2S0 
Oy THE CLASSIFICATION OP BIRDS. 
lowing groups, w'liich are those most numerous in nature, 
and of course require the clearest designation : — 
Tribes end in es a.s f Dentirostrc.s, 
I Fachydcrmes, Edentates. 
Families ides or ad<z^ Muscicapidte, 
^ t Eemuridaj, Corvid®. 
Sub.families — ince f Thamnnphilin®, Ceblepyrin®, 
I Mustellin®, Felin®. 
Phis plan of designating the groups in question has 
been so extensively employed, more especially in orni- 
thology, that it will now be adhered to by all who 
desire to establish a fixed nomenclature. It is not so 
material that the names of the higher groups should 
have definite terminations, because they are compara- 
tively so few, and are so well known, that the change 
would not be productive of any real advantage. The 
student wiU never be in danger, after his first lesson, of 
supposing that the Fmirostres, for instance, is a group 
equivalent to the Insesmres, although both names ter- 
minate the same. 
(186.) We now pass to the names of genera and spe- 
cies. A genus or sub-genus, indeed, comprehends many 
species ; but when we speak or write of an animal, we 
call it by both these designations, just as we use the 
Christian name of an individual to distinguish him from 
the rest of his family. VVe shall not here revive the 
long debated question, whether we should caU a species 
y Its generic or by its sub-generic name ; since so 
much may lx; said on both sides, that we think every 
one, on ordinary occasions or in parlance, may be at 
liberty to follow his own opinions upon this point. W'e 
certainly incline to the side of those who contend that 
the sub-generic name should be that which precedes 
the specific ; provided, however, that the validity of the 
sub-genus has been well ascertained. If we spoke for 
instance, of the fork-tailed tyrant, it appears better 
to call It Milmdas furcatiis {Milvulm being a sub- 
genus) than Tymnnus furcatus {Tyrannus being 
the genus). But when, as among the Faknnidre, 
ornithologists have made numerous and contradictory 
