2 ARKIV FÖR ZOOLOGI. BAND 12. N:0 3. 



arranged in a somewhat different order so.that »Fulva sunt>> 

 etc. stånds first, while ^Grisea sunt» etc. is last. In another 

 place the wording »ad rostrum usque» is changed to »usque 

 ad rostrum». Otherwise the agreement is so complete that 

 a certain lapsus calami, which will be pointed out below, is 

 repeated in both places. 



In Systema Naturse ed. XII 1766 the wording is exactly 

 the same as in the tenth edition with the only difference 

 that now the quotation of »Mus. Ad. Fr. 2» has been made 

 complete by adding »p. 29.», which for reasons mentioned 

 above could not be done before. 



The question arises now to which bird according to mo- 

 dern views has Linn^us given this name »Loxia hordeacea»'^. 

 The old Linnean genus ^>Loxia» contained a number of finches, 

 weaver-birds etc. with a thick and more or less swollen bill. 

 To judge from the colours »fulvous» and black it lies near 

 at hand to suspect that »Loxia hordeacea» was a weaver-bird. 

 The name is, however, not to be found among the synonyms 

 in Catalogue of Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XIII, nor in Reiche- 

 NOw's great work »Die Vögel Afrikas». 



Fortunately, however, the question can be satisfactorily 

 solved, because the Linnean type-specimen is still kept in 

 the R. Nat. Hist. Museum in Stockholm. 



As LiNN^us himself points out, he learned to know this 

 species and described it from a specimen which belonged to 

 the zoological collections of the King of Sweden Adolf 

 Fredrik. These collections were kept at the Royal castle 

 Drottningholm, where Linn^us had the opportunity of studying 

 and describing them. They remained there until in June 1801 

 when they were presented to the R. Academy of Sciences 

 and transferred to Stockholm and incorporated among the 

 zoological collections of the Academy. The type of »Loxia 

 hordeacea» was then also brought along with the other spe- 

 cimens. It was at that time preserved in spirit. When the 

 R. Nat, Hist. Museum was established in the year 1819 the 

 zoological collections of the R. Academy constituted a part 

 of the same, and »Loxia hordeacea» was registered in the 

 Catalogue as n:o 2 among the foreign birds. In the by Prof. 

 C. J. Sundevall written catalogue he has recorded the spe- 

 cimen in question as Ploceus hordeaceus and added: »typus 

 descr. Linnaei»; and further: »Mus. Regis Drottnrh. in spi- 



