J 38 Trii- Wir.soN Cullktin— Xo. G8 



firing- of the Florida savannas Ijy lightning- or the Indians, 

 It is now considere.d a mythical species. Dr. Allen suggesting 

 that it originated from some facts known to Bartram in con- 

 nection with the ['aid I^^agle and the Caracara becoming mixed 

 in his mind with some of his ideas respecting the King \\\\- 

 tnre of the American tropics. For over a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, Dr. Cones fought for the recognition of some twenty 

 of I'artram's nanies. Imt aside from his polynomial tendencies. 

 so many of his species were impossible of positive identifica- 

 tion, it nuist have been a relief to have the bird scions finally 

 decide adve.rselv and eliminate I'artrani entirely. 



r>arton attempted a concordance of Bartram's list in his 

 iM-agments of Natural History, 17!>!), with no very great suc- 

 cess. It is full of errors and conjectures in respect to the 

 identity of I^artram's s]:)ecies. He was, however, a strict 

 binomialist, and receives recognition wherever he has proper- 

 1\' described a species. Fron-i hini ^^'ilson has undoubtedly 

 taken his I'riiii^iUa niclo(iia^=M dospica iiiclodia. Barton 

 ])laces it with the si:)ecies knov.n to breed in Pennsylvania, 

 and also states: " In mild winters, this bird continues in 

 I 'enns\lvania. associating with the Snowbirds. Does not ap- 

 jjcar to be described." I^-ocrastination and lack of energy 

 most ])r;)bablv robbed I'arton of the title of Father of Amer- 

 ican Ornithology. I lis lamentable lack of concentration drew 

 forth the rather contem]ituous observations from Wilson in a 

 letter to I". A. Michaux. the French naturalist: June (i, 1S12: 

 Dr. liarton has not vet published his (ieneral Zoology, which 

 lie has been announcing, from time to time, for so manv 

 years, ft is much easier to say these things than to do them." 

 Ord states that after the work was ten years in the press, it 

 had advanced no further than fifty-sis ])ag-es in octavo, at the 

 death of the author. " The ]M-inted sheets T have read, not 

 only with satisfaction, but instruction : and cannot forbear 

 exjiressing my regret that an imdertaking, which Dr. Barton 

 certainly knew how to i)erform, and to which his learning was 

 adef|uate, should have been sufifered to perish in embrvo." 



Wilson was not well versed in Latin, in fact there are 



