168 



THE OSPREY. 



all, of the species." In other words it is g-iven 

 as an exact synonym of Oia'sca///s. Neverthe- 

 less, while Oi/!sra/ns has been credited with "(_?. 

 versicolor''' as its type, Scap/iidiirus has been 

 changed with "Q. versicolor" as ils type in the 

 Catalogue of the Birds in the British Mnsenm" 

 (xi, 393). 



In his article "On several groups'" [etc.], he 

 characterizes "sixty-four" groups as "new divis- 

 ions" or genera, but of these some were new in 

 range or restriction rather than absolutely, as 

 TyranuHS (Cuvier), Synallaxis (Vieillot), .S"(?.r/- 

 cola (Bechstein), Alaiida (Linnanis), 'J\xi!affra 

 (Linnaeus), Dendrocolaples (Hermann), and Tro- 

 cliiliis (Limutus). By the unfortunate delay in 

 publication of this article, the range and type of 

 two of the g-enera (Atiniiodi-aiims -amA Cviia)illi!(s) 

 are affected. 



Of the new nominal genera, fourteen are repre- 

 sented in the North American fauna, viz: 

 Orpheus, Triclias, Sylvicola , J'cri/rivora, Seiurus, 

 Sialia, Spermophila, A)iiinodi-amus Guiraca, 

 Dolichonyx, Colaples, Scloplia,^a, Chcenicpclia, 

 and Eclopistes. Two others, Pliliogouys or Plilo- 

 go>ialits and Tyrannula. were for a time adopted 

 for certain birds of the United States, but erro- 

 neously. 



But a number of these genera were "really 

 new" only to Swainson. Some of them had 

 been previouslj^ named before, unknown to the 

 English naturalist, or the names given to them 

 had been used earlier. 



Those named before were Orpheus (=Miiiitis 

 Boie, 1826), Vermivora (=Heliiiillicros Rafines- 

 que, 1819), and Chiemepelia [=Coltn)ibigalli>ia, 

 Boie, 1826). 



Those whose names had been already taken 

 for other genera are Triclias (riot of Gloger, 

 1827) and Sylvicola (not of Harris, 1782). Tri- 

 clias was first used by Gloger only a couple of 

 months (March) before Swainson. 



Several of these names were badly formed: 

 Clucnicpclia should have been written Cliaiiuc- 

 pclia, and Aiiiiiiodiauiiis Ainmodrouiiis. Clioii- 

 destes would have been better at least as Clion- 

 dresles but, even thus bettered, it would not be 

 entirely' correct: Cliondredestes would convey 

 what was meant. Swainson manifested in the 

 formation of these names his usual philolo- 

 gical weakness. 



Otherwise, not one of his lapses was descred- 

 itable to him. When he wrote his articles. 

 Bole's had not been published, and communica- 

 tion with Germany was not as easy then as 

 now. Some naturalists still adhere to his name 

 (in the correct form Chaincepelia) for the Ground 

 Dove. Salvadori,* remarks, that ^^Coliimhigal- 

 lina, Boie, a long, badly constructed name, 

 without generic characters, ought not to super- 

 sede Clianurpclia, Sw." We niaN- sympathise 

 with the sentiment of Salvadori. but it will be 

 better to adhere to the rules of nomenclature 

 and follow the American Ornithologists' Union 

 in adopting Colunibigallina. Rafinesque's name 

 Helmitlicros was published in an obscure jour- 

 nal in which such matters would scarcelj' be 

 sought for. 



MHKTINO OK SWAINSOX AND AUDUBON. 



One of the most interesting episodes in the 

 life of Swainson — interesting especially to 

 American ornithologists — was the intercourse 

 between the British naturalist and Audubon. 

 This began in 1828. Swainson was thirty-nine 

 and Audubon forty-eight years old. The former 

 had been settled alxuit two years at Titten- 

 hanger Green, and the latter had been resident 

 about as long- in England on his first visit. 



Audubon, in the winter of 1825-6. had resided 

 in Bayou Sara, Louisiana, and given "lessons 

 in dancing" to some young ladies under his 

 wife's care, and "lessons in fencing" to some 

 youths, "and was so successful that the residents 

 of Woodville, fifteen miles distant, eng-aged him 

 for Friday and Saturday of each week, and here 

 he had over sixty pupils." It seems that "these 

 lessons continued three months, and were in 

 every sense a success," Audubon realizing about 

 S2, 000 from his winter's work. With this and "the 

 greater part of the saving's of his wife," he "left 

 New Orleans for England" on "the 26th April, 

 1826," to see about the publication of his work. 

 Of course he took his drawings and paintings. 



Most of his time was spent in Scotland, but 

 he was in London in April, 1828, and J. C. 

 Loudon, the editor of a scientific journal just 

 about to be started, called upon him and "said 

 he was anxious to have a review of [Audubon's] 

 work in hir, magazine, and would write to Mr. 

 Wm. Swainson, a naturalist and friend of Dr. 

 Traill's, [a friend of Audubon,] to do so." 

 The willingness of Swainson to write the review 

 was manifested by an article (dated Titten- 

 hanger Green, April 11, 1828) contributed to 

 the first (May) number of "The Magazine of 

 Natural History-" published very soon after- 

 wards. Swainson, it seems, had never seen 

 Audubon, and borrowed the plates he noticed. 

 He speaks of them in the highest terms, and 

 finds no fault. He selects, for special comment, 

 plates 6 (Wild Turkev), 7 (Purple Grakles), 7 

 ("The Bird of Washington"), 12 (Baltimore 

 Oriole), 16 (Great-footed Falcon), 17, 21, 22, 25, 

 26 and 27. 



Although Swainson had not seen Audubon 

 when he wrote the notice of his plates, he soon 

 afterwards took means to do so. In "the after- 

 noon" of April 17, Audubon "received a letter 

 from Mr. William Swainson, inviting [him] to 

 spend a day with him." 



Preliminaries having been settled, Audubon 

 proposed to pay a visit to Swainson on the 21st 

 of April, 1828, but the "weather was shocking-"; 

 the coachman he would hire told him "it would 

 be madness to go that day, as his house lay off 

 from the main road fully five miles, and it was 

 a difticult place to find: moreover, the country', 

 he said was STciiinniiig."]- Consequenth' he 

 deferred his visit till the 28th of May when he 

 reached the place and remained there till the 1st 

 of June. He finds that "Mr. and Mrs. Swainson 

 have a charming home." He considers "Mr. 

 Swainson a superior man indeed" and thinks 

 "Mrs. Swainson plays well on the piano, is 



*Birds Brit. Mus., xxi, 472, I893. 

 tAudubon and his Journals, i, 296. 



