epicurus (1 Viewer)

From the Key:

epicurus
Gr. επικουρος epikouros ally, mercenary (cf. Epicurus, Greek philosopher who considered pleasure the highest attainment).

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Only one bird seems to have been given that name, viz. Caprimulgus epicurus Vieillot 1817 [OD], based on Azara's [Ibiyaú] cola extraña (#315) [here], later called Ibiyau à queue singulière by Sonnini 1809 [here] in his French translation of Azara's work, which Vieillot followed by calling the bird, in the OD, Engoulevent à queue singulière.
A mere two years after Vieillot's publication, Dumont 1819 [here] changed the spelling of the scientific name to Caprimulgus enicurus; this spelling was adopted by Vieillot himself in 1823 [here], and repeated by many others, among which Drapiez 1824 [here], who stated explicitly that Vieillot had erred with this name.

Of course (borrowing from the Key again):

enicurus
Gr. ἑνικος henikos singular; -ουρος -ouros -tailed < ουρα oura tail.

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IOW, enicurus, singular-tailed, is a perfect match for à queue singulière, the vernacular name adopted by Vieillot in the OD of the species that he named 'C. epicurus'. While, of course, 'epicurus' is not...

Isn't it quite clear, from the above, that the only occurrence of 'epicurus' in avian nomenclature was an inadvertent error for enicurus, and was never intended to have the meaning that its original spelling appears to imply ?

Well spotted, Laurent, well solved ... and ditto explained!

The updated HBW Alive Key now tells us:

epicurus
Original spelling of specific name Caprimulgus enicurus Vieillot, 1817 (= syn. Setopagis parvula) (Laurent Raty in litt.) (cf. Gr. επικουρος epikouros ally, mercenary; Epicurus, Greek philosopher who considered pleasure the highest attainment).

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To me it looks like epicurus was simply a typo, or a printers error, and that enicurus/singular-tailed/queue singulière Nightjar is The most obvious explanation. The Little Nightjar Caprimulgus parvulus/Setopagis parvula has a fairly stumpy tail vs some of the more elongated, two-pieced/split/forked tails of other Nightjars in South America (like, fore example, the Scissor-tailed Nightjar Hydropsalis torquata GMELIN 1789). I cannot find any reason why the Little Nightjar would have been considered to be more of a mercenary, or an epicurean, than any other Nightjar.
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Thanks Björn.

Of course, some will always find 'explanations'. In some 19th-C Italian dictionaries, you can read this type of things:

- [Marchi 1829]

EPICÚRO, EPICURUS, ÉPICURE, Stor. nat., da Ἐπίκουρος (Epicûros), Epicuro. Con questo nome s'indica una specie d'uccello del genere Caprimulgus (Caprimulgus Epicurus), preso dalle abitudini che ha simili a quelle dei seguaci del filosofo Epicuro.

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(EPICÚRO, EPICURUS, ÉPICURE, Nat. hist., from Ἐπίκουρος (Epicûros), Epicuro. With this name is denoted a species of bird of the genus Caprimulgus (Caprimulgus Epicurus), after the habits it has, similar to those of the followers of the philosopher Epicurus.)

- [Bognolo 1839]:

EPICÙRO, sm. EPICURUS, Ἐπίκουρος, 𝔈𝔭𝔦𝔨𝔲𝔯, Épicure, [ Epicurus ].
[...]
2.--Specie di uccelli passeri, del gen. caprimulgo, ch'è il caprimulgus epicurus di Vieillot, che alcuni credono così denom. per le sue abitudini voluttuose.

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(EPICÙRO, subst. masc. EPICURUS, Ἐπίκουρος, 𝔈𝔭𝔦𝔨𝔲𝔯, Épicure, [ Epicurus ]. [...] 2.--Species of passerine bird, of the nightjar genus, which is the caprimulgus epicurus of Vieillot, that some believe so called for its voluptuous habits.)

It may be worth noting that, in both cases, the 'explanation' doesn't really qualify as one, as the abitudini that would be at the origin of the name are absolutely not described.