196 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



for zoological nomenclature the mourning dove was called Columba 

 carolinensis, or later, Zenaidura carolinensis. When the committee 

 of the American Ornithologists' Union appointed to prepare a check- 

 list of North American birds decided to adopt the tenth edition of 

 Linnaeus as the starting point of binomial nomenclature the mourn- 

 ing dove became through this procedure Zenaidura macroura. 68 In 

 1902 William Palmer and J. H. Eiley recognized that the Cuban 

 birds differed from those of the eastern United States in smaller 

 size and named the former Zenaidura macroura bella. G0 They did 

 not discuss the name macroura but accepted it as currently used. 

 Subsequently Bangs reviewed this action, 70 deciding that Columba 

 macroura 1758 applied to the passenger pigeon, which under this 

 became Ectopistes macrowus (Linnaeus), that the North American 

 mourning dove should be called Zenaidura carolinensis carolinensis 

 (Linnaeus) and the West Indian form should be known as Zenaidura 

 carolinensis marginata (Linnaeus). The third edition of the A. O. 

 U. Check-list in 1910 gives Zenaidura macroura macroura as " extra- 

 limital " without comment and uses Zenaidura macroura carolinensis 

 for the continental bird. Kidgway in the seventh volume of the 

 Birds of North and Middle America in 1916 uses macroura for the 

 bird of- the West Indies and carolinensis for the form of eastern 

 North America. From this brief synopsis it is evident that the 

 names of the mourning dove are involved in some confusion. 



The " Long-tailed Dove " of Edwards was described and figured 

 in the first part of his Natural History on page 15, the colored plate 

 facing this page. On page 125, in part two of this work, in a cata- 

 logue of the names of birds that he had described, Edwards refers 

 to it as " Columba, macroura " so that Linnaeus was correct in his 

 citation from Edwards though he does not give the page reference 

 to the Latin name. Edwards states definitely that his specimen of 

 the long-tailed dove was brought " from the West Indies." 



Since two races of the mourning dove have been recognized in the 

 area in question the name macroura has been applied to the Antillean 

 form and carolinensis to the continental bird. In no place, however, 

 does there seem to have been definite assignation of the Linnaean 

 name macroura or definite designation of a type locality. It seems 

 logical to follow current custom in applying macroura to the mourn- 

 ing dove, as though a composite as used by Linnaeus in 1758 the 

 citation of Edwards may be taken as the principal reference since 

 it stands first, and Linnaeus accepted Edwards' Latin name for his 

 species though he did not give the page on which this Latin name 



88 First published by Ridgvvay, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 8, 1885, p. 355. 



69 Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 15, March 5, 1902, p. 33. (Type locality, Mariel, 

 Cuba; type in U. S. National Museum.) 



70 Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 19, February 26, 1906, pp. 43-44. 



