COUES on the Nomenclature of North American Birds. 97 



second and first; and that therefore, to be consistent, he must either make 

 three genera, or fall back upon Carduelis for all these Goldfinches collect- 

 ively. Mr. Allen and other American writers have already used Astra- 

 galinus in a full generic sense. 



153. Centrophanes lapponicus (Z.) Kaup. 



lo4. Centrophanes pictus (^Sio.) Cab. 



155. Centrophanes ornatus (T'own.t.) Cab. 



156. Rhynchophanes maccowni (Later.) Bd. As Baird exhibited 

 in 1858, there is a good deal of difference among the birds usually grouped 

 with Plectrophanes nivalis, enough to separate them generically in the 

 prevailing fashion. Bonaparte, in 185 7, had taken maccowni out of the 

 entire neighborhood, and placed it near a certain Rkodopechys phaeiiicoptera, 

 as a Loxian of the Montifringilline group (Rev. et Mag. de Zool., IX, 

 1857, p. 161). But this may be going too far. MaccoAvn's Bunting has 

 precisely the habits of C. ornatus, with which it is associated during the 

 breeding season in Dakota and Montana. 



Are words ending in -phanes masculine or feminine? Authors are 

 about equally divided. Cabanis, usually careful in this respect, writes 



C. lapponica and C. pictus on the same page. 



1596. Passerculus sandvicensis (Gm.) Cones. This is the earliest 

 name I know of for any species of Passerculus, or Savanna Sparrow, and 

 must stand for one of them. If savanna of Wilson be judged not specifi- 

 cally different, it should be rated as P. sandvicensis savanna, and so with 

 the other geogi'aphical races of the Passerculus stock, which it is now 

 customary to recognize as varieties of " savanna, Wils." 



161. PocEcetes gramineus (Gm) Baird. The orthography of few 

 names has given more trouble. Baird originally wrote Pooccetes. The 

 etymology is noa, grass, and olKrjTrji, an inhabitant. This would seem to 

 give us Pooscetes, as originally emended by Sclater, I think in 1859. 



165. Ammodramus maritimus (Wils.) Stv. Swainson originally so 

 spelled the name of the genus, and repeated the same orthography on 

 other occasions. I see no necessity to follow Strickland in altering it to 

 Ammodromus. As far as I have dug about the Greek root in this case, the 

 alpha is as correct as the omicron, notwithstanding that we always say 

 hippodrome and dromedary. The same remark applies to similar com- 

 pounds of -dramus or -dromus. 



169. Melospiza fasciata (Cm.) Scott. As Baird hinted in 1858, 



D. W. Scott argued in 1876, and Mr. Ridgway has finally adopted. The 

 Fasciated Finch of Pennant and Latham, otherwise Fringilla fasciata, 

 Gm., is undoubtedly the Song Sparrow. I allude to the species in this 

 connection to remark that, though there is a Greek noun melodia, I know, 

 of no corresponding Latin adjective except melodus, -a, -urn; and that 

 therefore the i is superfluous. Those who do not accept M. fasciata may 

 write M. meloda. 



186. Chondestes grammica (Saij) B. The trivial term was origi- 

 VOL. V. 7 



