Recent Ornithological Publications. 185 



longest, the fifth little, if any, shorter than the third, and the 

 first always shorter than the eighth. The other species, to which 

 harlani ?, insignatus, swainsonii, bairdii, and oxypterus belong, is 

 distinguished by a more slender body, shorter and weaker tarsi, 

 and a more pointed wing, the third quill generally the longest, 

 the fifth considerably shorter than the third, and the first always 

 longer than the eighth. It is a matter of some doubt what name 

 should be assigned to this species. I have seen specimens which 

 agree very exactly with Audubon^s plate of B. harlani ; and if 

 they are really specimens of his bird, that name would have 

 priority. Though his type-specimen in the British Museum is 

 said by some of the English ornithologists to belong to the 

 other species, I am inclined to doubt this, as there is a specimen 

 of B. fuliginosus in the collection of the Academy marked B. 

 harlani by Audubon himself, and it is almost impossible for 

 him to have mistaken this bird for a Ked-tailed Hawk. I shall 

 therefore at present consider this species to be B. harlani. If 

 the type in the British Museum should prove to be a different 

 bird, swainsonii, as next in date, would take its place.^^ 



Dr. Bryant^s " Monograph of the genus Catarractes " is also' 

 a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the ornithology of 

 North America. But we strongly protest against the change of 

 nomenclature, which Dr. Bryant is " sorry to propose " in this 

 case, and which we should be still more sorry to accept. It is 

 not our intention on the present occasion to enter anew into the 

 oft-vexed question of the " law of priority,'^ and how far it is to 

 be carried back. We are content to refer Dr. Biyant to the 

 admirable remarks on this subject made by the late Hugh 

 Strickland in his various critiques upon Mr. G. R. Gray's ' List 

 of the Genera of Birds*,' and, in accordance with his views, to 

 remark, that if we once go back beyond Linnseus's perfected edi- 

 tion of the ' Systema Naturae ' (the 12th), we may be gradually 

 induced to recognize, the nomenclature of Ray, of Pliny, of Ari- 

 stotle, and possibly even the names which some Biblical commen- 

 tator may fancy were given by Adam to the beasts and birds in 

 Paradise. "We must, therefore, respectfully decline to aid Dr. 



* See Ann. Nat. Hist. vols. vi. p. 410, vii. p. 26 (1841). 



