INTRODUCTION. vii 



L. rufus in his " History of British Birds," and Lord Lilford, the 

 President of the Union, again changed the name back to L. rutilus 

 (1890-93). Saunders, in the 2nd edition of his "Manual" (1899) 

 used L. pomeranus, but Harting in the 2nd edition of his " Hand- 

 book," changed the name once more to L. rufus. This by no means 

 exhausts the list of names used even by British writers for this 

 unfortunate bird, but it is enough to show how impossible it is to 

 expect agreement without observance of law. Let us hope that 

 under the name of L. senator L. (1758) it may be allowed to rest. 



The Whitethroat used to be called Sylvia cinerea, until Newton, 

 Dresser, and others introduced the name rufa, while several Con- 

 tinental ornithologists began to call it Sylvia sylvia. A careful 

 perusal of the original description, however, shows that the names 

 rufa and sylvia are quite doubtful, and cannot be adopted, while 

 Latham clearly described the species under the name communis. 



The specific names of the Arctic and Long-tailed Skuas have been 

 transposed many times, the Arctic Skua having been called para- 

 siticus by Fleming, Gray, Harting (1872) and others, cepphus by 

 Leach, Richardsoni by MacGillivray, Yarrell (2nd and 3rd editions), 

 Lilford, and Seebohm, crepidatus by Dresser, Harting (1901), Yarrell 

 (4th edition), Saunders, and in the B.O.U. "List." The Long- 

 tailed Skua has been called parasiticus by MacGillivray, Dresser, 

 Yarrell (4th edition), Harting (1901), Saunders, and in the B.O.U. 

 " List," cepphus by Gray, buffoni by Yarrell (2nd and 3rd edition) 

 and Seebohm, crepidatus by Brehm and Naumann, longicaudus by 

 Gould and Harting (1872). 



Many other instances of great confusion of names for one and 

 the same bird might be given, but enough has been said to show 

 that only by the adoption of one code of Rules and by strict 

 adherence to those rules, can uniformity be attained. If our decision 

 upon the name to be used rests on a set of Rules, and is not in any 

 way governed by individual choice or taste, then there must needs 

 be but one correct name and that name must be universally 

 employed. It has been said that uniformity would never be 

 attained. This is, however, not logical, because one name only 

 is the oldest, and the few doubtful cases, and they are few, are 

 being decided upon and cleared up by careful nomenclators, with the 

 help of the International Commission, which discusses doubtful 

 cases, and brings them finally before the International Zoological 

 Congresses for decision. 



