APPENDIX. 367 



Comp. 1800. Tt is founded on " Rouge-gorges." a 

 group-name in the plural. There can be little doubt 

 that Cuvier intended to use the name for the Robin, 

 and in a previous work (' Tableau elementaire,' 1798) 

 by the same author there is a reference to the " Rouge- 

 gorge (M.otacilla rubecula)" 



It would perhaps be difficult to justify the use of the 

 name under the strictest application of the international 

 rules, but it has had such a long and widespread currency 

 that the Committee have decided to retain it in prefer- 

 ence to Dandalus of Boie (Isis, 1826, p. 972), which has 

 been used by Hartert and others of late years. The 

 type is by monotypy E. rubecula. 



Genus LITSCINIA. Luscinia of Forster (Synop. Cat. Brit. Bds. 



1817, p. 14) is undoubtedly the oldest generic name 

 available for the Nightingale. The only species men- 

 tioned by Forster, and therefore the type, is the English 

 or smaller Nightingale (L. megarliynclia). 



The use of Philomela Link (Beschr. Nat. Samm. 

 Rostok, 1806, p. 31) has been suggested, but a reference 

 to the original description will show that this was intro- 

 duced by Link merely as an alternative name to Sylvia 

 of Bechstein, of which it is therefore a synonym. 



Daulias Boie (Isis, 1831, p. 542), used in the former 

 edition of the List, is of much later date. 



Luscinia megarhyncha and L. luscinia. There has been con- 

 siderable confusion about the names of the Western or 

 English Nightingale and the Sprosser or Eastern Night- 

 ingale. As was first noticed by Sharpe (Hand-list, iv. 

 1903, p. 153), the Nightingale described by Linnaeus 

 under the name of Motacilla luscinia, is undoubtedly the 

 Sprosser, the form commonly occurring in Scandinavia, 

 and this name cannot be applied to the English Nightin- 

 gale. The next available name appears to be Brehm's 

 Luscinia megarliyncha* here used. For the Sprosser 

 Linnaeus' name, which antedates E. pliilomela (Bech- 

 stein, Naturg. Deutschl. iv. 1795, p. 530), is available. 



