Obituary. 291 



however^ that Micropus is not likely to enjoy a long reign. 

 In the last number of the ' Ornithologische Monatsberichte,' 

 Dr. Reichenow advocates a return to the still more ancient 

 term Apus, of Scopoli, for the Swifts. Apus, of Scopoli 

 (1777), has hitherto been passed over, because it has been 

 stated that the same name had been proposed by Pallas in 

 1776 for a genus of Crustacea. But it now seems that this 

 was an error, and that the term Apus is not to be found in 

 Pallas's writings. It was used by Schaffer in 1756, but 

 that was in pre-Linnean days, and does not bar its subse- 

 quent employment. The advocates of unmitigated priority 

 will therefore, no doubt, proceed to call the Common Swift 

 " Apus apus," and the family " Apodid^ " : Dr. Reichenow 

 suggests " Macropterygidae," but we do not see how this 

 could be justified. We venture the opinion that it 

 would be more reasonable not to change the name Cypselus, 

 which has been in constant use for the Swifts for many years, 

 and is certainly neither the name of a plant nor of a Crus- 

 tacean. We all know what is meant by " Cypselus," and 

 this is the earliest name for the Swifts to which there is no 

 serious objection. 



XXIII. — Obituary. — Herr H. Gatke, Major C. E. Bendire, 

 and William Graham. 



Heinrich Gatke. — We greatly regret to announce the death, 

 on January 1st, of this distinguished Honorary Member of 

 the British Ornithologists^ Union, in his home on the Ober- 

 laud, in sea-girt Heligoland, at the advanced age of 84;. 



Herr Gatke was born on the 19th of May, 1813, in a 

 small town of the Mark of Brandenburg, and it was his 

 desire to become a marine painter which first induced him 

 to visit the island, where eventually he married and settled 

 down for the remainder of his life. Subsequently, during 

 the time of the English occupation, he held an important 

 official post under the Governor. It was his outdoor work 

 as a painter which brought him into touch with the 



