3G0 Dr. E. Hartert on tlis new 



used for the Barn-Owl, though it has before been given to 

 another species, and so on ? 



It seems impossible to expect that these thirteen names 

 will find universal sanction, if in so many absolutely similar 

 cases strict priority has been preserved. The reviewer 

 beiieves, however, that, if a united committee of the com- 

 pilers of the B. O. U. List and tlie ' Hand-list,' so far as they 

 were concerned in the nomenclature, were appointed, to 

 draw up a new list of names, universal agreement in the 

 British Isles could be reached. 



In a few instances names of the ^ Hand-list^ have been 

 rightly corrected, the errors in the ' Hand-list ' being due 

 to former combinations or publications which had been 

 overlooked ; such cases are Aquila fusca, Anthus petrosus, 

 and one or two others. 



There are, of course, other discrepancies between tlie 

 new List and the ' Hand-list.^ The limitation of genera is 

 not in all cases the same. This,, however, will always be 

 a point of discussion, and those who were present at the 

 meeting of the B. O. C. in February know best how different 

 the views on genera can be. Here, too, consistency might 

 have been greater than it is. If Carduelis and Spinus, 

 Hierofalco And Falco are separated, why should, then, Casarca 

 be united with Tadorna, and Colceus with Corvus? \i Hiero- 

 fulco is separated from Falco ^ how can Tinnunculus (^Cerch- 

 neis) be united with Falco ? 



No consistency either is shown in the recognition of 

 subspecies. Sitta europcea britannica, Pratincola turquata 

 Idhtrnans, Regulus regulus anglorum^ Prunella modularis 

 occidentalis , Dryobates minor comminutus, Picus viridis plu- 

 vius, and ^giulitis hiaticula major have been rejected — 

 the last not even mentioned — because the committee was 

 unable to recognise the differences of these races. If they 

 could really not distinguish any of these, how were they 

 able to separate Garrulus glandarius rufitergum, Tvrdus 

 philomelos clarkei, Carduelis carduelis britannica, Alelizo- 

 philus undatus dartfordiensis, Plnjlloscopus trochi/us evers- 

 manni, P. collybita abietinus, Cinclus cinclus britannicuSj 



