On the Birds of the Lower Petchora. 105 



To sum up my answer to the objections made. I main- 

 tain : — 



(1) That the type^ according to the modern notion, of the 

 Linnsean genus Strix, is clearly and indisputably ;S^. stridula. 



(2) That in subdividing a genus Brisson^s right to affix 

 its original name to the portion of it he chose is not affected 

 by his exceptional i30sition as regards specific naraes^ 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 proba- 

 bility, which may at any moment become a certainty, of its 

 being indefeasibly established without reference to any excep- 

 tion whatever. 



Finally, if the first of these positions be good, there is no 

 need of the other two ; for, according to our Code (§ 4) : — 

 " The generic name should always be retained for that por- 

 tion of the original genus which was considered typical by 

 the author.^^ 



Magdaleue College, Cambridge. 

 12th December, 1875. 



XII. — Notes on the Birds of the Lower Petchora. By Henry 

 Seebohm, F.Z.S., and John A. Harvie Brown, 



The ornithology of the valley of the Petchora has remained 

 up to the present time, if not altogether unknown, at least 

 undescribed. The geology, botany, and ethnology of the dis- 

 trict have been described by Keyserling, Schrenk and Cas- 

 tren; but nothing has been published upon the birds of 

 the Petchora. We ascertained in Archangel that Hencke 

 and IlofJ'mannsegg visited the great river, and sent consign- 

 ments of skins and eggs to a dealer in Dresden, through whom 

 some rare eggs (doubtless from this district) found their way 

 to Dunn and were distributed amongst English collectors. 

 In consequence of the trade-jealousy of the dealers, these eggs 

 were sold without authentication, and of course possess no 

 scientific value whatever. We have been unable to ascertain 

 that cither of tlic above-named ornithologists has ever written 



