What the heck do we call the Koel?

[Andrew Taylor <>]

On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 06:36:16PM +1100, Jeff Davies wrote:
> Scolopaceus is the Asian Koel and as you point out it was named by Linnaeus
> 1758, from a specimen collected in India which is why the attribute
> scolopaceus stays with the Asian birds. Orientalis was attributed by
> Linnaeus in 1766 to the birds in southern Moluccas, this was the first
> described member of what was eventually to become the Eastern Koel.

Yes I should have read a bit further - Linneaus named a quite a few Koels:
scolopaceus, niger, honoratus, orientalis, punctatus & mindaensis.
Linneaus described  orientalis second hand from a book by Brisson
who in turn described it from a specimen in  Reaumeur's collection.
Reaumeur apparently  obtained it from a dutch count who had been sent
it from the "les Indies Orientales".

Andrew