274 CouES, The Turkey ^Jiestion. \!y^<ty 



withstanding the fact that, as based on the Florida bird, it prob- 

 ably indicates the form now known as AI. g.osceola. 



3. M. palaiva Barton, Med. and Phys. Journ. II, 1806, p. 163, 

 is another name for the United States bird, which may be passed 

 by as restmg on no description. 



4. We next come to M. sylvestrisYi^ihh., Nouv. Diet, d' Hist. 

 n Nat. IX, 1817, p. 447, and J/'.yi'^ra, ViEiLL., Gal. Ois. II, 1825, p. 



10, pi. 201, both belonging to the United States bird, and one of 

 them being tenable for it, if none of the foregoing be available. 



It is thus seen that all the distinctive names of Turkeys belong 

 to the United i ates bird, down to the time when Gould dis- 

 tinguished the othc one ; and that his name is a pure synonym 

 for the Linncean gaJh^ avo after elimination therefrom of our com- 

 mon Wild Turkey, How then can the latter be considered the 

 true gallopavQ, and mexkana be tenable ? 



Inspection of the Linnaean basis of gallopavo will show its 

 thoroughly composite character. The diagnosis, habitat, etc., 

 cover both forms. The first citation is of the Fn, Svec. 1746, p. 

 198, which is of course the domestic bird. The second is Ray, as 

 above noted, which is the New England bird. The third is 

 Albin, 1740, pi. 35, which is the domestic bird. Then under ^ 

 comes the gallopavo of Gesner, Aldrovandus, Belon, Jonston, Wil- 

 lughby, Ray again, and Brisson's pi. 16 — such references to the 

 fathers and patriarchs including of course all Turkeys, though 

 mainly bearing upon the domestic race. Finally, the Linnaean y is 

 the ''gallopavo cristatiis,'" being the crested variety of the domestic 

 bird, as figured by Albin, 1738, pi. 2,Z- 



If I be wrong in this contention, it should be easy to refute me, 

 as I advance no new facts — there are probably none to be found, 

 so well is the whole case already known ; and unless I have for- 

 gotten or overlooked some material point which will reverse my 

 decision, w^e must use M. gallopavo for the Mexican bird, and find 

 some other — I care not whether ajnericana^ palawa, sylvesfris, or 

 /era — for the common wild Turkey of the United States. 



The error in this case is probably traceable to Baird, 1858, 

 when mexkana was adopted ; whence it went into the ' Hist. N. 

 A. Birds' in 1874, as a matter of course, and thence by an easy 

 transition was imported into our 'Check-List'; though I had 

 meanwhile set the matter right in the ' Key ' and elsewhere. 



