SYSTEMATICALLY ARRANGED. 217 



White Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus), they would write White 

 (Ptarmigan) Grous, ( Tetrao (Lagopus) mtitus) ; the Snow Long- 

 spur (Plectrophanes nivalis) j they would call the Snow (Longspur) 

 Bunting, (Emberiza (Plectrophanes) nivalis) ; the Cinereous Os- 

 sifrage (Ossifraga cinerea), they would call Cinereous (Ossifrage) 

 Eagle, (Aquila (Ossifraga) cijierea) ; the Whiteheaded Ahem 

 {Neofron Alpina), they would call the Whiteheaded (Abern) Vul- 

 ture, {VultuT {Neofron) alpina). However pretty this may be in 

 theory, it would be found a very bungling method for practical pur- 

 poses. These Ornithologists contend that, besides the generic and spe- 

 cific name now universally given to each bird, there should also be a 

 suh'generic appellation, which they place, as above, between parenthe- 

 SHS. I cannot, however, see a single practical advantage to be derived 

 from these " sub-genera,** however they may serve to amuse the 

 systematist in his closet. They entirely destroy the beautiful sim- 

 plicity of the binary system of Linnaeus, and, so far from being a 

 help to, appear to me calculated to retard, the student. They will, 

 doubtless, be found as useless, for all practical purposes, as the sec- 

 tions of Temminck. 



If I have not rendered the foregoing remarks perfectly clear, I 

 shall be most happy to give further explanations, as discussion fre- 

 quently elicits truth. I shall be equally ready to attend to sugges- 

 tions respecting the names of any birds, as I am aware that several 

 of the specific ones are objectionable, and it is not to individual 

 things, but to broad principles, that I am attached. 



S. D. W. 



Derbyshire, Nov, 9, 1835. 



