195 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



The Birds of North and Middle America. By Robert Ridgway. 

 Part II. Fain. Tanagridse, Icteridse, Ccerebidse, and 

 Mniotiltidse. Washington : Government Printing Office. 



In ' The Zoologist' for 1902 (p. 154) we had the pleasure of 

 giving a short notice of the first volume of this extensive work. 

 The second volume has recently reached us, and exhibits the 

 same erudition, analysis, and completeness in reference and 

 synonymy as its predecessor. But will a final word in nomen- 

 clature ever be accepted ? Ornithologists are not alone to-day 

 in the peculiar position of knowing practically all about a species, 

 but with no certain rule as to its scientific name. We will take 

 the Rose-throated Tanager as an example. The ' Biologia Cen- 

 trali- Americana ' cannot be considered an ancient work ; most 

 of us thought its nomenclature had reached maturity, and in it 

 Salvin and Godman, in agreement with Mr. Ridgway in 1873, 

 called this bird Pyranga roseigular'is. Now Mr. Ridgway entitles 

 it " Piranga roseo-gularis roseo-gularis." Do we really gain by 

 this mixture of archaism and modernness ? We do not accuse 

 the author of inconsistency ; he has chosen his rule, and he 

 faithfully follows it ; his book is too important to be neglected ; 

 his authority too great to be ignored ; but what name is a con- 

 scientious curator of an ornithological gallery to adopt, or a 

 bewildered writer on general zoology to follow ? Entomology is 

 in the same condition. Douglas Jerrold, once writing to Dickens 

 from Bath — or perhaps the names should be reversed, for we 

 have not a handy reference — described that valetudinarian stone- 

 built city as exhibiting a people who had risen from the dead, and 

 built their houses with their tombstones. This archaic process 

 in scientific nomenclature recalls that operation. 



