270 Elliot, Some Genera and Species. \^uU- 



fleshy, as they appear in life, and one is apt to go astray when 

 an opinion is formed upon them as to their generic value, for 

 they are much less pronounced than they are when the animal 

 is alive. These caruncles, unknown in any other Goose, and 

 the structure of the bill very unlike that of other species in the 

 subfamily, are, I maintain, sufficiently divergent structural char- 

 acters to establish a distinct genus. 



In the ' Shore Birds,' I gave the name that should be employed 

 for the Western Willet as Symphemia s. speculifera Pucheran, 

 arriving at this conclusion by an independent investigation, hav- 

 ing forgotten Dr. Allen's very clear and conclusive evidence on 

 this subject published seven years previously (Auk, 1888, p. 423). 

 Had I remembered this, it would have saved me considerable 

 work. This matter, so far as outsiders are aware, has never been 

 acted upon by the Committee ; at least, there has been no verdict 

 announced, and as the Check-List is now in a fair way of being 

 presented in a correct and proper shape, even a matter of this 

 kind should not be permitted to slumber longer. In an article 

 published in the Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 2nd Series, 1851, p. 369, 

 entitled ' Etudes sur les types peu connus du Musee de Paris,' 

 Dr. Pucheran describes as Totanus speculiferus the bird mentioned 

 by Cuvier, Regne Anim., 2d edit., Vol. I, p. 534, in a note, as 

 follows : " Ajoutez au chevaliers ordinaires, Tot. speculiferus, 

 assez semblable au semipalmatus, mais plus haut sur jambes, a 

 bee plus long et a pieds ordinaires." Pucheran gives a detailed 

 description of this specimen, which is not necessary to reproduce 

 here, merely stating that it portrays Mr. Brewster's inomata in 

 winter. He sums up the matter as follows : " Cette espece se dis- 

 tingue; par la longuer de son bee, du Totanus semipalmatus, Tern. 

 Les dimensions du seul individu que possMe la Musk de Paris 

 sont les suivantes : Longueur du bout du bee a l'extremite de la 

 queue (prise directement, le bee £tant fortement tourne a droite) , 

 33 cent. — Id. de la queue (mesuree en dessous), 8 cent. — Id. du 

 tarse, 75 millim. — Id. du doigt medius (rongle y compris), 41 

 millim. — Id. du bee (en suivant la courbure), 66 millim. 



In the opinion of several ornithologists, this bird is the same 

 as Mr. Brewster's subspecies, and that our Check-List is wrong in 

 containing the name of inornata. Fortunately, as the type 



