on Mr. G. R. Gray’s ‘ Genera of Birds. 42] 
Is not the name Orthonyx temminckii, Vig., 1826, prior to O. spi- 
nicauda, ‘Tem. ? 
I should have rejoiced had the stern laws of priority allowed the 
appropriate name, Platyurus, Swains., to be retained instead of a name 
so absurdly constructed as Merulazis, Less. Few would discover, 
without being told, that this word is intended as a compound of Me- 
rula and Synallazis. 
Judging from the description, there seems much doubt as to whe- 
ther Sylvia magellanica, Lath., is the same as Scytalopus fuscus, 
Gould. 
For Microura write Micrura; (ov in Greek is always made wu in 
Latin). 
For Ramphocenus write Rhamphocenus. 
_ P.20. Cyanotis, Sw., ought certainly, I think, to come next Re- 
gulus. 
For Cysticola write Cisticola (Cistus and colo). 
Hemipteryx, Sw., should be merged into Cisticola, Less. On com- 
paring specimens of Cisticola schenicola with Hemipteryx textrix, I 
find that the form of the wings and feet exactly agrees, and the 
only structural difference is, that the tail of the former is slightly 
more developed. The wings of Cisticola are quite different from 
those of Drymoica, Sw., though Mr. Swainson unites C. schenicola 
under the latter genus. 
For Cincloramphus write Cinclorhamphus. 
To the Malurine may be added the following well-marked genus, 
which I believe has never yet been named :— 
SpHENa@acus, Strickland, 1841 (o@ny, cuneus, and oiag, guberna- 
culum, rectrix), < Motacilla, Gm., < Malurus, Sw., < Sphenura, 
Licht. Type, S. africanus (Gm.), mihi. Levaill. Ois. Af. pl. 112. 
f.2. Sphenura tibicen, Licht. 
- The differential characters of the genus are,—Beak much com- 
pressed, elevated at the base ; culmen™nearly straight, slightly curved 
down at the tip; gonys ascending in nearly the same degree. ‘Tail 
long, very cuneate; rectrices 12, narrow, pointed, with the webs 
subdecomposed. 
I cannot adopt the name Locustella avicula, Ray, instead of L. 
Rayi, Gould. In the first place Ray does not use the word avicula as 
a specific name, and secondly it has been shown above that we ought 
not to carry the law of priority further back than Linneus. ‘The 
authority of the genus Locustella rests with Gould, though he very 
judiciously selected Ray’s word Locustella for it, 
P.21. I at first thought that the specific name of Acrocephalus 
arundinaceus (L.) would interfere with that of the Reed-Wren 
(Motaciila arundinacea, Gm.); but as there seems to be no doubt 
that the latter bird is the Motacilla salicaria of Linneus, it will 
be called Acrocephalus salicarius (L.), and the former name may 
stand. 
The name Regulus, ‘‘ Ray,” was first used generically by Cuvier. 
The earliest specific name of the Wood-Wren is sibilatrix, so 
