it was written (skarv or skarf) it wasn't mentioned as such, not by this certain word/name, by Linneaus himself, in the Methodus avium Sveticarum (of 1731, his very first Ornithological work.

Equally noteworthy is that Linnaeus in this his maiden work in Ornithology, about "Swedish" birds (or Birds in Sweden) also listed, for example (on p.40); the Ostrich, and the Cassowary as well as (two different) Peafowls and the Turkey, clearly all from imported (domesticated) specimens (to me, today, those are very, very, extremely "Non-Swedish"). ;)


To be continued ... (but that will have to be tomorrow. Patience is a virtue)
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P. c. carbo continuation ... and End

It's quite possible (and, in my mind, even likely) that Linnaeus, in his early years, only knew of this bird from his tutor Olof Rudbeck d. y. [d. y. = den yngre/the younger/junior, (1660–1740)], whose lectures Linnaeus attended in the spring of 1728, or from the Plates by the same Rudbeck, that Linnaeus studied in detail, in 1730, which we know were a major source of inspiration for Linnaeus, also used as references for several other birds/names. The manuscript for those plates was lost in the Great fire of Uppsala, in 1702, (as well as Rudbeck's hope for his intended, forthcoming book on Swedish Bird), and the Plates remained unpublished for ages, until Rudbeck's Fogelboken (the Birdbook), and its Portföljen (Portofolio), appeared (far, far later) in 1985–86 (at that time, as facsimiles, with comments by Gunnar Brusewitz [1924–2004] (a well-known Swedish Artist, equally a ditto Field Ornithologist, and a celebrated Giant/Fountain of knowledge, in/of both Zoological - and Ornithological History), and Tomas Anfält [1941–2004], (Librarian at the Carolina Rediviva Library, at Uppsala University, a well reputed Science historian, one of the foremost experts on Linnaeus and Linnaean times) [peep view; here and/alt. here], where Rudbeck's two Plates of the Cormorant was included (of both a juvenile, and an adult). Another view/photo of the Plate, of the adult one; here or/alt. here.

Also noteworthy is that Linnaeus, in his very first Ornithological work, the Methodus ... (of 1731) listed 197 birds (some of them twice, incl. domesticated ones, ending up in about 165 different taxa, versus Rubeck's 122 plates, of which some (quite a few) are not included in Linnaeus's Methodus, showing us that this work wasn't just a slavish work (simply following his tutor), but a work of his own mind.

However; the exact whereabouts, where Rudbeck found the master models of the two Plates, those two live original Cormorants, and their exact Geographical origin, are all unknown. The only thing we seems to know (according to Brusewitz) is that an adult Cormorant, in breeding plumage was shot by Rudbeck along the coast of Bothnian Bay (which, in my mind, ought to be the depicted bird), during his travels north in the 1690's, but he never wrote a word about any presence of colonies, or even a single nest, of a Cormorant in Sweden.

Neither do we know if Rudbeck himself found, or believed, the Cormorant as Common, alt. increasing/decreasing in numbers, or even Rare (in his time), nor do we know what Swedish name he was about to use, nor what he had written about its characters, morphology, habitat, distribution, etc., etc., in this his intended, but unfortunately, disrupted and cancelled book (due to the fire of 1702).

And, even if it was possible to find the answers of those questions, I don't think it would be of any major concern, at least not for today's taxonomy and nomenclature, regarding today's Phalacrocorax c. carbo (Linnaeus, 1758), simply as there's no proof, no references (at least not that I can find, not knowing Latin, that is), pointing back at Rudbeck in Linnaeus's Systema naturæ (nor in its foreign references, in their turn). Even if he's clearly listed, among other earlier scholars, in the list of references for the whole of his very earliest work, the Methodus ... (of 1731), where we find him listed as: "RUDBf. OLAI RUDBECKII filiii [Son/Jr.]" (here).

For the same reasons (I assume) it's of less concern, even we do know that Linnaeus had studied Rudbeck's Plates, or even if it is, could or would be, possible to tell of what ssp. those certain depicted Cormorants were. It would be nothing but speculation, simply "stretching it a bit too far", to claim that they do, or did, have anything to do with what ended up as Linnaeus's "[Pelecanus] Carbo" 1758 (ex, "Graculus" ditto).

However (and, just for the fun of it, even if I don't think it can solve this very topic); compare Rudbeck's Plate, of the adult Bird (see attached excerpt,). with the attached Drawing/s (from here or here, alt. here), or with the attached Photo (from here) of the heads (and their resp. 'gular (pouch) angles') of; P. c. carbo (upper) versus P. c. sinensis (lower). To me (for what it's worth, being nothing but an average birder, and far, far from an expert of the various, difficult subspecies of Cormorants), the depicted bird on Rudbeck's Plate looks more like a carbo ssp..

Either way; I assume that Linnaeus's own experience, in Field or not, of any Cormorant in Sweden, or not, or even if so, the geographic location of such a possible occurrence, as well of the very origin of his knowledge (in books, letters, tales or/and/vs Field experience) regarding his original, very first "Carbo" Cormorant, will remain unknown, simply hidden in the dusk of history.

Like stated above, I tend to believe that Linnaeus never ever spotted a living Cormorant, anywhere, but simply trusted the words by Rudbeck, as well as the writings of all those other earlier scholars and acknowledged Ornithologist (in his ever-growing list/s of references).

Well, that's about all I can say in this particular Topic.

Thus; much ado about nothing.

Good luck, "Nutty", in trying to rename the dear old carbo Cormorant. Though, even if you do manage to prove your case (and everybody else wrong) I guess it would simply end up in a prompt rejection, due to the stability of the Code. But why not, if you feel up to it, give it a try.

On my part; carbo (and sinensis, as well, for that matter) ... over and out!

Björn
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  • 2. P. c. carbo vs P. c. sinensis (gular pouch angles).jpg
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Wow! Many thanks for digging all this out!


Rudbeck's pic certainly looks like P. c. carbo and not P. c. sinensis - so I guess best not to make any changes to current interpretations :t:
 
Björn,
I would also say thanks for putting all this together. I found it interesting from a language point of view: the accepted name in Danish of the cormorant is also Skarv, just like in Swedish. However, even in the 80ties, the older name of Ålekrage (eel-crow) was always mentioned in writings about the species, and I suspect that this was in common usage among fishermen and hunters. The reasons to avoid Ålekrage as name included the obvious (its not a crow) but also trying to avoid perpetuating the belief that they preferred fishes of economic importance such as the eel. (research published in that period indicated the cormorant preferred whatever was easy to catch at the time and place where it was fishing.)

Anyway, I found the coincidence of names used between the two languages interesting, not only the current but also the older one.

Niels
 
Wiki Commons has a lot of Cormorant pics from Sweden; been looking through them, and while most look like P. c. sinensis, at least a couple look more like P. c. carbo on gular pouch shape:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Storskarv,_Lund,_Sk%C3%A5ne,_Mars_2018_(40935499734).jpg (right-hand bird; Lund, Skåne)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phalacrocorax_carbo_EM1B7494_(49709261866).jpg (Stockholm archipelago)

while even more, this one from Klaipėda, Lithuania looks very P. c. carbo:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phalacrocorax_carbo_Klaipėda_02.jpg
 
You're welcome guys!

Well, that's just about all I have in my notes, in this very topic.

Enough (cormo-)ranting for this week-end ... I'm done.

/B
 

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