182 Stejneger, Analecta Ornithologica. [April 



Allen, and others have applied popetue consistently. Coues in 

 the first editions of his 'Key' and the 'Check-list,' as also in 

 the ' Birds of the North West,' uses virginianus, but in the 

 second editions of the two former he adopted popetue. 



The North American species and races should stand thus : 



R- 357- Chordeiles virginianus ( Gm.)Sw.* Nighthawk. 

 357a. Ghordeiles virginianus henryi ( Cass.) Coues. 



Western Nighthawk. 

 357<5. Chordeiles virginianus minor {Cab.) Coues. 



Cuban Nighthawk. 



XXVI. On the Generic Names of the Phalaropes. 



The genus Phalaropus was originally established by Brisson, 

 and made by him to contain both the narrow billed species and 

 the broad billed one. Like all of the earlier writers he omitted 

 to indicate a type, simply for the reason that the usefulness or 

 the necessity of such a thing was not understood at that time. 

 In many cases it may be possible to say with some degree of 

 probability which species the author would have given as type in 

 the modern sense, if it had been the custom of his age to indi- 

 cate it, but the confused nomenclature resulting from such pro- 

 ceedings is the best proof of the insufficiency of the method, and 

 a clear rule to the effect that the first author dividing the genus 

 has the power of designating the type of the restricted parts of 

 it, has been found to be satisfactory in every respect. 



Turning now to the particular case, intimated above, we find that 

 Vieillot, and not Cuvier, as generally supposed, was the first to 

 subdivide Brisson's genus Phalaropus. In his 'Analyse d'une 

 nouvelle Ornithologie elementaire' (Paris, 1S16), Vieillot under- 

 took the division in the following terms (p. 62) : 



" 245. Crymophile, Crymophilus. Tringa, Linn. Gm. Phalaropus, 

 Lath. 



Bee un peu trigone a la base, sillonne en dessus, droit, a la point dilat^e, 

 arrondie et flechie .... 



Esp. Phalarope a festons denteles, Buff. 



246. Phalarope, Phalaropus, Briss. Lath. Tringa, Lin. Gm. 



Bee droit, arrondi, grele, pointu, un peu incline vers le bout. . . . 



Esp. Phalarope cendre, Buff." 



* Chordeiles virginianus SWAINS. Faun. Bor. Am. II, p. 496 (1831). 



