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Recent Literature. [October 



to stability and consistency in things nomenclatural. It is certainly poor 

 philosophy, and worse principle, to go wrong because the majority of 

 one's associates or predecessors have missed the right path. While Mr. 

 Sharpe seems to have by no means warmly embraced the auctorttm plu- 

 r into rum principle of one of his eminent confreres, he shows a tendency to 

 lapse in that direction. If rules of nomenclature are to be otherwise than 

 worse than useless, they must be followed systematically and on all occa- 

 sions, whether their immediate results chance to be agreeable or the 

 reverse. 



In monographs of such extended scope it is doubtless too much to expect 

 that the monographer's rulings will be equally sound at all points, his con- 

 clusions necessarily depending upon the amount of his material in each 

 particular case. Again, specialists having the same material before them 

 may reach different conclusions, consequent upon what may be termed 

 theoretical bias, which may lead to a different interpretation of the same 

 facts; although experience shows that experts working with the same 

 material, and particularly if working together and comparing notes as they 

 proceed, may frequently arrive at practically the same results. It is not, 

 therefore, on the whole surprising that Mr. Sharpe should differ now and 

 then from other authorities in the same field, even in cases where his 

 material is comparatively limited. 



As some of Mr. Sharpe's rulings respecting American birds may be 

 presumed to be of special interest to the the readers of 'The Auk,' they 

 are here presented. Our Barn Swallow {Ilirundo erytkrogastra) is 

 made a subspecies of the European Chimney Swallow (Hit-undo rustica 

 Linn.), the American form being found to extend across Asia to Lake 

 Baikal, and to winter in Burmah. Our bird would therefore stand, in a 

 trinomial system of nomenclature, as Hi run do rustica erytkrogastra. 

 Mr. Sharpe recognizes four subspecies of Ilirundo rustica, besides the H. 

 rustica proper. Our Cliff Swallow is Petrochelidon pyrrhonota (Vieill.), 

 Mr. Sharpe following Sclater and Salvin (1S73) in identifying Vieillot's 

 H. pyrrhonota (1S17) with Say's H. lunifrons (1823). 



Passing to the Warblers, Helminthopkila lutcscens is considered a thor- 

 oughly good species, and surprise is expressed that the "trinomial name 

 of//, celata lutescens should be given to it"; but two possible explanations 

 are offered (p. 245). The ten specimens at Mr. Sharpe's disposal are not 

 deemed by him sufficient to settle the alternatives raised, namely, whether 

 lutescens is a thoroughly good species or whether the bird breeds in the 

 yellow plumage of the first year. In respect to the generic name Panda, 

 Mr. Sharpe observes that if the name Parula must be suppressed because 

 there is a previous genus Parulus, then '•'Pica must be suppressed on 

 account of its resemblance to Picus." Parula and Parulus are known to 

 be the same word, with simply different terminations indicative merely of 

 gender. Pica and Picus may have the same relation, as some author- 

 ities claim, while others maintain that the two words are etymologi- 

 cal ly different. At all events the two cases are not quite parallel, Pica 

 and Picus having been long used in classical Latin to denote respectively 



