454 General Notes [.July 



It may be that when the birds feed on refuse or carrion that there is not 

 enough binding material to hold the pellets together for any length of time. 

 Will not some one who lives in Raven territory collect more data? — Ralph 

 Hoffmann, Santa Barbara, California. 



The Purple Grackle at Albany, Georgia. — During the week of 

 April 14 to 22, I was very much interested in observing two pair of Purple 

 Grackles feeding in the residence section of Albany, Ga., within one block 

 of the business district. The four birds frequented this locality only, 

 so far as I was able to learn, during that time and were observed and 

 commented on by a number of people. They were remarkably tame 

 and fed on the lawns within five feet of parties in conversation. Both 

 pairs, so far as I could judge, were in full plumage and attracted con- 

 siderable attention. The locality on which they fed during the entire 

 week did not cover more than two city blocks. We never note these birds 

 in the cities, through this section, which caused my interest. — Peter A. 

 Brannon, Department of Archives, Montgomery, Ala. 



Note on the Generic Names Schiffornis Bonaparte and Scoto- 

 thorus Oberholser. — The generic name Schiffornis was first proposed by 

 Bonaparte (Ateneo Italiano, II, No. 11, August, 1854, p. 314) as follows: 



"34. Schiffornis, Bp.— 74. major, Bp. — 75. turdina Wied. — 76. minor 

 Schiff." 



As Dr. C. E. Hellmayr has already indicated (Genera Avium, IX, 

 1910, p. 24). two of the three specific names originally included — major 

 Bonaparte and minor Schiff — were at that time nomina nuda. The 

 third, "turdina Wied," is readily identifiable as Muscicapa turdina W T ied 

 (Beitr. Naturg. Brasil, III, Abt. 2, 1831, p. 817), which is the type of the 

 genus Scotothorus Oberholser (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1899, p. 208). 

 Dr. Hellmayr concludes that the name Schiffornis as used by Bonaparte 

 in the publication above cited is a nomen nudum, because "two of the 

 three species mentioned (S. major and S. minor) were undescribed at .that 

 time, while the third (S. turdina) belongs to Scotothorus." It seems clear, 

 however, that this disposition of the name is not the correct one, while 

 the two species, S. major and S. minor, being then undescribed, are, of 

 course, not to be considered, the third, S. turdina Wied, which is perfectly 

 tenable, becomes, by virtual monotypy, the type of Schiffornis Bona- 

 parte. Since, furthermore, the name Schiffornis Bonaparte is long ante- 

 rior to Scotothorus Oberholser and has the same species for its type, it 

 must take the place of the latter, and the species and subspecies of that 

 genus stand as follows: 



Schiffornis turdinus turdinus (Wied). 



Schiffornis turdinus wallacii (Sclater and Salvin). 



Schiffornis turdinus olivaceus (Ridgway). 



Schiffornis turdinus amazonus (Sclater). 



