on Mr. G. R. Gray's ^ Genera of Birds. ^ 35 



laptince are only subdivisions of the group Woodpeckers. These last 

 should therefore bei unted into one sub-family Picinee, or, if divided, 

 they should form groups of a lower denomination than a sub-family. 



P. 54. Mr. Gray is quite right in keeping the name Picumnus, 

 Tem., for the American group (Asthenurus, Sw.), because Tem- 

 minck evidently regarded this as the type of his genus, making it 

 the first division, and giving the name abnormis to the Asiatic group 

 (Picumnvs, Sw., Microcolaptes, Gray). 



Mr. Gray quotes Rich. Faun. Bor. Am. pi. 56. for Picoides tri- 

 dactylus (Cfm.), but Richardson's bird is the P. hirsutus (Vieill.), 

 which Bonaparte considers as distinct from the European P. tridac- 

 tylvs. 



Hemicircus should be written Hemicercus. 



It does not appear why a new name is given to the genus Dendro- 

 copus, proposed by Boie and sanctioned by Bonaparte, the name Den- 

 drocopus, Vieill., being superseded by Dendrocolaptes. 



The name Dendromus is pre-occupied for a genus of Mammalia by 

 Dr. Smith in Zool. Journ. vol, iv. p. 438. 



Mr. Gray seems to unite the American Dryotomi of Swainson 

 with the European group Dryocopus, Boie (D. martius), and indeed 

 they can hardly be distinguished in structure, though Bonaparte 

 keeps them separate. 



P. 55. The name Tiga, Kaup., 1836 (Thierreich, vol. ii. p. 37), 

 must supersede Chrysonotus, Sw., 1837. The species will then stand 

 as Tiga tridactyla (Sw.). 



After the Green Woodpeckers have been distinguished as Gecinus, 

 Boie, Swainson's genus Brachylophus still includes two well-marked 

 groups : first, the Short-thumbed Woodpeckers closely allied to Tiga, 

 containing 1. P. aurantius, Lin. {P.hengalensis, Gm.); 2. P. goeri' 

 sis, Gm. ; 3. P. philippinarum. Lath. ; 4. P. hcematribon, Wagl., 

 and 5. P. erythronotus, Vieill. To this group I would propose the 

 name Brachypternus. The remaining group contains the Crimson 

 Woodpeckers, P. miniatus and puniceus. I am not aware whether 

 Boie includes these species in his genus Gecinus ; but if not, they may 

 retain the restricted name Brachylophus, Sw., which in that case, 

 not being precisely equivalent to Gecinus, Boie, would escape obli- 

 teration as a synonyme. 



It is not easy to decide which of the specific names of Geococcyx 

 has the priority. Mr. Swainson states (Classif. Birds, vol. ii. pp. 

 140, 3'25), that he named it longicauda in the Catalogue of Bullock's 

 Mexican Museum in 1824. If, however, it was merely named at that 

 time and not described, the name cannot be considered to have ac- 

 quired a right of priority, as the slovenly practice of merely reciting 

 the names of new species without defining their characters (for many 

 examples of which see Lesson's Traite d'Ornithologie) cannot be 

 too much discouraged, as it only tends to choke up the science with 

 synonymes. It does not appear whether Blainville ever published 

 this species under the name of Saurothera bottce, and therefore the 

 name calif orniana used by Lesson in his Supplement to BufFon some 



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