A ROUGH TENTATIVE LIST OF THE BIRDS OF INDIA. 4) 
in later Attic used as feminine, especially when “a hen” was 
talked of, but speaking of birds generally, and taking the whole 
range of Greek literature opvis, Was as a rule treated as 
masculine. Under these circumstances no reasonable objec- 
tion can be raised to treating all such compounds uniformly and 
invariably as masculine, despite the present popular tendency 
to treat most of them as feminine. 
But other words (e.g. rép%é, grus, &e.,) were used absolutely 
indiscriminately at all times as both masculine and feminine, 
and here as some rule is necessary to ensure uniformity, 
I have had to adopt, what the ancients ungallantly termed, 
the nobler gender. 
Some words again are masculine or feminine according as 
you spell them, e.g., Zgialites, masculine, and Zgialitis, femi- 
nine; both forms are equally correct, and we can then only go 
back to the original definition of the genus and see which form 
was used. In this particular case, Boie, who gave the name in 
1822, used the feminine form; Kaup, quite unwarrantably 
changed it to the masculine in 1829. Ihave of course kept it 
as feminine. 
Other words, again, are not really classical, but are only 
formed, often irregularly, on the model of some classical com- 
pound or derivative (e.g. Arboricola), and here the gender can 
only be guessed with reference to that of its supposed prototype 
(in this particular case presumably agricola). Ihave treated 
all generic names ending in cola as masculine, despite the fact 
that most authors treat “ Savicola’” as feminine. 
Others again, perhaps intended to be classical, are_unintelli- 
gible. It is impossible, for instance, to guess what Bonaparte 
meant by the word Chettusia. Agassiz and others seem to 
have supposed that it was intended for a derivative of xairy 
a mane, and have spelt it Chetusia, but it is impossible to arrive 
at this latter by any rule or analogy, and it seems best in this 
and many similar cases to treat the name as a nonsense word, 
merely assuming its feminality from its termination, to secure 
euphony in the specific name. 
The Code rule for converting Greek into Latin words will be 
found quoted, 8S. F., V., 370. To this, as well as other rules, 
I have endeavoured to adhere consistently. 
According to the Code, ov terminal should become wm ; how 
is it that no one hardly is bold enough to give us Malacopterum, 
Trochalopterum, Polyplectrum, §c.? In the majority of cases 
the rule is commonly adhered to; in these and a few other cases 
it is ignored by almost every one. It seems to me that if you 
have a rule you should stick to it, and I have therefore adopt- 
ed in every such case the spelling prescribed by the Code. 
