^°1908^^] Allen, The Generic Names Mycteria and Tantalus. 37 



fr. Greenw.) eastwards, including Chukchi land and Anadyr River 

 (and evidently Alaska), wintering in China. 



Wesenberg, Esthonia, 

 Russia, Oct. 17, 1907. 



THE GENERIC NAMES MYCTERIA AND TANTALUS 



OF LINN.EUS, 1758. 



BY J. A. ALLEN. 



The genera Mycteria and Tantalus of Linnteus, as originally 

 founded (Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 140), were both monotypic, 

 Mycteria having the single species M. americana, and Tantahis the 

 single species T. loculator. Mycteria (No. 74) has precedence, 

 standing above Tantalus (No. 75) on the same page. The names 

 Mycteria americana and Tantalus loculator both unfortunately 

 relate to the same species, as long since pointed out by Lichtenstein, 

 and later by others. 



Mycteria americana Linn, has for its sole basis Marcgrave's 

 Jabiru-guacu, which Lichtenstein states (Abhandl. Berlin Akad. 

 Wiss., Phys. Kl., 1816-1817 [1819], p. 163), on the basis of the 

 original manuscript and drawings, "ist Tantalus Loculator, den 

 die Figur auf p. 200 vorstellt." Tantalus loculator is based on the 

 Wood Pelican {Pelecanus sylvestris on the plate) of Catesby's 

 'Carolina.' As explained by Lichtenstein, and as is evident on 

 inspection, Marcgrave's figures on pages 200 and 201 of his 'His- 

 torifle rerum Naturalium Brasilite' are transposed, so that his figure 

 of the Jabiru is placed on p. 201, in the text relating to the Jabiru- 

 guacu, and the figure of the latter in the text relating to the Jabiru. 

 Linnaeus makes no reference to the Jabiru, which Lichtenstein here 

 (/. c.) named Ciconia mycteria, its first tenable systematic designa- 

 tion. Linnseus was thus misled into identifying the figure of the 

 Jabiru as that of the Jabiru-guacu, he evidently basing his generic 

 diagnosis on the wrongly placed figure of the Jabiru and his specific 

 diagnosis on the description of the Jabiru-guacu, which is the 

 Wood Ibis, his Tantalus loculator. 



