iS8s.] Stejneger, Analectd Ortiithologica. l8l 



ted and blended with rufous brown, with here and there a mixture 



grisco-fusco ct hinc inde 



of ash-colour and a little portion of gray on the wings : above the eyes 



cinereo-varius area oculorum 



on each side, and behind the neck, a few orange spots : under the eyes 



ct cervice aurantiis maculis varia; gcnae ex 



cinereous brown : on the chin a white triangular spot .... beneath 



cinereo fuscae; mevti macula trigona alba subtus 



reddish white, crossed with dusky streaks: quills dusky; the five first 

 ex rubesce?ite albus transversim striatus\ remiges atrae, j primae 

 marked about the middle with a spot of white, occupying both webs, 



circa medium 

 except on the first, in which it is seen only on the inner : tail not unlike 

 the quills; the two outer feathers marked with a spot of white near the 

 rectrices extimae prope apicem macula alba notatae; 

 end : legs flesh-colour." 

 pedes incarnati.~\ 

 This description allows of only one interpretation : it refers 

 solely to the Nighthawk. From this Gmelin got his diagnosis 

 and description, as the interlineation of his Latin translation in 

 the text above conclusively proves, and we may add that his 

 account of the habits, etc., is likewise only a translation of that 

 given by Latham. Gmelin's name, consequently, is based exclu- 

 sively upon specimens of the Nighthawk. 



It may now be regarded as fairly proven that Capriniulgus 

 virginianus Gmel. (178S) is the earliest and most correct name 

 of the bird subsequently (1807) called C. popetue by Vieillot. 

 I have enlarged considerably upon this question, not because I 

 " take a special delight in bringing forward" these changes 

 (cf. Ibis, 1884, p. 453), but because I want these deplorable 

 changes of our ornithological nomenclature stopped ; because 

 I do not want to draw straws as to what name I am going to 

 apply to the birds I treat of; because I find the ' Anctorum plu- 

 rimorum ' principle utterly unreliable, as is well shown by the 

 present example. Besides, I thought it useful to have the 

 question indicated in the heading of the present article settled 

 beyond even a shadow of doubt. That this is necessary will 

 be understood from a cursory summary of the changes the 

 systematic name of the Nighthawk has suffered under the hands 

 of our most prominent ornithologists. It was called virginia- 

 nus by Swainson and Richardson, Nutall, and Audubon ; Bona- 

 parte turned from popetue to virginianus ; Baird. Ridgway. 



