376 APPENDIX. 



Flammea flammea. The name "flammea " first appears in the 

 12th edition of Linnaeus, and the description given by 

 him certainly refers to the Barn-Owl and not to the 

 Tawny Owl or Short-eared Owl, although the first 

 reference to no. 73 of the ' Fauna Suecica' appears to 

 refer to another bird, perhaps one of the two last-named. 



Linnaeus' name Strix flammea is, however, invalidated 

 by the use of the same name by Pontoppidan (Danske 

 Atlas, i. 1763, p. 617) for the Short-eared Owl. 



The next oldest name for the Barn-Owl is Strix alia 

 Scopoii (Ann. i. Hist-Nat. 1769, p. 21), and this has been 

 adopted by recent authors who adhere to strict priority. 



The Committee have decided that this is a case where 

 the old and well-known name ofjlammea " may well 

 be conserved for the Barn-Owl and not transferred to 

 the Short-eared Owl, as would be the case if the inter- 

 national rules of priority were followed out. 



Genus ASIO. Type by tautonymy : A. asio Briss. = yi. of us 

 (Linn.). 



Asio accipitrinus. The oldest name for the Short-eared Owl 

 is Strix flammea Pontoppidan (Danske, Atlas, i. 1763, 

 p. 617). As, however, the Committee have decided to 

 use the name ^ flammea " for the Barn-Owl, as already 

 explained, it has been necessary to conserve Pallas' name 

 " accipitrimu," dating from 1771, for this species. This 

 name antedates Strix bracliyotos Forster, 1772, used in 

 the 1st edition of the List. 



Genus STRIX. The type of the genus Strix has by most 

 English authors been considered to be S. flammea of the 

 12th edition of Linnaeus. 



This species, however, is not found in the 10th edition, 

 so that it is necessary to find a type among the species 

 which are included in that edition. 



An examination of Linnaeus' descriptions and syno- 

 nomv shows that the Strix of the older authors is Strix 



