432 Messrs. G. M. Mathews and Tom Ircdale : 



Acanthisitta chloris granti, subsp. n. North Island Rifleman. 



Diflfers from A. c. chloris in lacking the yellow rump and 

 the yellow coloration of the sides, flanks, and under tail- 

 coverts. 



Range: — North Island (breeding). 



Note: — The nomenclature of this species has received 

 severe handling without much benefit accruing to our 

 knowledge. First as regards the generic name ; it has been 

 mutilated by would-be purists into Acanthidositta ; this has 

 been done through illogical attempts to force meanings out 

 of names irrespective of the author's usage. Agassiz (Index 

 Univ. p. 4, 1846) would appear to have been the first 

 amender, butin the second edition of Buller's 'Birds' (p. 113) 

 we get information for an independent attempt thus : " This 

 has hitherto been written Acanthisitta, but Professor Newton 

 has drawn my attention to the fact of its being erroneous. 

 I have therefore adopted the more classic form of Acan- 

 thidositta, the etymology of which is aKuvdih = crude 

 form of a.KcivOi'i = Carduetis^ and Sitta = Sitta." This 

 absurd reasoning has been accepted by later writers ; but 

 what resemblance has this bird to Carduelis ? Absolutely 

 none. The facts are simple. Owing to its peculiar bill it was 

 at first sight placed in the genus Sitta by Sparrman; when 

 Lafresnaye described it as new, he called it Acanthiza ; then, 

 noting its generic distinction and the Sitta-Vike bill, he made a 

 combination of Acanthiza and Sitta; this was quite a common 

 practice of Lesson and other French ornithologists about 

 that time and consequently no other derivation of the name 

 is necessary than Acanthiza and Sitta. In a similar 

 instance Lafresnaye provided Procelsterna from Procellaria 

 and Sterna. 



Now as to the family name. This species has been classed 

 with Xenicus in the family Xenicida, but as Buller pointed out 

 (Birds NewZeal. 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 108), if this is so the family 

 name should be Acant/iisittidce, but he did not use it. We do 

 not think that there is much relationship between Acanthi- 

 sitta and Xenicus, and the researches of Pycraft also point to 

 the same conclusion. We are, therefore, separating the two 



