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MISCELLANEA OllNITIIOLOGICA. 



CRITICAL, NOMENCLATOUIAI,, AN]J OTHKR NUTHS, MOSTIA' oN 

 PALAEARCTIC BIRDS AM) THEIR ALLIES. 



By ERNST IIARTKRT. I'n.U. 



PART III.* 



The genus ANTHOSCOPUS. 



ICANXOT do otherwise than unite the European " rcnJuline Tits" with the 

 African ones in one genus. The latter have a much longer first primary, but 

 in A. macronyx it is also longer than in the various allie.s of A. pendulinus, and 

 from the great variability in the length of the first primary iu many other groups I 

 must decidedly refuse to separate the African Penduline Tits generically from the 

 Palaearctic ones. Tlierefore the name Anthoscopus Cab. 1851 (type A. cajjensis) 

 must be u.sed instea I of Reraiza Stejn. 1880 (type A. jjendidinus). On the other 

 hand, the American species (Auripariis fiavifrons) deserves to be separated 

 generically. Its tail is longer, its bill more curved, its first primary long (as in the 

 African forms), and it lays blue eggs with coppery-brown spots, while the Palaearctic 

 and African species lay white, unspotted eggs. Also the Himalayan " Aerjithaliis 

 Jldmiiticejjs" has no place in the genus Anthoscopus^ and must be called Cephulopyi-us 

 Jlaniniiceps. The more open nostrils, stiff, narrow feathers of the forehead, com- 

 paratively longer wings and longer tail, and very tiny first jiriraary, justify its generic 

 separation. Moreover, it does not build a purse-shaped or globular hanging nest, 

 but bleeds in holes of trees, and lays not white, but blue eggs. Mr. Dresser 

 (Manual Pal. B. p. 183) still uses the name Aegithulus Boie 1822, although it is 

 well known that this name was already given by Hermann to the Ix)ng-tailed Tits 

 in 1804. As Mr. Dresser generally accepts those names which have priority, there 

 seems to be no reason for a deviation from his usual custom in this case. Mr. 

 Dresser's treatment of the various forms of Penduline Tits in the manual is also not 

 very convincing. Why macronyx has been treated as a subspecies of jjendidinua 

 is not clear, as it occurs together with forms of pendidimts, and is more distinct 

 than many species acknowledged by ]Mr. Dresser; and why the jierfectly distinct 

 forms aColicskae and consobrinus have been placed as synonyms under pendulinns 

 is not explained. The only possibility seems to me to be that the author did not 

 compare them with pcndxdiniis, or very superficially. 



The Asiatic Penduline Tits are not easy to unravel. In I lie Far East, on the 

 Vang-tse-Kiang, the great ornithologist Swiuhoe discovered a inw i'nrni, which he 

 named A. consobrinus. This is a very rare bird iu collections, but a number of 

 specimens were obtained by i\Ir. Ringer near Nagasaki, on Kiu-shiu Island, Jai)an. 

 It is a very distinct form, easily distinguished by the grey crown and black line 

 through the eyes, instead of extended black auricular region. Why several authors 

 have doubted its distinctness is an enigma. The most astonishing remark is that of 

 Seebohm, who (J5. Japanese Enip. p. 182) says that he has seen two males and two 

 females, and " that it is, however, very [irobable that it may eventually be proved to 



• For I'ait I. suu Xor. Zvh liiOI. i>ii. lOG UO; for Tart II. yof. Zoitl. i:iOJ. p)). IDT-oOa. 



