130 Canon H. B. Tristram on 



Crithagka rendalli^ sp. nov. 

 C. ^ . Fronte et loris flavis : capite et collo flavis, 

 brunneo anguste striatis : scapularibus, tergo, et 

 uropygio brnnneo-nigris, flavo-raarginatis : subtus totus 

 aurantiaco-flavns : remigibus et rectricibus fuscis, flavo- 

 marginatis : subalaribus pallide flavescentibus : rostro 

 nigro : tarsis et pedibus fuscis. 

 $ . Suprk nigrescenti-fusca, plumis albido-marginatis : 

 loris et spatio interoculari albidis : subtus pallide 

 flavida, striis fuscis rarioribus angustioribus : sub- 

 alaribus albescentibus : rostro, tarsis, et pedibus fuscis. 

 Long, tot. 5 poll., alae 2"75, tarsi '66, rostri a rictu '5. 

 Hab, Barberton, Transvaal. 



Both specimens were taken on the 16tli Feb., 1894. 

 ['' Irides hazel/' P. Kendall.] 



X. — On Use and Abuse of Generic Terms. By H.B.Tristram, 

 LL.D., D.D., F.R.S. 



I PRESUME it will be universally admitted that no part of 

 the scheme of the great founder of modern natural science 

 is of greater practical value to the student than the 

 binomial system — or, inasmuch as genera are purely ideal, 

 I might more accurately say, the binomial theory of Linnaeus. 

 Yet, though genera are arbitrary divisions, and therefore can 

 be multiplied or diminished at pleasure, it surely does not 

 follow that any author is justified in capriciously adding to 

 their number. 



A genus has been defined to be a re-union of races called 

 species, brought together by a consideration of their relations, 

 and constituting so many small series, limited by characters 

 which are chosen arbitrarily in order to circumscribe them. 

 But, though chosen arbitrarily, they should surely be chosen 

 consistently. Forgetfulness of this principle by writers each 

 of whom has his own idea, or more frequently none at all, of 

 the conception of a genus, has led to the repulsive list of 

 synonyms in barbarous and grotesque compounds, purporting 

 to be derived from the classic tongues, which follow the 

 selected generic name in every ornithological treatise we open. 



