166 



THE OSPREY. 



suspect that some of the long- s\ying:hig- 

 branches which extended out over the rivulet, 

 bore his fragile nest. A pleasant surprise \Yas 

 granted us, when a Kentucky Warbler an- 

 nounced in brilliant tones that there was a 

 birdy-birdA'-birdy-birdv-birdy, in the bush, we 

 believed him and were rewarded for our careful 

 search by seeing him. 



The Kentucky breeds quite abundantly with 

 us in sheltered ravines immediately adjoining 

 the Potomac, and more often in sheltered sit- 

 uations along its rock bound shores. I have 



found them all along from the ravine just men- 

 tioned to above the Great Falls, and consider 

 this sweet, sh3% yea, very seclusive singer, one 

 deserving a special word of praise. 



The Carolina Wren called on us also and left 

 us shortly, seeing that everything was in order, 

 and a Tufted Tit whistled a passing note and 

 then engaged tlie wren in a discussion which 

 sounded very much like Ophelia-Ophelia-Ophe- 

 lia-Ophelia, to which the other responded vigo- 

 rously with Jimmie,-Jimmie,-Jiuimie,-Jimmie. 



WILLIAM SWAINSON AND HIS TIMES.— V. 



By Theodore Gii.r., Washington, D. C. 



{^Continued front pas;e 156.) 



As soon as Swainson and his wife were estab- 

 lished in their new home, he settled down to 

 work. Primarily that work was the Encyclo- 

 peedia of Zoology' in course of preparation for 

 Longman & Co. He continued his original 

 studies, however, especially in ornithology. 



ORNITHOLOGY IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 

 CENTURY. 



As hereinbefore hinted at, the progress of or- 

 nithology was less rapid in England in the first 

 quarter of the century than in France or even 

 than in Germany. Swainson had deplored this 

 backwardness* and so did N. A. Vigors in the 

 introductory remarks of his Sketches in Ornitho- 

 logy.! Therein he proposed to "bring together 

 for the first time in [England] the modern 

 genera that have been established b3' foreigners; 

 for strange to say," says he, "we have no work 

 of English growth on ornithology, which pro 

 fesses to give more than the genera of Linnaeus, 

 with some unimportant additions." He excepts 

 from this general blame his "friend Mr. 

 Stephens, whose introduction of the modern 

 views on ornithology into the last volumes of 

 [the continuation of Shaw's General Zoology] 

 that have come more especially under his care, 

 and whose ability in unfolding them, is deserv- 

 ing of every commendation." He also adds 

 that "the same views, and inore particularly 

 those of M. Cuvier, are to be found briefiy re- 

 ferred to in Dr. Fleming's valuable work on the 

 'Philosophy of Zoology" ". 



Even the principles of subdivision and subor- 

 dination of the groups of birds were in a nearly 

 chaotic condition. For instance, it had become 

 recognized by many that the adoption of a cate- 

 gory between the family and genus would be at 

 least convenient, if not necessary, for the expo- 

 sition of the relations of the genera, but the 

 name for such a category had not become fixed. 

 As early as 1806, indeed, Latreille had intro- 

 duced the term tribe ("tribu") for that group 

 and in 1815 Rafinesque had used the designation 

 subfamil3-("sous-famille"). John Edward Gra^- 



in England had alread)^ used that word, but the 

 ornithologists for a time were undecided. It is 

 noteworthy that Swainson evaded giving a dis- 

 tinctive name to the primary' subdivisions of a 

 family. In his first systematic article* he had 

 five primary sections into which he divided a 

 family — the "family of Laniadje." After cer- 

 tain irrelevant introductory remarks, he pro- 

 ceeded at once to consider those sections without 

 telling what he would call them. Laniame are 

 named (p. 293) but not designated; Thajiino- 

 philiiicr are designated in one place as a "group" 

 (p. 2%), in another (p. 302) as a "tribe," and in 

 a third (p. 300) as a "family," while in one 

 place (p. 299) the Laniado' are called "a tribe." 

 Again, the EdoliatKT are called (p. 300) "the 

 third family of" Laniadae. 



Vigors, in an article immediately following 

 Swainson's entitled 'Sketches in Ornithology," 

 in observations "On the Groups of the Falco- 

 nida;," divided the Falconidas into two typical 

 groups, one ("typical") with two stirpes ("Stirps 

 Accipitrina''' and "Stirps Falconina"" and 

 another {"Adrrra/t/") with three stirpes, f 

 Later, in 1825, in a section of his "Sketches in 

 Ornithology," "on thearrangementof thegenera 

 of Birds," he calls the same groups subfamilies:}. 

 ("Subfam. Aquilina," "Subfam. Accipitrina," 

 "Subfam. Falconina," etc.) Still later, apropos 

 of '■'Stirpes,^' he explains:?; "This term which 

 I at first used as designating the immediately 

 subordinate subdivisions of a family, had been 

 previously employed by Mr. MacLeay, as repre- 

 senting a group of higher value than that of a 

 family. I have consequently altered the term, 

 in my subsequent sketches, into that of sub- 

 family^'. 



Vigors, indeed, in an article in the same num- 

 ber of "the Zoological Journal" which included 

 the first instalment of his "Sketches in Ornitho- 

 logy,"! used the word "Stirps" in the MacLeay an 

 sense. In this article, entitled "Descriptions of 

 some rare, interesting, or hitherto uncharac- 

 terized subjects of zoology." he used the word 

 "Tribus" as a subordinate of order but including 



*Zool. Journ., i, 289-293. 



+Z00I. Journ., i, 30S, 316, Oct. 1824. 



iZool. Journ,, ii, 392. 



§Zool. Journ., ii, 518. 



iJZool. Journ., i, 413-415. 



