1895.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF - PHILADELPHIA. 251 



THE PRIORITY OF THE NAMES CALLISTE, AGLAIA AND CALOSPIZA 

 AND THEIR USE IN ORNITHOLOGY. 



BY WITMER STONE 



Although the name Collide has long been in general use for a 

 large genus of South American tanagers, a careful examination into 

 its history seems to show that it is untenable in this connection and 

 that we must adopt in its stead the name Calospiza proposed by G. 

 R. Gray in 1840. 



The birds which constitute this genus were separated from the old 

 genus Tanagra almost, simultaneously by two authors, Boie proposing 

 for them the name Calliste (Isis, 1K26, p. 974) and Swainson the 

 name Aglaia (Zool. .lour, iii, 1827, p. M47). 



In 1840 G. R.' Gray established another name for the same 

 groups: Calospiza, (List of Genera of Birds, p. 44) stating that 

 both the previous names were preoccupied by Callistus Bonelli, 1813, 

 in Coleoptera and Atjlaen Loureiro, 1 7>S(), in Botany. Cabanis 

 adopted Gray's name emending it into Callospiza but subsequent 

 writers have continued to use Calliste though several of them have 

 subdivided the genus and proposed several additional names for their 

 groups which are generally considered as synonyms. However we 

 may regard the reasons which influenced Gray in proposing the 

 name ( 'alospiza there is certainly no question but that there are other 

 facts in the case which compel us to adopt his name. 



Some time ago Mr. T. S. Palmer called my attention to the fact 

 that the name Callista had been proposed by Poli in 1791, for a 

 genus of mollusks and asked me to examine the reference in Poli's 

 work to which he had not access. 



With the assistance of Prof. H. A. Pilsbry, Conservator of the 

 Conchological Section of the Academy, I have carefully studied 

 the history of this name. It was based by Poli (Testacea utriusque 

 Sicilian, Vol. I, Introduction, p. o0) upon the animals of several 

 species of Venus, Mactra, etc., and was subsequently restricted by 

 Moerck who fixed Venus chloue as the type. Subsequent concholo- 

 gists have used the name in a variety of ways but according to the 



