146 General Notes. [££ 



Supplementary Note on J. P. Giraud. — Dr. C. W. Richmond has 

 called my attention to another new species proposed in Giraud's ' Birds of 

 long Island,' namely Picvs bairdii on page 178. It is mentioned inci- 

 dentally under the Downy Woodpecker from which it differs in having 

 the upper part of the head red — undoubtedly the young of that species. 

 Dr. Richmond further informs me that Baird refers to this species in the 

 manuscript catalogue of his collection crediting it to Bell. The latter 

 probably intended to publish it but never did so and Giraud in mentioning 

 it merely referred to a name no doubt in circulation among contemporary 

 ornithologists. Unwittingly, however, Giraud has added enough descrip- 

 tion to remove the name from the class of nomina nuda and as it has 

 seventeen years priority over Picvs bairdi Malherbe which is current as 

 the subspecific name of the Texas Woodpecker, Dryobates scalaris bairdi, 

 it precludes the use of the latter. 



As Dr. Oberholser (Proc. IT. S. Nat. Mus. 41, pp. 139-159, 1911) has 

 separated the Texas Woodpecker into several races one of his names will 

 be applicable to this bird if we follow the A. O. U. Check-List in regarding 

 his several races as identical and as cactophilus comes first, the Texas 

 Woodpecker will be known as Dryobates scalaris cactophilus. Should we 

 regard all of Dr. Oberholser's races as tenable as has been done by Mr. 

 Ridgway in his ' Birds of North and Middle America,' then the Mexican 

 form to which he restricted bairdi is without a name and we should suggest 

 that it be called Dryobates scalaris giraudi nom nov. in commemoration of 

 his valuable contribution to Mexican ornithology, it being now satis- 

 factorily proven that most if not all of his "new birds" really came from 

 that country. 



Dr. Richmond states in reference to the types of Giraud's species that 

 they are all in the U. S. National Museum. Those that were supposed to 

 be lost a few years ago had been twice catalogued and their identity tempo- 

 rarily concealed. — Witmek Stone, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila- 

 delphia. 



