1878.] MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE GENUS PTILOPUS. 507 



1877. Finsch, in the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 

 London.' 



Pt. fasciatus, Peale, described as Vt. ponapensis. 



1878. D. G. Elliot, 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History.' 

 Pt. pictiventris described. Species 71. 



As the term " purpuratus " has been applied to so many different 

 species by authors, it occurs to me that it may be useful if I give a 

 list of these, referring each one to the species for which it was in- 

 tended. For the reasons given in the article on Pt. purpuratus of 

 this paper, I accept for this term the species so designated in 1829 

 by Wagler, considering that the purpuratus of Gmelin should be re- 

 jected from the nomenclature of the group as not representing any 

 known species, but one formed from the characters possessed by two 

 distinct ones. 



(1813) Columba purpurata (prera. var.), Temm. Pig. & Gall. 



torn. i. p. 282 —Pt. regina, Swains. 



(1813) „ „ Temin. Pig. & Gall. torn. i. p. 280 =Pt. ewingii, Gould. 

 (1821-34) „ „ Jard. & Selby, Illustr. Zool. 



vol. ii. pi. 70 =Pt. regina, Swains. 



(1824) „ „ Temm. Plan. Col. livr. 43 = Pt. xanthogaster, Wagl. 



(1826) Ptikmopus purpuratus, Steph. Cont. Shaw Gen. 



Zool. vol. xiv. p. 277 =Pt. xanthogaster, Wagl. 



(1829) Columba purpurata, Wagl. Isis, p. 742 =Pf. purpuratus, ex Tonga. 



(1835) Ptilinopus purpuratus, Selby, Nat. Libr. toI. v. 



p. 103, pi. 3 —Pt. ewingii, Gould. 



(1844) Ptikmopus purpuratus, Gray, List Birds Brit. Mus. 



p. 2, Gall =Pt. ewingii, Gould. 



(1855) Kurukuru purpuratus, DesMurs & Prev. Voy. Ve- 

 nus, Zool. p. 222 —Pt. taitensis, Less. 



(1857) Ptikpus purpuratus, Bon. Consp. Gen. Av. vol. ii. 



p. 19 =Pt. greyi, Gray. 



(1857) ,, ,, Bon. Iconogr. Pig. pi. xix. adult. = Pt.bonapartei, Gray. 



(1857) „ „ „ „ „ juv. . =Pt. purpuratus, Wagl. 



(1858) Ptikmopus purpuratus, Cass. TJ.S. Expl. Exped. 



Ornith. pi. 30. p. 269 ... =Pt. taitensis, Less. 



(1859) „ „ Gray, List Birds of the 



Trop. Isl =Pt. taitensis, Less. 



(1867) Ptilinopus purpuratus, Finsch & Hartl. Faun. Cen- 



tralpolyn. p. 122 —Pt. taitensis, Less. 



(1873) Ptikpus purpuratus, Schleg. Mus. Pays-B. p. 15 ... =Pt. taitensis, Less. 



Genera. 

 Quite a number of genera have been proposed for these birds ; but 

 only one is necessary. The term Ptilopus was given to them by 

 Swainson in 1825, its derivation being ttt'iXov, -ttovs. Swainson wrote 

 it Ptilonopus, which was afterwards corrected by Strickland in 1841. 

 Various ways of spelling the name of this genus have been adopted, 

 viz. Ptilonopus, Ptilinopus, Ptinilopus !, all of which are incorrect, 

 and should not be used. Ptilopus is an artificial genus, by which I 

 mean to express that the birds placed together in it do not possess 

 any characters common to them all, either of form, structure, or 

 coloration, which will serve to distinguish them from other groups 



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