THE OSPREY. 



I ■.':. 



to specific rank, gave a new one. This was the 

 general usage till comparatively lately, both in 

 zoology and botany. Asa Gray, for example, 

 pursued such a course to the end of his career: 

 in fact, the old authors generally gave names 

 to varieties as qualifying subordinate terms 

 rather than as quasi-specific names. Thus, 

 Gmelin's Falco haliaetos y carolinensis was the 

 Carolinian variety and the Falco haliaetos S 

 cayennensis the Cayenne variety of the species. 



This is the logical sequence of the words used 

 by Gnielin, but. as all familiar with the Lin- 

 nian literature know, such names were not 

 given in regular sequence but in the margin, 

 thus: 2i> [=number of species]. 



Haliaetos. 26 



arundinaceus /i 



carolinensis y 



cayennensis S 



the species being- numbered and the variants 

 indicated by Greek letters only. 



Under such circumstances, some might still 

 consider that the varietal names should not be 

 used in a specific sense and consequently that 

 a name given later to an American form by 

 Viellot should be used instead. Hut the name 

 given to Gnielin was fortified subsequently by 

 Daudin. 



Daudin, in 1800, in his Traite Elementaire 

 (ii, 69), expressed specific and subspecific ideas in 

 nearly the same manner as some modern natu- 

 ralists. Thus he treats the (Isprey in the follow- 

 ing manner: 



p. 07. 



xxxvi, Aigle balbusard Falco hahcetus. 

 p. i," 



Voici les varietes du Balbusard. 



A. Balbusard des roseaux. Falco arundi- 

 naceus. 



B. Balbusard de la Caroline. Falco caro- 

 linensis. 



C. Balbusard de Cayenne. Filco cayen- 

 nensis. 



It is, then, the second name cayennensis that 

 will have to be replaced and the Leptodon 

 may be designated as (hlontrioi cliis palliatus, 

 the later name Falco palliatus of Prince Max 

 coming into use. Leptodon, it may be added, 

 cannot be used for the accipitrine genus as it 

 had long before its use in ornithology been pre- 

 occupied in conchologv by Rafinesque (in ls2n . 



The name carolinensis was first used with full 

 specific rank for the American bird by Charles 

 Bbnaparte in 1838. He had been preceded, how- 

 ever, in the differentiation of that form as a 

 species by Viellot in 1807. 



3. The Australian < Isprey was first differen- 

 tiated in 1838 by John Gould and the name Pan- 

 dion leucocephalus given to it. 



4. An insular Osprey occurring only in tin 

 Bahama Islands was distinguished by Mr. C. J. 



Maynard in 18x7 as a peculiar species under the 

 name Pandion ridgwayi. No specimens are in 

 the National Museum and I have been unable to 

 examine a specimen but Mr. Robert Ridgway, 

 who saw the type many years ago. thinks it is a 

 well marked form entitled to subspecific rank at 

 least. 



As the only notice of this form was published 

 in a periodical of extremely limited circulation 

 and which, indeed, is not in any library I have 

 examined, it is reproduced here with the exact 

 words and punctuation of the original. 



"BAHAMA FISH HAWK. 



"Pandion ridgwayi. Head and neck all round 

 entire lower parts white, excepting a narrow 

 line of dusky back of eye. and a slight streak- 

 ing of brownish on top of head, between eyes, 

 above rather pale brown, each feather margined 

 with lighter. Bill and cere dark bluish, iris 

 yellow, feet pale blue: dimensions, wings. .17: 

 bill, 1.35; tarcus [tarsus] , 2.35. Single specimen 

 obtained at Andros. but I saw others similar." 



The descriptive notice appears in "Tin' 

 American Exchange and Mart and Household 

 Journal." a quarto weekly periodical published 

 at Boston and New York for "5 cents" a number. 

 Its circulation among naturalists was certainly 

 limited, for I have been able to learn of only a 

 single copy in any naturalist's possession, that 

 owned by Mr. J. H. Riley kindly lent by him 

 for the present occasion. Nevertheless, on the 

 front page, it is claimed for the "circulation of 

 the Exchange and Mart for 1887, not less than 

 300,000 copies guaranteed"! It was. in fact, an 

 advertising medium circulated to a large extent 

 gratuitously. 



It seems that the notice of Pandion ridgwayi 

 and four other species appeared twice in this 

 periodical; first in the issue of January Is. Iss7. 

 and again, in amended form, in that for Feb- 

 ruary 5, 1887. 



Tile first issue I have been unable to consult, 

 but it appears to have been full of typographi- 

 cal errors and to correct them the second edition 

 w .i s published. 



The article in which the amended notice of 

 Pandion appears is entitled: "Corrected Descrip- 

 tions of tiye new species of birds from the Baha- 

 mas." the five being Pandion ridgwayi, Rallus 

 Coryi, Chamaepelia Bahamensis, Ammodromus 

 australis and Geothlypis restricta. It appears. 

 from an editorial notice ip. 70), that "owing- to 

 the numerous typographical errors in the de- 

 scription of new species of Bahama birds in the 

 edition of January 15th, the reprint was deemed 

 necessary. As will be evident from the descrip- 

 tion of Pandion ridgwayi, considerable rectifica- 

 tion still remained to be done. 



( To he Continued.) 



