93 
February, 1882.] AND OOLOGIST. 
names to suit the learned doctors’ ideas of 
what should be, it would hardly be worth 
the paper it is printed on. But it is more 
than this—as a check-list it is simply perfect. 
First, the scientific name is given in “caps 
and lower case,” which will prevent the er¬ 
rors continually made by using capitals 
where they should not be. The choice of 
type is excellent. Half of each page is devo¬ 
ted to the check list proper. The lower 
half contains the numbers and name in dup¬ 
licate. 'Phe origin and history of each 
name is given in full. The numbers of all 
previous recognized lists are given: Baird, 
1859; Coues, 1874; Ridgway, i88t; so 
that “ the Coues Check-list ” can be used as 
readily as the official list. It will have an 
extensive circulation, but it will be unfor¬ 
tunate if a portion of our collectors should 
recognize its numbers, as it wall create con¬ 
fusion in every transfer, unless specimens 
are doubly numbered. 
-- 
Our Contributors 
whose articles have not yet appeared will 
please bear with us a while as we shall try 
to get out two numbers per month until our 
surplus matter has been reduced. 
Life histories of our birds are thankfully 
received; also newsy items on ornithology 
which every observer can furnish. Make 
free use of postal cards for short items. 
•-- 
“Fork-tailed Flycatcher.’’ 
CORRECTIO.N. 
To-day, December 20th, I received the 
proof-sheet of my paper on the Fork-tailed, 
or Scissor-tailed, Flycatcher {Milvulus for- 
Jicaius), but as I notice a mistake, I will 
write you at once. The engraving figures 
the true Fork-tailed Flycatcher ( M. tyran- 
nus), of Mexico to South America, and 
which is only an accidental straggler to our 
territory. The bird I described is here 
commonly called the F'ork-tailed Fly¬ 
catcher, or “Fork tail,” and “Texan Bird of 
Paradise;” in books the name Scissor-tail and 
Swallow-tailed Flycatcher is to be found. 
A very good engraving of our bird, the Scis¬ 
sor tail as I now will call him, may be 
found in “Baird, Brewer and Ridgway’s 
North American Birds,” Vol II., page 311. 
The bird figured I have never seen here.— 
H. Nehr/ing, Fedor, Texas. 
“I have been collecting , either personally 
or through others, on the lower Rio Grande 
through the region of Texas,between Mexico 
and the locality mentioned, ever since the 
winter of 1877. and not one of us have ever 
caught a glimpse of the bird,although it was 
one of the prominent looked-for species 
liable to occur on our lists and always 
sought after. Now the Scissor-tail {M.for- 
ficatus) was common everywhere and is the 
“ Bird of Paradise ” of the inhabitants of 
the country. In fact not one word of the 
whole article but would apply most fitly to 
the Scissor-tail. I must say I am extremely 
skeptical about the F'ork-tail, so nicely rep¬ 
resented in the cut in O. and O., being act¬ 
ually taken within our borders.”— Geo. B. 
Sennett, Meadville, Pa. 
Permit me to call attention to an error in 
the last number of the “ Ornithologist and 
Oologist,” viz.: the presentation of a figure 
of Milvulus tyrannus (Fork-tailed Fly¬ 
catcher) with the article on M. forficatus, 
wh ch should be called Scissor or Svvallow- 
tailed Flycatcher. The two birds are ex¬ 
ceedingly distinct. The Fork-tailed Fly¬ 
catcher ; M. tyrannus ) does not, so far as 
we know, occur in Texas, or even in 
Mexico, (! ) though it has been reported as 
occurring accidentally in Mississippi and 
New Jersey. The Swallow tailed Fly¬ 
catcher r M. forficatus), on the other hand, 
is very common in Texas.— R. Ridgway, 
Washington, D. C. 
In the January number of your publica¬ 
tion I notice an article by H. Nehrling on 
the “ Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Milvulus ty¬ 
rannus (Linn).” Now the Milvulus tyran- 
tius so far as known is an extralimital species, 
whose claim to a place on our check-lists 
rests solely on the occurrence of one or two 
stragglers within our limits If then I am 
right in the inference that Nehrling is writ- 
