Genus— A CCIPITER 
AccrpiTER Brisson, Ornith., Vol. I., p. 310, 
1760 .. .. .. .. .. Type A, nisus. 
Nisus Daudin, in Hist. Nat. Buffon, ed. Didot, 
Quadr., Vol. XIV., p. 220, 1802 (ex 
Lacepede, Tabl. Ois., p. 4, 1799 ; nom. 
nud.) . . . . . . . . . . . . Type A. nisus. 
lerax Vigors, Zool. Journ., Vol. I., p. 328, 
1824 . . . . . . . . . . . . Type A. fringillarius. 
Also spelt — 
Hierax Agassiz, Index Univers., p. 182, 1846. 
Hieraspiza Kaup, Classif. Saugeth. Vogel, p. 116, 
1844 . . . . . . . . . . . . Type A. cmruhscens. 
Also spelt — 
Hieracospiza Agassiz, Index Univers., p. 182, 1846. 
Jeraspizia Kaup, Archiv. fur Naturg., 1850, p. 34. 
Teraspiza Kaup, Proe. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1867, p. 171. 
Hieraspizias Ridgway, Bull. U.S. Geol. Geog. Surv., Vol. II., p. 92, 1876. 
Hiracospizias Heine and Reichenow, Nomencl. Mus. Heine, p. 253, 1890. 
Cooperastur Bonaparte, Rev. Mag. de Zool. 1854, 
p. 538 . . . . . . . . . . . . Type A. cooperii. 
Leptohierax Sundevall, Oefver. Kongl. Vetensk. 
Akad. Forhand, No. 2-, p. 24, 1874 . . Type A. cooperii. 
Smallest Aquiline birds with short bills, long wings, very long tail, 
medium legs and very long middle toe. 
In general characters this genus agrees with the preceding one, but is 
differentiated at once by the peculiar lengthened middle toe. ^ 
The birds classed under Accipiter may not be congeneric when the 
internal structure is critically examined, and a few remarks relative to the 
use of generic names may be here made. At a recent meeting of the 
British Ornithologists’ Club the factor of coloration as a guide to 
generic affinity was discussed. The general opinion of the older school 
of British Ornithologists was voiced as a confirmation of the dictum of 
Linne, which has been translated : “ Species are real, genera ideal.” 
However, while accepting this Linnean dictum, which can be scarcely 
applicable in its orginal sense, in the twentieth century, the majority of 
the speakers argued that genera were simply matters of convenience and 
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