122 Nelson — Names of Certain North American Birds. 



the underparts white, and the feet green. The references given 

 by Linnaeus with the original description, however, Itelong 

 mainly to this last mentioned l)ird. (Tmclin followed in 1788 

 with a composite description nnder /'('/^v7o; ».s .s(i^/(r in which he 

 includes Linnaeus' statement that the body is white and con- 

 tradictory matter of his own, stating that the species is dark 

 brown with the underside of the l)ody white. 



The bird with the dark l)rown upperparts and white lower- 

 parts was first named in 1788 by Boddaert, wlio called it Suhi 

 Ifucogastra (Tabl. Plan. Enl. p. 57). Since then authors have 

 usually treated leiirojjd.stra. as asynonjnn of .s;'^/. This may have 

 originated from the error of Gmelin in confusing the two species 

 and perhaps even more prolm])ly from the references given l)y 

 Linnaeus which do not l)elong under the Idrd he describes. In any 

 case, when the application of an author's description is obvious 

 it is necessary to accept it and not his references to fix tlicname. 

 In this case it appears that the specific name ■■^nla should l)ccome 

 a synonym of pi-scator, and Snla hncogastra Boddaert be used for 

 the species which has so long gone under the name Sala sula. 



ACCIPITER VELOX PACIFICUS (LcSSOn). 



In 1888 Mr. Ridgway described the western sharp-shinned 

 hawk as Arripitn- rrlox riifihifiis (Proc. V. S. Nat. Mus., XI, p. 

 92) taking as the type a specimen from P'ort Bridger, Wyoming. 

 In 1845, however, Lesson gives a good description of the male 

 western sharp-shinned hawk from specimens taken at Aca- 

 pulco, Guerrero, Mexico, and California, under the name Xi-sii.s 

 pnrificus (Echo du Monde Savant, .June 19, 1815, Col. 1086) so 

 that the western sharp-shinned hawk, if a recognizal)]e form, 

 becomes Accipiter velox parifinix (Lesson). This 1)ird occurs only 

 as a winter visitor to Acapulco for which reason the l)irds of 

 California may lie taken as typical of this form. 



Cathartes aura (Linnfeus). 



The common turkey Inizzard of North America was named 

 by Linnaeus in the 10th Edition of his Systema Natura^ (p. 86, 

 1758). He called it Vultur aura and mentioned only a single 



