30 BULLETIN OF THE NUT TALL 



2. Name of the Golden-crowxed Thrush. — Originally find 

 usually written cmrocapillus, which should give way to auricapiUus. 

 The word moans simply "gold-hair," i. e., "golden-haired." The 

 point is here : that the ablative oi aurum, "gold," which is auro, is 

 only to be used when the word with which it is compounded is an 

 adjective or participial ; otherwise aim is the correct form. If we 

 were to employ the participial adjective capillatus, it would be correct 

 to say aurocapillatus, i, e., literally and correctly, " haired with 

 gold," auro being the ablafivus instrumenti, that with or by means 

 of which the bird is " haired." So we say rightly aurocristatus, 

 aurostriatus, auropunctatus, crested, streaked, or speckled tvith gold, 

 (color understood), but auriceps, auricollis, Auriparus, etc. So also, 

 if we were to compound wath the adjective aureus, " golden," we 

 should say, e. g., aureicauda, not aiireocaudatus. Either aiireicapillus 

 or auricapillus is correct, but aurocapillus is not. 



3. Name op the Small-billed Water-Thrush. — It is to be 

 noted that Motacilla noveboracensis of Gmelin, 1788, is precisely the 

 same as Motacilla na^via of Boddaert, 1783, both being based upon 

 Planche Enluminee 752, fig. 1, which is the Fauvette tachetee de la 

 Louisiane of Buffon, afterward the Neiv York Warbler of Pennant 

 and Latham. G. R. Gray seems to have observed this fact, but 

 neither he nor any other author, according to my recollection, has 

 acted upon the obvious requirement of the case, namely, that we 

 must say Smrus ncevius (Bodd.), instead of >S'. noveboracensis (Gm.). 

 Very curiously, Gmelin in another place made this species out to be 

 a variety of the Cape May AVarbler, Perissoglossa tigrina ; for, 

 Gmelin's Motacilla tigrina var. /3 (and so, also, Latham's Sylvia 

 tigriyia var. jS) is based exclusively iipon the Ficedula doviinicensis 

 fusca of Brisson, Ornith., iii, 513, which is the Small-billed Water- 

 Thrush. Yieillot, in 1807, noticed this curious circumstance, which 

 authors have generally overlooked, and correctly allocated the 

 synonymy. The name ncevius is unobjectionable, has priority, and 

 must obtain. 



4. Name op the Large-billed Water-Thrush. — This is properly 

 Siurus motacilla (Vieill.), Bp., for the Turdus motacilla, accurately 

 described and recognizably figured by Vieillot in 1807, is unqucs- 



reason, common sense certainly tells us to spell correctly if we can. If we are 

 always to preserve the original forms of names, we must, for example, say Scopo- 

 lax instead of Scolopax — it so stands in LiKN. Syst. Nat. i, 1766, p. 2-12. 



