38 1 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



NAMES OF BIRDS. 



In the October ' British Birds ' Mr. Ernst Hartcrt has some 

 notes on various species of British birds. In these he points 

 out that, according to the rule of priority, the scientific name 

 of White's Thrush is not Turdus whitei, nor the later T. varius, 

 but Tttrdns danma aureus. It seems that Holandre described 

 the bird in 1825, as T. aureus. Similarly the Redwing should 

 be called T. miisicus, as it was so described by Linnaeus in 

 1758. The Song-Thrush, being described by Brehm in 1831 

 as T. philomelos, * therefore must henceforth be called by that 

 name.' Similarly, we learn that ' The Black Redstart is now 

 generally known as Ruticilla tithys, but its correct name is 

 Phoenicurus ochruros gibr altar iensis,' and so on. As we have 

 so long known the Song-Thrush as T. musicus, and as it has 

 been so described in thousands of ornithological works, con- 

 fusion can only arise, particularly to future workers, by des- 

 cribing the Redwing as T. musicus, notwithstanding the fact 

 that, according to the law of priority, by T. musicus is meant 

 the Redwing. How are future workers to know whether an 

 author is ' old-fashioned ' or ' new-fashioned ' in his nomen- 

 clature ? Besides, supposing that T. musicus were, by common 

 consent, on account of its prior claim, to be applied to the 

 Redwing in the future, how are we to know but that some 

 ultra-enthusiastic naturalist, poring over some long-forgotten 

 work, may find the Redwing described, still earlier, as Turdus 

 nondamsense, or some such name ? This will mean changing 

 all again, and as for the Black Redstart having for its proper 

 name Phoenicurus ochrurus gibraltariensis, it may be all right, 

 or it may not ; but we prefer Ruticilla tithys. We think that 

 our ornithological friends should fall into line with other 

 zoologists, and waive the strict rule of priority where a name 

 has got a good hold in nomenclature ; otherwise, serious 

 confusion will result. 



NATURE STUDY IN EAST YORKSHIRE. 



The East Riding Nature Study Committee, formed for the 

 encouragement of natural history amongst teachers, held its 

 Annual Meeting and Conference at Bridlington, on October 

 22nd. Mr. W. H. St. Ouintin, an ex-president of the York- 

 shire Naturahsts' Union, presided, and addressed the meeting 

 on the necessity of the preservation of our local flora and 

 fauna. He referred to the many waj's in which plants and 



1910 Nov. 1. — C 



