578 FRINGILLIDJ;. 



THE propriety of advancing the Linnets, of which there 

 are many species, to generic distinction among the Finches, 

 appears to be admitted by many of the Naturalists of the 

 present day; but the term Linaria, which has latterly been 

 applied to them, has been considered objectionable and even 

 inadmissible, from the circumstance of this word having 

 been employed in Botany more than two hundred years.* 



From the great changes which our Common Linnet un- 

 dergoes at different periods of the year, it was long sup- 

 posed that there were two species included under this name, 

 and the specific terms linota and cannabina were applied to 

 them, as a reference to the synonymes of Pennant, Mon- 

 tagu, and Bewick, here quoted, will show. These seasonal 

 changes and appearances are now better understood, and in 

 the case of our Common Linnet, under consideration, are 

 known to constitute only the summer and winter plumage 

 of the same individual species. It is obviously an advan- 

 tage to combine the two specific words by which the Linnet 

 has hitherto been systematically known, and I therefore 

 adopt the term Linota for the generic term, as proposed by 

 Prince Charles Bonaparte, in his Geographical and Com- 

 parative List of the Birds of Europe and North America. 

 One other additional advantage is also gained ; our Lesser 

 Redpole will still retain the specific name of linaria, by 



* The term Linaria was employed in Botany to distinguish certain 

 species of toadflax, by Fabius Columna, who published in 1616, and this 

 word was probably so used even before that date. It was again made use 

 of by Caspar Bauhim in his Pinax, published in 1671. In 1699 this word 

 was adopted by Tournefort, in his Institutions Rei Herbaria, and the 

 characters of the genus are beautifully illustrated in Tab. 76 of that work ; 

 seven species were then described as belonging to this genus, and the name 

 was continued by Jussieu in his Genera Plantarum, published in 1789. 

 Linneus did not adopt the genus Linaria, but included the species in his 

 genus Antirrhinum; in this arrangement, however, the example of Linneus 

 has not been followed by systematic botanists, who still continue to use and 

 refer to the generic term Linaria. 



