628 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 433. 



with sole reference to the author in question 

 and his sources of knowledge, and that the 

 operations of subsequent writers are not to be 

 considered. In choosing types for Linnaean 

 genera, we must settle the matter with Lin- 

 naeus himself, considering only his purpose, 

 the knowledge he possessed and the sources 

 whence he drew his information. 



We have rarely any difficulty in indicating 

 the species Linnseus would have chosen had 

 he adopted the idea of type. To a certain ex- 

 tent he did recognize this idea, and he tells 

 us that in each genus his type ' is the best 

 known European or officinal species.' When 

 he took his genera from Tournefort or Artedi, 

 he presumably took the idea of type also, and 

 to find this we may well look back to these 

 earlier and greater naturalists. 



In Linnseus's arrangement, the type was 

 usually placed in the middle of the genus, for 

 he was developing a system of catalogue and 

 record. But nearly all subsequent authors 

 have, under each genus, spoken first of the 

 species they knew best, that which we should 

 call the ' type.' Cuvier and his followers 

 place as the ' chef de file ' the type species or 

 best-known form, describing it fully, letting 

 the other species follow with shorter or com- 

 parative descriptions. Various authors have 

 chosen Linnsean specific names for their 

 genera, the species thus honored being clearly 

 recognizable as the ' type.' 



We may adopt as ;fair some such rule as this : 

 The species first named under the description 

 of a genus shall be regarded as its type unless, 

 as with Linnseus, the context shows that some 

 other species was or would have been chosen 

 by the author, or unless the name of the 

 genus is drawn from a Linnsean or other early 

 specific name. 



To take the first spQcies in all cases, not 

 even excepting the case of Linnseus, would 

 have distinct advantages over the present 

 lack of system or over the confusion arising 

 from the method of elimination or from any 

 other device which throws the responsibility 

 on subsequent usage. 



Da'\id Starr Jordan. 



RIDGWAY S CLASSIFICATION OF THE FALCONI- 

 PORMES. 



Nothing could be more gratifying to the 

 advanced ornithologist than the vindication 

 of Mr. Robert Eidgway's excellent classifica- 

 tion of the diurnal birds of prey through the 

 recent independent researches of foreign in- 

 vestigators. 



However, when Mr. Eidgway seems to think 

 that his arrangement, published 1873-76, ' so 

 radically different from any other, found little 

 favor among ornithologists and has generally 

 become forgotten ' (see Science, IST. S., XVII., 

 March 27, 1903, p. 510), he has evidently 

 overlooked the fact that its essential points 

 have been adopted by practically all his Amer- 

 ican colleagues. 



The American Ornithologists' Union com- 

 mittee- on classification and nomenclature in 

 the spring of 1885, when preparing the now 

 celebrated A. 0. U. check-list of North Amer- 

 ican birds, had to decide what classification 

 to follow. The present writer had then re- 

 cently promulgated a new system of the entire 

 class of birds, and several of the members 

 were in favor of its adoption without modi- 

 fication. The majority, however, believed 

 this to be a too radical departure from the 

 then accepted standards to be palatable to 

 the large number of amateur ornithologists 

 forming the bulk of the A. O. U. member- 

 ship. On the other hand, it was admitted 

 that the Sundevall-Lilljeborg system then in 

 vogue had become too antiquated to serve 

 without serious changes. The writer, who 

 was present by invitation as a consulting 

 member without vote, was then requested to 

 frame a compromise scheme which would 

 eliminate some of the worst features of the 

 old system without deviating too violently 

 from it. The result was the classification 

 still adhered to in the A. O. U. cheek-list. 



The arrangement of the birds of prey in 

 that list is briefly as follows: 



Order RAPTORES. Birds of Prey. 

 Suborder SARCORAMPHI. American Vulture3. 



Familj' CATiiARTiDiE. American Vultures. 



Suborder FALCONES. [Old World] Vultures, 



Falcons, Hawks, Buzzards, Eagles, Kites, 



Harriers, etc. 



