OATES'S BIRDS OF INDIA. 171 



be divorced, toto ccelo, from the Shrikes, but then how about such forms as 

 Folcouculus. The difficulty of finding appropriate English names for exotic birds 

 is well known to us, but Mr. Oates can improve on his trivial nomenclature in 

 his second edition, e.g., Lophophanes means "crested" Titmouse; but we find 

 that L. cemodius is a "cole" tit and L. rufinnckalis is a "black" tit. Mr. Oates's 

 groat family Crateropodidce, is virtually the family Timeliidae of our " Catalogue 

 of Birds," and we greatly prefer the latter name, for the typical genus Crateropus 

 is an African form, feebly represented in Asia, and its adoption leaves a wrong 

 impression. Six sub-families make up the Crateropodidce, and the characters for 

 their separation are most ingeniously contrasted. In the next edition we would 

 advise Mr. Oates to bring them to the rank of " families," and the arrangement 

 will be at once simplified. The first sub-family of the Crateropodidce are the 

 Crater opodina, or Laughing Thrushes ; and here we notice that Mr. Oates 

 has changed the position of some of the species from that in which we placed 

 them in the " Catalogue of Birds ;" but in all such instances we expect to find 

 that he is right, for he has examined the characters of all the species with more 

 detailed application than we were able to give in the " Catalogue." The Cra- 

 teropodince are a natural sub-family, and we do not find much fault with his 

 Timeliina. Myiophoneus seems to us to be too meruline to be placed so far 

 from the true Thrushes ; but Mr. Oates makes out a good case for this end his 

 other Brachypterygince. The Sibiina are not nearly so natural a division, in our 

 opinion, and may possibly have to be annihilated, Lioptila and its allies 

 going with the Garrulaces, and Staphidia, Iora, &c, following Stachyris, or 

 becoming merged in the Liotrichince. Zosterops is surely out of place among the 

 Crateropodidce, and we still retain our conviction that its affinities are Melipha- 

 gine as may be seen from the description of its tongue (p. 213). Among the 

 Liotrichinte (p. 220) are some incongruous genera, such as Pterutkius, SEgitkince, 

 Ckloropsis, Irena, Leptopacile , Psaroglossa, and Hypocolius. If Hemipus, Peri- 

 crocotus, &c, are Laniine (pp. 456, 457), we see no reason why Pterutkius and 

 Hypocolius should not have been included. 



The Bulbuls or Brachypodince are a satisfactory and natural sub-family, and 

 we suspect that Mr. Oates's allocation of some of the species is more correct than 

 that of our sixth volume of the " Catalogue." We notice, however, that he is 

 inclined to reject Hodgsonian names, when they happen to have no description ; 

 hut hitherto the titles published by Hodgson in Gray's " Zoological Miscellany," 

 founded avowedly on his unpublished drawings in the British Museum, have been 

 allowed to stand, and it is a pity that this antagonism to the names which we had 

 established in the " Catalogue of Birds" should have arisen, eg., Pellorneum 

 mandellii (Blanf.) for P. Nipalense (Hodgs.,) p. 140, Pycnonotvs bevgalensis 

 (Blyth) for P. pygesus. (Hodgs,). p. 271. Although we shall adopt most of 

 Mr. Oates's amendments, we do not feel bound to follow him in this rigid 

 adherence to nomenclatural law . Of course, he will be bound in strict consis- 

 tency to reject Boddaerts' names, and here again we should not follow him. 



