PREFACE. V'.l 



ciple that a Linnean specific name ought not to be altered, if 

 the species to which it appHes is beyond question. 



Let us take a couple of familiar examples. The Blackbird 

 I call Meriila vienila (Linn.). It is the Tiirdus merula of 

 Linnaeus. ^Llny ornithologists do not admit that the Black- 

 bird is generically distinct from the Thrush ( Tiirdus musiais)^ 

 but for those who think otherwise, what is the generic name of 

 the Blackbird to be ? It is Merula of Leach, and therefore, if 

 it is considered necessary to keep Merula distinct from Turdus^ 

 the Blackbird must be called Merula merula (Linn.). Or to take 

 the genus C Indus. The Black-bellied Dipper is the Stur?ius 

 cinclus of Linnaeus. No one in these days would suggest that 

 the Dippers are Starlings, and everyone adopts Bechstein's 

 genus Cmclus for these birds. The result is that the Black- 

 bellied Dipper must bear the name of Cinclus cinclus (Linn.) I 

 see no sort of escape from this conclusion. 



Then, again, there is often a difficulty in fixing the type of 

 a Linnean genus, because modern research has much enlarged 

 the scope of our knowledge of birds since 1766. Thus the 

 genus Turdus of Linnaeus is the Family Turdidce of our 

 present Systems, and the genus Strix of Linnaeus equals the 

 Family Sfrigidce or the Order Striges of the present day. The 

 type of a Linnean genus can, therefore, be fixed only by 

 " elimination." I will take the genus Strix as an example. 



Twelve species of Strix were known to Linnaeus and 

 described by him in 1766, divided into two sections — those 

 with ear-tufts, and those without. 



a. Auriculafce (= Genus Asio, Briss. 1760). 

 Type of i?///^^, Cuvier, 18 17. i. bubo. 



2. scandiaca = No. 6. 



3. asio. Is also a ^'r^/i-, like 



4. otus. [No. 5. 

 Type of ^^"^/i, Savigny, 1809. 5. scops. 



