334 Lelters, Extracia, and Notes. [Ibis, 



XIX. — Letter.^, Extracts, and Notes. 



Modem methods in Nomenclature. 



Sir, — Having been a member of tbe Britisli Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union for fifty years — elected in 1868 — I have lived 

 long enough to see many changes in men and manners, and. 

 I regret to say, long enough to see a departure from the 

 methods of studying Ornithology, which I much deplore. 

 For some time past 1 have felt much dissatisfied with the 

 affairs of the Union, and avail myself of the present oppor- 

 tunity to state my reasons. 



(1) I do not like the way in which the Journal is con- 

 ducted on lines at variance with opinions expressed in 

 ' The Ibis List of Birds,' 1915, That volume of 430 pages 

 cost a great deal of money, and was intended to bring about 

 greater uniformity in nomenclature. In this direction it has 

 not succeeded. Neither the Editor nor the contributors to 

 'The Ibis' seem to be bound by it, and names recommended 

 for use are disregarded. To give an example. In a review 

 of Dr. Shufeldt's paper *• On the Osteology and Systematic 

 Position of the Pygopodes " (Ibis, 1904, p. 658), Professor 

 Newton wrote : — 



•• We agree with Dr. Shufeldt that American Ornitholo- 

 gists have made a great disturbance of nomenclature in 

 transposing the name Colymhus from the Divers to the 

 Grebes. Moreover, we consider that the change, like many 

 others proposed, is quite unjustifiable.'' 



In spite of this authoritative opinion, in which I entirely 

 concur, Dr. Hartert and his co-editors, in their ' Hand-list 

 of Birds,' 1912. persist in the transposition of these two 

 generic names. 



The Committee of the B. O. U., in the Appendix to the 

 new 'List of British Birds,' 1915, properly pointed out 

 (p. 399; that Latham in ITST" very definitely adopted 

 Linnaeus's genus Colymhus for the Divers, and proposed 

 Podiceps (rectius Podicipes) for the Grebes, and concluded 

 by expressing the hope '^ that the Check-list Committee of 



