36 
Ridgway on Objectionable Names of Birds. 
of the first island, started a flock of Black-headed Turnstones ( Strep - 
silas melanocephala ) from a comfortable sun-bath they were enjoying 
on the side of a large rock. A snap shot added a pair of these to 
my bag, and then on, by the Eskimo village on the point to the 
landing. Placing the kyak on a staging, to prevent the Eskimo 
dogs from lunching upon it, I took my spoils to the house, where I 
was greeted by the happy twitter of a family of Swallows ( Hirundo 
horreorum) the new additions to which were just receiving their first 
lesson in aeronautics, and, as is usually the case in the first ven- 
ture of the young members from the home-nest, causing a great 
amount of chattering, without doubt containing much good advice. 
ON CURRENT OBJECTIONABLE NAMES OF NORTH 
AMERICAN BIRDS. 
BY ROBERT RIDGWAY. 
A clause under Rules of the British Association, section 10, pro- 
vides that “ a name whose meaning is glaringly false maybe changed.” 
It is not so much my purpose here to protest against violations of 
this very proper and necessary rule, as to call attention to certain 
inconsistencies in its enforcement. A prominent example is that of 
the American White Pelican. This was named Pelecanus erythro- 
rhynchus by Gmelin in 1788, and P. trachyrhynchus by Latham in 
1790. The former, however, although the earliest name of the spe- 
cies, has been rejected by many authors, on the assumption that the 
bill in this bird is not red, that' of Latham being substituted as 
more appropriate, having reference as it does to the horny excres- 
cence on the culmen peculiar to this species. It should be borne 
in mind/ however, that the bill of this Pelican is red in the breed- 
ing season,* while the horny excrescence upon which the name 
trachyrhynchus is based' characterizes the bird only at the same 
season ! It is therefore perfectly clear that no valid excuse exists 
for discarding Gmelin’s original appellation. 
Among the “inconsistencies” w T hich may be noticed under this 
head are several of importance to students of North American 
* Cf. Orn. 40th Parallel Exp., p. 634. 
