Vol. XXI 

 iq04 



1 Allen, Megalestris vs. Catharacta. 34'? 



be grateful to their sensibilities ; nor at night, coming to the earth 

 when the rain or storm overtakes them ; nor when a certain kind 

 of food first makes its appearance. Nevertheless all these factors 

 doubtless enter into the problem. Certainly there is a sudden in- 

 crease of foliage-hunting insects when the leaves unfold. The foli- 

 age unfolds when the heat, moisture, and sunshine become favorable. 

 Insectivorus, foliage-inhabiting birds would show little adaptation 

 to their environments if they did not attend the feast spread for 

 them. The food, protection, and grateful temperature are there all 

 at the same time. The birds are there also as sure as the unfold- 

 ing of leaves follows the advent of springtime, and the increase of 

 insects accompanies the unfolding of the leaves, and the predacious 

 insects the development of their prey. Thus natural selection 

 has finally evolved a large number of species of birds with migra- 

 tory habits. 



THE CASE OF MEGALESTRIS VS. CATHARACTA. 



BY J. A. ALLEN. 



It is claimed by Mr. Franz Poche in the ' Ornithologische 

 Monatsberichte ' for February, 1904 (Jahrg. XII, No. 2, p. 23), 

 that the name Catharacta Briinnich, 1764, should replace Afegales- 

 tris Bonaparte, 1856, on the ground of priority, and that Briin- 

 nich's name should be orthographically improved to stand as 

 Catarracta. As this name has, by different authors, been used 

 for several different groups and spelled in many different ways, 

 its history has, in the present connection, considerable interest. 

 It appears to have been first used, in what may be considered a 

 generic sense, by the pre-Linnasan author Moehring in 1752, and 

 in a subsequent edition of his work issued by Nozeman and Vos- 

 maer in 1758. There is necessarily no reference in either edition 

 of Moehring's work to the tenth edition of Linnceus's ' Systema 

 Naturae,' even the second edition being essentially prior to the 

 beginning of the binomial system. Also, Moehring was not a bi- 



