Stercorarius maccormicki Saunders, H, 1893 (1 Viewer)

[Taphrospilus]

Stercorarius maccormicki Saunders, H, 1893 OD here
Diomedea epomophora mccormicki Mathews, 1912 OD here

The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:

McCormick's Skua Stercorarius maccormicki H. Saunders, 1893 [Alt. South Polar Skua]
Royal Albatross ssp. Diomedea epomophora mccormicki Mathews, 1912 NCR [Alt. Southern Royal Albatross; NRM]
Robert M. McCormick (1800–1890) was a British naval surgeon, explorer and and naturalist, described as a 'conscientious physician and zoological technician'. He was Assistant Surgeon on HMS Hecla (1827) during Parry's Arctic expedition, and was Ship's Surgeon on what he described as 'a small surveying ten gun brig' – HMS Beagle (1832). McCormick wrote (1832): 'We anchored off Porta Praya in the island of St. Jago, Cape de Verde Islands, and I landed there ... I paid a visit to the remarkable old baobab-tree ... growing in an open space to the westward of the town ... as a ...memento I cut my initials, with the date of the year, high up the main stem ... and on measuring the baobab-tree, I found it 361/2 feet in circumference.' It was the tradition that Ship's Surgeons collected natural history specimens on such trips, so he was irritated Darwin (q.v.) did it instead, and he resigned once the ship returned from Salvador. He sailed back from Brazil to England on the Tyne. He was Ship's Surgeon on Sir James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition (1839–1843) on HMS Erebus and Terror. On the Ross voyage (1839) he visited the Cape Verde Islands again and recorded in his journal: '... I made a visit to my old friend the baobab-tree, in the middle of the valley, and a mile to the eastward of the town ... On reaching the baobab-tree, I ascended it, and looked for my own initials, which I cut, with the year 1832, in the main stem, about two-thirds up the tree, when here lastin that year. Time had impressed them deeper, and they appeared larger, more marked and distinct from the contraction of the bark around. I now added the present year, 1839, beneath the former one ...' When it was realised that Franklin's (q.v.) Northwest Passage expedition had vanished, McCormick led an unsuccessful search party. However, he did chart the Wellington Channel from his ship, appropriately named the 'Forlorn Hope'. He wrote Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, and Round the World.

The Key to Scientific Names

Robert McCormick (1800-1890) Royal Navy surgeon, polar explorer, naturalist (Catharacta (ex “Lestris...new species” of McCormick 1884)).

If there is a middle name wit M. as claimed by The Eponym Dictionary of Birds might need clarification. I feel the answer is no, but feel free to prove me wrong.

P.S. Sometimes I do not understand the concept of The Eponym Dictionary of Birds. Why such a long story for him but for others not?

 

[PScofield]

Stercorarius maccormicki and Diomedea epomophora mccormicki

Just to start with no real research yet. According The Eponym Dictionary of Birds Stercorarius maccormicki the OD here and Diomedea epomophora mccormicki OD here are for: Robert M. McCormick (1800–1890) was a British naval surgeon, explorer and naturalist, described as a 'conscientious...

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[Taphrospilus]

Sorry missed that. . So If an admin read this whole thread can be deleted.