1886. T PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 383 



ains of Switzerlaud, as '■'■Pipra f europcea, Nobis," aud after having- 

 stated the structural characters, he says : "Si novum geuus mereatur, 

 AegitlialoH vocari poterit," i. e. : If deserving to form a new genus, it may 

 be called Aegiihalos. 1 have seen no attemj^t to identify this ^^Fipra f 

 europcea.,^'' which may be considered rather strange, since the name 

 evidently belongs to a European bird, but there can be no doubt, in my 

 mind, that his specimen was a Long-tailed Tit of the form usually called 

 Acndula rosea or Mecistura vagans, which, therefore, in the future 

 should stand as Aegiihalos europams. 



The following is the essential part of his diagnosis and description in 

 translation: "Blact, crown of hend and underneath white, tail forked 

 {forficata), with the lateral rect rices shorter, their outer margin white. 

 The bill is neither that of a Friugilla, nor that of a Motacilla, nor in- 

 deed that of a Parus, but agrees more with that of a Pipra. Not so, 

 however, the feet, which are not gressorial. The tail is forked {for- 

 ficata), the outer rectrix very short, the following short, the third longer, 

 these three with the outer margin white, but more obscurely so in the 

 third. Size of a Motacilla [Phyllopseustes] trocMlus. Feet somewhat 



high Also the anterior [exterior] margin of the secondaries is 



white, the broader and clearer so the farther behind and nearer the back.'^ 

 The description of the tail is an exact description of that of the Long- 

 tailed Tit. It sounds like a contradiction when he describes it as forked, 

 saying at the sanje time that the three outer pairs are graduated, but he 

 evidently only means to say, that the middle pair is shorter than the 

 following, and it is just the peculiarity of the tail of this species, 

 that it is, so to speak, forked and graduated at the same time (see the 

 accompanying cut). He also mentions the peculiar shape of the bill, 



91552 



and the comparatively great length of the tarsus. The coloration of 

 the wings is accurately described, aud so is that of the body, though he 

 does not mention the red of the shoulders, it being therefore probable 

 that the specimen he described was <i young bird in which this color is 

 absent. To verify the identification it is only necessary to com])are it 

 with fig. 6, taf. 95 of Naumauu's " Naturgeschichte der Yogel Deutsch- 

 lands," Vol. IV, and there cannot be the slightest doubt as to the accu- 

 racy aud applicability of Hermann's description. 



