^°!s^^^] CouES, The Turkey Question. 273 



which is incontestibly descended from the Mexican bird, mainly 

 if not entirely. This is the view taken by most writers, as 

 by Baird in 1858, 1866, and 1874, and endorsed by such high 

 authority as Newton in the following terms (Zool. Rec. V, 1868, 

 p. 102) : " It seems to us that the name gallopavo must be retained 

 for the tame race, and consequently for the species whence it has 

 sprung, having been applied by Linnaeus to the form domesticated 

 in Sweden." 



This is quite true ; but I am willing to recede from the extreme 

 of my position to the length of conceding that there may have 

 been and doubtless were European importations of the United 

 States bird as well as of the Mexican, and that thus both forms 

 may have been actually concerned in the production of the 

 domestic races. This does not alter the nomenclatural aspects 

 of the case one iota ; it simply makes the Linnrean M. gallopavo 

 a composite, to be dealt with by our ordinary rule for such cases ; 

 which is, that the original name of a composite shall be retained 

 for what is left of the compound after a new available name has 

 been bestowed upon any one of its components. I do not doubt 

 that M. gallopavo of Linnaeus 1758 or 1766, covered all the 

 Turkeys that author ever saw or heard of ; and in that case, what 

 was the first tenable name given to distinguish two or more forms, 

 and to which form was such name applied .-' 



Clearly, the United States bird was distinguished from the 

 Linnaian gallopavo by several names, of different authors, long 

 before Gould named the Linnaan residuum mexica/ia. 



1. The first of these is Le Dindon sauvage, Gallopavo sylvestn's, 

 Briss., Orn. I, 1760, p. 162, based exclusively on the New England 

 Wild Turkey, Gallopavo sylvestris Novce Anglm of Ray, Syn. 17 13, 

 p. 51, No. 3. But Brisson was not a binomialist, and his name is 

 unavailable, though it had been already used by Catesby, and was 

 afterward brought up by Le Conte. 



2. Probably the next names for the United States bird are M. 

 americana and M. occidentalis of Bartram, Trav. 1791, p. 290 

 and p. 83. But Bartram, they say, was no binomialist, and I pass 

 him by in this connection ; though my most ardent opponent in 

 Bartram's case, my friend Dr. Allen, has used occidentalis for the 

 New England bird (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 1876, p. 55), not- 



