ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 67 



not a simple species, and should, therefore, as such, have a com- 

 pound and not a simple name." The propriety of this must, I 

 think, impress every one, but in endeavoring to carry out liis plan 

 in the present instance I have experienced a serious ditficulty. 



In naming hybrid forms Mr. Collett makes use of the generic title 

 of the male parent alone, the 'Woinjoound" part being made up 

 from the specific appellations of both parents. Thus he calls the 

 offspring of the male Ptarmigan {Lagopns albvs), paired with the 

 female Black Grouse {Tetrao tetrix), Lagopus tetrici-albus, the numer- 

 ous recorded facts at his disposal enabling him to decide upon the 

 respective specific relation of both parents with almost absolute cer- 

 tainty. But in the present case the entire absence of any facts 

 bearing upon this part of the problem reduces me to the somewhat 

 dangei'ous limits of mere conjecture, or, what is little better, the 

 relative preponderance of specific resemblance exhibited by the speci- 

 men before me. Not to weary the reader by a too exhaustive pre- 

 liminary discussion of detail, I will restrict myself to the simple 

 statement that after careful examination I believe the hybrid 

 Grouse about to be described the offspring of a connection between 

 Cupidonia ciqndo, male, and Pedicecetes ^>/ias^a^ie^/«s var. columbi- 

 anus, female, and I accoi'dingly bestow upon it, provisionally, the 

 compound name Cupidonia cupiidini-columhiana. 



Distinctive Characters. — Adult male, from a specimen in my col- 

 lection, obtained in Iowa. Size and general proportions of Pedioscetes 

 phasianellus var columbianus. Tail of sixteen feathers exclusive of tico 

 central projecting ones. Tarsi feathered as in Cupidonia. Neck-tufts 1.50 

 inches long. Upper tail-coverts coextensive with the rectrices. Above 

 similar to Cupidonia ciipido ; wing-coverts (but not the scapulars) white- 

 spotted, as in Pedioecetes. Breast and sides barred transversely, as in G 

 cupido; abdomen white, sparsely covered with obtuse V-shaped spots of 

 brown. Head, neck, and throat-markings precisely as in C. cupido. Neck- 

 tufts dark bro^vn ; the longer ones not so stiff as those of C. cupido, the 

 shorter dull yellow. Tail generally similar in shape and color to that of 

 C. cicpido, but with a central pair of elongated feathers " with parallel 

 edges and truncated ends," which project .52 of an inch beyond the next 

 pair. These projecting feathers are tipped with light brown like the other 

 rectrices ; subterniinally for the space of about an inch they are solidly 

 black, — anteriorly, with ragged rusty-yellow bars. The outer webs of the 

 outer pair of rectrices are irregularly white. The measurements, taken 

 from the dried specimen, are as follows : Wing, 8.57 ; tail, 3.25, — two 

 central feathers, .52 longer ; bill, depth, .40, length from nostril, .50 ; tar- 

 us, 2.03 ; middle toe, 2.75. 



