Briinnich, 1764, or Fabricius, 1780 (nec Gmelin, 1788, nec auct. 
plur.), Latham, 1787 and 1790, Bechstein, Meyer* and Wolf, 
Temminck, Audubon, Swainson and Richardson, Gould, Jdolboll, 
etc. The reinstatement of the proper name may cause some 
inconvenience in the beginning, and somebody may ask : Must 
we always be correct? I will answer that we must be correct 
in this case as in others (cf. Sylvia salicaria , Sylvia rufa . 
Sterna hirundo , and Stercorarius 'parasiticus') , and that the 
correct name in time will be as well understood as Pendulinus 
(intellige Xanthornus ) , Scops giu , Otus accipitrinus , Lanius 
auriculatus or pomeranus , or, as I should say, Euneoctonus 
senator , Accentor ■ collaris , Phylloscopus , collybita , Anthus 
trivial is, Gallinago ccelestis , Tringa striata , Totanus canes- 
cens , Ardea ralloides , Buhveria colombina (intellige _Z>’. 3 z</- 
iverii ), Diomedea albatrus (intellige Zh brachyura plur. auct.), 
Balearica chrysopelargus , CEdicnemus illyricus , etc., etc. 
There are two principles by which the question of the names 
can be settled, the principle of priority or the auctorum-pluri- 
morum-principle. As to these I will make Howard Saunder’s 
words mine, only substituting the name Falco islandus for 
that of Lanius pomeranus : “ The earliest unimpeachable de- 
scription of the White Falcon is that of Falco islandus , Brun- 
nich or Fabricius ; and by the existing rules we must accept 
it, and get used to it as soon as possible. Those who refuse 
to do this, and adopt names merely because they have been 
sanctioned by the number or the authoritative weight of em- 
ployers, will certainly go further and probably fare worse.” 
I will add, however, that the principle of priority must be 
carried out regardless of consequences and not in the usual 
slipshod manner, or else it is worse than the antagonistic 
system ; it must also be carried out without delay, that “ we may 
get used to the new names as soon as possible,” or else these 
changes will go on slowly but in all future. So much for those 
who profess to believe that I “take a special delight in bring- 
ing forward wholesale changes of familiar names.” 
Having examined the large material (about 75 specimens) of 
* Meyer seems to have been the first one to suspect the true relationship between 
gyrfalco and islandus , for in his “Vog. Liv- und Esthl.’’ (1815) p. 20, he says : “In den 
Taschenbuch der deutschen Vogelkunde habe ich Falco Gyrfalco als eine Abart des 
F. islandus aufgefuhrt, allein ich bin doch jetzt geneigt, ihn eher fur eine eigene Art zu 
ha lien.” 
Gyrfalcons in the U. S. National Museum, in company with Mr. 
R. Ridgway, we came to the following conclusions : 
1. There are two distinct species of Gyrfalcons, the ‘white,’ 
and the ‘brown.’ 
2. The latter is divisible into three geographical races, the 
typical (Scandinavian) form, the Iceland-Greenland form, and 
the Labrador form. 
3. We are, at present, unable to appreciate the distinction of 
the so-called E. holboelli and E. sacer Forst. 
I therefore propose that the North American forms be recog- 
nized as 
R. 412. Falco islandus Brunn. White Gyrfalcon. 
41 2a. Falco rusticolus Linn. Gray Gyrfalcon. 
412*$. Falco rusticolus gyrfalco {Linn.). Gyrfalcon. 
412c. Falco rusticolus obsoletus ( Gm .). Labrador 
Gyrfalcon. 
The following synonyms of No. 412 and 412 a may be found 
useful by those wishing to go further into details : 
412. Falco islandus Brunn. White Gyrfalcon. 
1764 . — Falco islandus Brunnich, Orn. Bor. p. 2, ns. 7 & 8. — Fabricius, 
Fauna Groenf. p. 58 (1780). — Latham, Synops. Suppl. I, p. 282, 
(1787 ). — Bechstein, Orn. Taschenb. p. 40 (1803). 
1783 . — Falco gyrfalco Boddaert, Tabl. Pl-Enl. p. 26) (nec Linn.). 
1786 . — Falco rusticolus Mohr, Islandsk Naturh. p.. 19 (part.). 
1788 . — Falco islandus , |3 albus Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 271. 
1788 . — Falco islandus y maculatus Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 271. 
1788 . — Falco candicans Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 275. 
1790. — Falco islandicus Latham, Ind. Orn. I, p. 32. — Mey. & Wolf, 
Tasch. V. Deutschl. I, p. 65 iY8io). Temm., Man. d’Orn. 2 
ed. p. 17 (1820). — Sw. & Rich. Fauna Bor. Am. II, p. 27 
(1831). — Audub. B. Am. (pi. ccclxvi) (1836). — Gould, B. of Eur. 
I (pi. 19) (1837). — Audub. B. Am. 8vo ed. I, p. 81 (1839). — 
Holboell, Faun. Gronl. (p. 18) (1854). 
1806 . — Falco groenlandicus Turton, Gen. Syst. Nat. I (p. 147) (nec 
Daudin, 1800). — Hancock, Ann. N. H. II, p. 249 (1839). 
1854 . — Falco islandicus candicans Holboell, Zeitschr. Ges. Naturw. Ill 
(p. 426). 
i860 . — Falco gyrfalco var. candicans Schrenck, Reis. Amurl. I, p. 228. 
1874 . — Hierofalco holboelli Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. I, pi xiii, right- 
hand figure. 
