24 
NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 
channel, an obsolete transverse impression, and true punctulate fovese on 
each side at the base, the outer one very obsolete; elyt. with punctu¬ 
late strisB ,* legs entirely ferruginous ; ant. and palp, with the basal joints 
testaceous. Length 3— 3| lin. 
Rare near Warrington; “ near London, and in Dorsetshire.”— Stephens. 
Sp. 9. Amara elegans, Rylands. 
Sp, Char, —Slightly convex; shining brassy green; thx. with two punctuate 
striae on each side at the base of the dorsal channel, the outer one rarely 
obsolete; elyt. striated, the striae punctulate; fern, and tib. rufous; ant. 
with the three basal joints and base of the fourth rufescent, the rest 
fuscous; basal joint of the pal. ferruginous. Length 3—3| lin. 
Closely allied to A, Icevis, but is distinguished by the absence of the transverse 
impression on the thorax; the colour of the tarsi, &c. Not uncommon near 
Warrington. 
Sp. 10. Amara cursor^ Sturm. 
Sgn, — A. cursor^ Steph., Mand. 1. p. 130. 
Sp. Char .—Shining bronzed green; thx. with a slight dorsal line, the base with 
an abbreviated obsolete linear impression on each side near the margin ; 
the rest of the surface impunctate; elyt. rather strongly punctate, striated, 
ferruginous. Length 3—3| lin. 
Rare, near Warrington. ‘‘ Common in the Metropolitan district.” —J. F. 
Stephens, Esq. “Rare, near Bottisham.”—Rev. L. Jenyns. 
Bewsey Home, Warrington. 
( To be continued.) 
AN EXPLANATION OF THE LATIN NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 
To the Editor of the Naturalist. 
Sir, 
I have often heard regretted the want of some explanation of the 
Latinized names of the British birds, which are of course unintelligible to persons 
who have not had a classical education; the derivations of many of the names 
being, moreover, so arbitrary as to be doubtful, obscure, or even wholly unknown 
to the initiated. 
The above will, I hope, appear a sufficient reason for the following attempt at a 
translation into English of such of the names of the British birds as are of Latin 
or Greek derivation; and with the wish that this may be of service and interest 
to some of your readers, I forward it for insertion in your pages, in case it should 
seem to you likely to be of use, and to meet with the approbation of your sub- 
