240 Hans, Graf von Berlepsch on the 



1. '^Basileuterus vermivorus (Vieill.)/^ auctt. plur. 

 The " Nouv. Diet. vol. ii. p. 278/^ is generally cited as the 



place where Vieillot's name " vermivorus " was first given to 

 this species. But " vol. ii.'^ is a misprint for " vol. xi.'^ where 

 a " Sylvia vermivora, Lath,/^ is described by Vieillot. It 

 would appear that no author can have read Vieillot's descrip- 

 tion since the publication of Lafresnaye and d'Orbigny's 

 ' Synopsis/ where, I think, the term vermivorus was first 

 used for this Basileuterus, and referred to " vol. ii.,'^ instead 

 of *'xi.," of the Nouv, Diet. Nevertheless Dr. Coues, in 

 his most elaborate work on the Birds of the Colorado 

 Valley (p. 212), is an exception. He gives correctly the 

 synonym "Sylvia vermivora, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. xi. (1817) 

 p. 278," and refers it to Helmintherus vermivorus (Gmel.), to 

 which it strictly belongs. Vieillot (/. c.) begins as follows : — 

 " Le Pitpit vermivore, Sylvia vermivora, Lath., pi. 305, des 

 Oiseaux d'Edwards, se trouve dans la Pensylvanie ;" and after 

 having described the Helmintherus at full length, he con- 

 tinues, " c'est le ' demi-fin Mangeur de vers ' de Buff on. II 

 paroit qu^il se trouve aussi au Paraguay, on plutot qu^il y 

 existe une race voisine k laquelle M. de Azara rapporte le 

 ' mangeur de vers,' qu''il appelle ' contre-maitre couronne'.'' II 

 le decrit ainsi," &c. 



Vieillot then describes the latter bird (which is certainly 

 the same as the Basileuterus vennivorus, auct.) after Azara, 

 without giving a name to it. It is therefore quite evident that 

 Vieillot did not give to this Basileuterus a particular name, 

 and that we must find another for it. The next name in 

 priority seems to be Setophaga auricapilla of Swainson, Two 

 Cent., &c., in ' Animals in Menageries ' (1838), p. 293, sp. 41. 

 {Hub. Mexico and Brazil.) Here our species is well de- 

 scribed ; and the name, which is chosen from its similarity in 

 the coloration of the head to Siurus auricapillus, is not 

 inappropriate. It follows that in future the Basileuterus 

 usually termed B. vermivorus (Vieill.) must stand as Basi- 

 leuterus auricapillus (Swains.). 



2. Dacnis cayana (Linn.), auctt. plur. 



The Molacilla cayana of Linnaeus (Syst. Nat. ed. 12, i. p. 336) 



