Mr. W. R. Ogilvie- Grant on American Gallina\ 237 



1825, p. 10; pi. 201, and I inadvertently used the term syl- 

 vesiris instead o'i fera in citing the Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 

 ix. 1817, p. 447." 



It is a self-evident fact that Coues never looked up 

 Vieillot^s original reference, as, had he done so, he would 

 have found " silvestris," as cited above. 



Finally, Mr. Elliot puts the finishing touch to tliis statement 

 {cf. Auk, xvi. p. 231). He writes : — "In the same number 

 of '^ The Auk' the name for our northern Turkey has been 

 correctly given as M.fera Vieill., Nouv. Diet. 1817, p. 447, 

 and not M. silvestris Vieill. as given by me in ' Game-Birds.' 

 It may be interesting to state how I came to adopt that name, 

 as Vieillot never described any Turkey as sylvestris .... 

 There was no copy of the ' Nouv. Diet.' available, and I could 

 not delay the printer until I should be able to consult it, so, 

 perforce, contrary to my established custom in such cases, I 

 accepted the citation given in the B. M. Cat. Birds, xxii. 

 p 389, as correct, and was thus led astray." !! 

 , This inaccurate statement needs no further comment. 



I cannot see any objection to the employment of Bartram's 

 name M. americana, for, though he gives no description, the 

 name has been much used and can only refer to the Penn- 

 sylvanian bird. The only alternative is to use Meleagris 

 silvestris Vieill. 



1. Dendrortyx macrourus (op. cit. p. 392). 



Dendrortyx oaxacos Nelson, Auk, xiv. p. 43 (1897) [(^, 

 Totontepec, Oaxaca, Mexico]. 



Dendrortyx macrourus griseipectus Nelson, t. c. p. 44 [J*, 

 Huitzilac, Morelos, Mexico]. 



Dendrortyx macrourus striatus Nelson, t. c. p. 44 [ $ , Chil- 

 pancingo, Guerrero, Mexico] . 



Dendrortyx macrourus dilutus Nelson, 1. c. xvii. p. 254 

 (1900) [Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico]. 



On apparently only four specimens of Dendrortyx — three 

 males and a female from Oaxaca, Morelos, Michoacan, and 

 Guerrero respectively — Mr. Nelson has founded as many new 

 species and subspecies. 



