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GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



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For over one hundred years the specific name of gal- 

 lopavo, Linn, has been applied to the common Wild Tur- 

 key of North America (the Melcagris sylvcstris nova: 

 anglicr, of Ray, Av. 51); and by that name, even amonj^ 

 non-scientific persons, it is pretty generally known. 

 The fact as to what particular bird Linnaeus had before 

 him, and which became his type when he wrote the de- 

 scription in the Systema Naturae, — whether one of the 

 domesticated race descended from the Mexican Turkey, 

 or an example of the common North American species, — 

 cannot now be established with any degree of certainty, 

 and whatever change is made in th^ nomenclature of the 

 Wild Turkeys can have no solid foundation to rest upon. 

 But in regard to this point, a spirit of unrest is abroad, 

 anvl a new shuffle of the synonomy is attempted, and 

 among some ornithologists our northern bird is called 

 americana, a name without a description, given by Bar- 

 tram (Travels, 1791, p. 290), and by others sylvestris 

 (Viell. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., 1817, vol. ix. p. 447), a 

 name taken from Ray, /. c, while the long employed and 

 familiar term of gallopavo is made to do service for the 

 White-rumped Mexican bird. It is of little consequence 

 by what name a species is called, provided it is one 

 accepted generally by ornithologists; and a change 

 should not be made unless it can be conclusively proved 

 that the name in use has been incorrectly adopted. It 

 is not apparent that in this instance it can be proved that 

 this has been the case, and the question then becomes 

 one of individual opinion when a change is agitated. 



In a popular work, such as this book pretends to be, 

 the principal effort should be to furnish its readers with 

 the latest information on the subject of which it treats, 

 and to give the reasons, when possible, why any changes 

 are made, especially in the cases of long-accepted and 



