Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 147 



Wilson's Black-capped Warbler received the name of Mus- 

 cicapa piisilla also; in tact piisilhi, iiiiiiitta, caroliiiciisis, mel- 

 odia. ritfa, and a few others, seem to have been favorite spe- 

 cific terms with him. Sylz'ia uiiiiiita Prairie Warbler, was 

 antedated by /)r/;</ro/c-(7 discolor (\'ieill.j ; and Miiscicapa uiiii- 

 iita (another Warbler presumal)ly), preoccupied. Mislead by 

 Bartram. the Snowbird (Slate-colored Jnneo) whicli he call- 

 ed Fr/;;,i^/7/(7 iik'nlis, had been for a time confused with Em- 

 bcrLcd ( Plectra pliaiiax) nivalis Snow Buntino*. but the former 

 was chan,^cd to F. hudsonia in the index, \'ol. \*I. W^ilson's 

 specific names were mainly descriptive., and for that reason 

 it is regrettable that more of them are not available. Personal 

 appellation though not a novelty, had not come into vogfue 

 until the time of Bonaparte and Audubon. One can admire 

 the sturdy independence of W'ilson in this respect. One 

 species onl}', which he confidently thought new. did he name 

 in honor of a friend and patron of science; Triiiga hartramia 

 Bartram's Sandpiper, and this proves to be antedated one 

 year by Pechstein's T. loiigicaiida : Lesson, however, in 1831 

 has placed it in a separate genus, which he calls Bartromia, 

 hence we have after ali. Bortraiuia louf^icauda Bartramian 

 Sandpiper. 



- Wilson's lack of enthusiasm in the construction and appli- 

 cation of technical names, lead Bonaparte to publish his 

 Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology,^ 

 in which eight species are renamed, three in honor of the 

 author, none of which stand; Falco 7vilsoui (=:Butco pla- 

 typfcnis). Syl-i'ia li'ilsonii (=SylroJiia (?) uticroccphalaY 

 and Turdiis r^'ilsonii (:=TnrdiiS fiisccscciis) . Of this paper, 

 which was read by the author in installments at the Academy 

 meeting's. Coues has commented as follows : "A critical com- 

 mentary on 227 of Wilson's species, seriatim, and as such, 

 one of the most notable and in some respects the most im- 

 portant of early .\merican papers." And again: "This valu- 

 able critical commentary introduced a new feature — decided 

 change in nomenclature from the sifting and rectification of 



'Jour. Affid. \.it. Sci. riiiln. TTI-V, 1824-2.', 



