6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I39 



pp. 125, 190), where the horned grebe is listed as "Colymbus sive 

 Podicipes minor." Catesby (1731, p. 91) wrote of the pied-billed 

 grebe under the heading "Prodicipes Minor Rostro vario," but he 

 corrected the spelling of the first word in the legend for the plate 

 that faces the text, which is labeled "Podicipes &c." This account 

 by Catesby was the sole basis on which Linnaeus (1758, p. 136) estab- 

 lished his specific name for the pied-billed grebe. And it is here that 

 present-day confusion has its beginning, since Linnaeus called the 

 bird "Colymbus Podiccps," and in citing the reference to Catesby 

 wrote it "Podiceps minor, rostro vario." While he corrected Catesby 's 

 error in spelling he thus made another of his own, which remains 

 in our current name Podilymbus podiceps (Linnaeus) for the pied- 

 billed grebe. Following Linnaeus, John Latham (1787, p. 244) pro- 

 posed the genus Podiceps, in which he included several species of 

 grebes, with basis for the name on Linnaeus, as he makes reference 

 to "Colymbus Lin." The error in spelling was recognized by several 

 early authors, as in a note attributed to Oken (1839, p. 674) and one 

 by Gloger (1854, p. 430). Correct usage for a family name based on 

 Podiceps (—Podicipes) was indicated by Newton (1896, p. 381). 

 That this history, well known up to 40 years or so ago, has been for- 

 gotten by many is shown by recent action of the International Com- 

 mission on Zoological Nomenclature (1957, pp. 300-304) which it 

 appears should have further review. The data supplied by the Com- 

 mittee to Dr. Grensted, as classical adviser, were misleading, as 

 there was no indication for his information that "Podiceps" had been 

 derived from "Podicipes." 



As the terminal root in Podiceps is a contraction of the Latin pes, 

 pedis, it would appear that the correct form for the family name is 

 Podicipedidae (not Podicipidae or Podicipitidae), and for the order 

 Podicipediformes (not Podicipiti formes or Podicipidiformes). 



The Procellariiformes. — Family segregation in this order has been 

 oversimplified in some recent discussions, probably through misunder- 

 standing of the group characters, possibly also through somewhat con- 

 fusing names that have been applied to familial and generic categories. 

 Verheyen (1958, pp. 11-14) has placed the Pelecanoididae in an order 

 with the Alcidae, as indicative that the auk group is allied rather 

 closely to the Procellariiformes. The resemblances that he cites appear 

 due to convergence, as the basic form of the diving petrels is definitely 

 that of the shearwater-petrel group. Aside from this, the Diomedeidae 

 and the Pelecanoididae have been accepted without apparent question, 

 but the remaining species have been combined by some under a single 

 family name. Lowe (1925, pp. 1436-1443) has shown that the genera 



