Birds. 2727 



nishment on the part of Dr. Wagner (p. 285). As a crowning speci- 

 men, we have from one of the most zealous, and in pictorial talent one 

 of the most eminent of modern ornithologists, the designation — applied 

 to an Australian wader — of Glottis Glottoides (Gould's ' Birds of 

 Australia,' No. 16; p. 298 of Reports). I am unable to see what 

 meaning can, strictly speaking, be conveyed by this name, except it 

 be that the bird to which it is given has to the selfsame bird a re- 

 semblance : and that it has such a resemblance, the most critical 

 spectator into whose presence it comes will scarcely, it is imagined, 

 be inclined to have any doubt. It is somewhat remarkable that to 

 this name Dr. Wagner has appended no mark of astonishment. 



It is not unnatural to ask, whether common sense should not be 

 kept in view in the formation of scientific nomenclature, as well as in 

 any other matter ? But on the supposition that it should, what are 

 we to make of such a name, for example, as Myiobius diadema ? The 

 roots of the generic portion of this name appear to be mnia, ' a fly,' 

 and bios, ' life,' or ' the means of existence ; ' and, if this is the case, 

 the translation is ' the liver on flies a crown,' whereas the meaning in- 

 tended is evidently ' the crowned liver on flies ; ' and on this account, 

 and in order to give anything like sense, the adjective diadematus 

 must be substituted for the substantive diadema (p. 287). Again, 

 what is the meaning of Zosterops dorsalis ? Dorsalis is apparently a 

 barbarous adjective formed from dorsum, ' the back,' and the literal 

 translation of this name would accordingly be ' the girdled-face of, 

 or with, the back.' And to an individual to whom it was given such a 

 translation might very naturally suggest the question, was there ever a 

 bird discovered without a back ? If, as is most likely, it was wished 

 in this case to show, by the specific designation, that the bird has 

 something peculiar about its back, another word should evidently 

 have been compounded for this purpose along with dorsalis (p. 70). 

 If there is any force in these remarks, they are applicable — in a simi- 

 lar manner and to the same extent — to Fulica femoralis, or ' the coot 

 with the thigh ; ' Ardea gutturalis, or ' the heron with the throat ; ' 

 and to OSdicnemus superciliaris, or ' the swollen knee with the eye- 

 brow ' (p. 82). It is perhaps worth while to pause at this last name, 

 GCdicnemus superciliaris. OZdicnemus, as is well known, was given 

 by Linneus, as its specific name, to a bird which he arranged in his 

 genus Otis (Turton's translation of the ' Systema Naturae,' 1806) ; and, 

 by more recent ornithologists, this name has been erected into a dis- 

 tinct genus by itself. The species of which the genus is composed 

 are remarkable for a peculiar appearance about the knee, and this did 



