Jim LeNomenclatoriste
Je suis un mignon petit Traquet rubicole
Here, I would tend to think that the description corresponds more to Sylvia borin than to Curruca iberiae/subalpina/cantillans despite the reference to La Passerinette of Buffon (Bonnaterre (1823), under his Fauvette aedonie ou Bretonne Sylvia Ædonia, says "Nous avons reconnu depuis peu que la petite Fauvette de Brisson et la Passerinette de la pl. enl. de Buffon , n. 579 , fig. 2, n’appartiennent point à cette espèce [i.e. Sylvia Ædonia], comme on le dit dans la 2 e édit, du nouv. Dict, d’IIist. nat." – We have recently recognized that the Petite Fauvette of Brisson and the Passerinette of the Pl. enl. de BufFon, n. 579, fig. 2, do not belong to this species, as is said in the 2nd edition, of the new. Dict, from IIist. nat.").passerina. 61. Ash-grey M[otacilla], greyish white below, with whitish eyebrows, with black remiges and tail.
However, I don't know what is the current synonym of Sylvia Ædonia
Bonnaterre described the "Fauvette passerinette" (Sylvia passerina) a few page later. My theory is that the name "Passerinette " was given by different authors (Buffon vs others) to different species (Sylvia borin vs Curruca cantillans complex) and that Gmelin was misled by the name Passerinette given by Buffon.
Sometimes binomial nomenclature isn't much help
Last edited: