°' 191 g J Recent Literature. 491 



hands and some twenty pages are devoted to a history of the nomenclature 

 of the group and the relationship of the species. No less than fourteen 

 new genera of Kingfishers are proposed so that with those previously 

 available every really distinct species must now be provided with a generic 

 name. It is not for us to criticise Mr. Mathews' work for upon the stand- 

 ards now prevailing in other families, this subdivision is apparently perfectly 

 justifiable if one desires to be consistent, but it only goes to prove that the 

 utility of the generic name is being reduced to nil and it would seem that 

 the time is not far distant when we must begin the reverse process of group- 

 ing ' natural genera ' together into ' genera de convenience ' if the first term 

 of our technical names is to mean anything more than the second. The 

 more we use generic nomenclature to designate facts in differentiation the 

 less use it becomes as a means of indicating to some one else what we are 

 talking about. 



In the discussion of Syma torotoro three new subspecies are described 

 from New Guinea while one new race of Dacelo leachii from Australia and 

 one from New Guinea are described. Monarchalcyon cyanocephalus Sharpe 

 is renamed Dacelalcyon confusus. — W. S. 



Grinnell on the Name of the American Barn Swallow. 1 — Dr. 



Grinnell has brought up in this note a matter of no little importance. The 

 Barn Swallow was originally described as Hirundo erythrogaster. In the 

 first edition of the A. O. U. ' Check-List ' it appears as Chelidon erythrogaster 

 although Dr. Stejneger in referring it to this genus had written it erythro- 

 gastra. In the second edition where it is still referred to Chelidon and in 

 the third where it is put back into Hirundo the feminized form erythrogastra 

 is used. Recently Dr. Oberholser has claimed that the proper feminine of 

 gaster is gastris and writes it erythrogastris and finally comes Dr. Grinnell 

 with the explanation that the word is not an adjective at all but a noun 

 and therefore should retain its original form erythrogaster under all circum- 

 stances. He seems to be absolutely right and the action of the original 

 A. O. U. Committee should be upheld. In spite of all this Dr. Elliot Coues 

 always employed erythrogastra and in commenting upon the form Chelidon 

 erythrogaster said "wrong for genus and wrong for gender." It would be 

 interesting to know what his argument in the case would be. It is perhaps 

 one where even Latin experts will disagree. 



A glance at the index to Sharpe's 'Hand-List of Birds' shows many 

 discrepancies in handling such cases. Both -gaster and -gastra are used 

 with feminine genera, -venter with both masculine and neuter and -ventris 

 with masculine and feminine. So there seems much to correct no matter 

 what view we adopt. Drs. Grinnell and Oberholser have apparently 

 discovered another 'mare's nest' for the nomenclatorist. — W. S. 



1 The Name of the American Barn Swallow. By J. Grinnell. The Condor, XX, p. 92, 

 March 19, 1918. 



