yo.4.\ COUES'S ORNITTI. BIBLIOGRAPHY STRIGID^. 751 



l-7!^ IIowr.LL, T. II. Tlu' Sliort-cared Owl [iu Illinois]. <^ Forest and Stream, vii, 

 Nov. 30, 1876, p. 261. (See p. 342. ) 



1876. ".I. B. S." The Arctic Owl [Nyctea uivea?]. <^ Forest and Stream, yu,'Sov. IG, 

 1876, p. 230. 



1876. Mni'OKU, Ii. Barn Owl and its Castings. <^ Zoologist, 2d BeT.,x'i, Mar., ISHi, p. 

 4832. 

 Ct. op. eit., i).4870. 



1876. MiTi'ouD, R. Owl-jx-llcts: Correction of an Error. <^ Zoo?o</is<, 2d ser., xi, Apr., 

 1876, 1). 4870. 

 Cf. op. cit, p. 4832. 



1876. Murray, II. B. Snowy Owl in County Fermauagb. <^ Zoologist, 2d ser., xi, 

 Apr., 1876, p. 4871. 



1876. Nkvvton, a. On the Assignation of a Type to Liunteau Genera, with especial 

 refer^'uce to the Genus Strix. <^ Ibis, 3d ser., vi, Jan., 1876, pp. 94-104. 



The opinion expressed by tho writur {Yarr. Br. B., Ath nil., i, p. 150) having been tlemurred 

 to by Salvin {Ibis, 1875, pp. CO, 67) antl Shaipe {ibid., pp. 324-328), this occasion is taken to 

 reconsidiM- the matter, and :-eiterate the views on nomenclature alieady expressed. It id aii 

 important paper in its beaiiuj!: on the general question, discussing certain principles toiu^hing 

 noiiienchiture at large, aside fiom the special case of Strix. The author has decided views 

 on the subject, and adheres to certain rules with such thonuigh consistency that he -scarcely 

 provides for 8<mie enu^rgeucies wliicli may arise, and ap]>car to uumy persons to require 

 some elasticity of application of a princijih' he would make indexible. IIi' fortilies his post' 

 tion with his usual cogency of argument and his conspicuous scholarly attainments. 



Prof. Newton finds that, among the 78 genera of Linn. .S'. X.. 1766. tliere are only 12 which 

 Linnajus can l)e considered to have invented : Ehamphantos. Buceros. Procellaria, I>iomedea, 

 Phaeton. Palamedea, Mycteria, Gancroma, Parra, Didus, Menura, Pipra. He doubts not 

 that had Linnaius known i>ur modern practice, he w(mld have designated as the type of each 

 of his genera that species to which the name he adopted as generic had formerly been specif- 

 ically applied; this seeming so obvious that he wonders at G. R. Gray and others who invented, 

 the arbitrary rule of .selecting the first-named Linnivan species as the type of the genus 

 under which it stands. He finds it curious that so few Linniuan genera, such as Tultur. Falco 

 and Psittacjts (and 9 others) had been used by pre-Liuua-'au writers in a generic sense. The 

 authors whence Linuicus derived his genera are Gesner, Belon, Aldrovandus, Clusius, Johns- 

 ton, Brown. Barrere, Klein. Moehring, Brisson, and perhaps one or two others. 



Following out his principle, the author determines the types of 50 Linna'an genera to be as 

 follows (to save space I simply cou])le the generic and specific tei'ms) : Strix stridula. Laniui 

 excubitor, Buphaga africana, Crotophaga ani, Corvus corax, Oriolus galbula. Paradixea apoda, 

 Bucco capensis, Cuculus can(n'us, Jynx toniuilla, Picus maitins, Sitta europasa, Alcedo ispida, 

 Merops apiaster, Uptipa epops, Certhia familiaris, Trucldlus colubris, Alca torda. Procellaria 

 pelagica, Diomedea i-xiilans, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Plotus anhinga. Phaeton .tthereus, Rht/n- 

 chops nigra, Sterna hirundo, Phoenicopterus iiiber, Platalea leucoiodia. Mycteria aniericana, 

 Gancroma cochlearia, Ardea cinerca, Tantalus loculator, Pecurvirostra avocetta, HtPmatopus 

 ostralegus. Fulica atra, Parra jacana, Rallus aquaticus, Psophia crepitans, Otis tarda, Struthio 

 camelus, l>iti?<s ineptus, Pavo cristatus, Meleagris gallopavo, Crax alector, Phasianiis colchi- 

 cns, JV^umrda meleagi'is, AZauda arvensis, <Stimiws vulgaris. Tardus viseivorus, Ampelis garrn- 

 lus, Loxia curvii-ostra, Tanagra tatao, Fringilla coelebs, Muscicapa grisola, Pipra leucocilla. 

 niru7ido rustica, Gaprimulgus europa'us. 



Out of those 56 genera, only Strix and three or four others have, from the aiithor's way of 

 regarding them, a t,\'pe other than that commonly as.signed to them. 



The case of Strix is then elaborately discussed, and the author maintains, in summing hia 

 answer to his critics, 



" (1_) That the type, according to the modem notion, of the Linnajan genus Strix, is clearly 

 and indisi)utably S. stridula. 



" (2) That iu subdividing a genus Brisson's right to aflax its original name to the portion of 

 it he chose is not aft'ected by his exception.al position as regards specific names, and that the 

 type of his restricted genus Strix is also S. stridula. 



"(3) That should ornithologists, in the teeth of the law, persist in disregarding this right, 

 there is a strong probability, which may at any moment become a certainty, of its being inde- 

 feasably established without reference to any exception whatever." 



1876. NiCHOLLS, H. Abundance of the Shorteared Owl near Kingsbridge. < Zoolo- 

 gist, 2d ser. , xi. Mar. , 1876, pp. 4831, 4832. 



