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ON SCIENTIFIC NOMENCLATURE. 
Ash-coloured Harrier, Cirms cineraceus. 
A remark or two on the above names and arrangement, and I have don^. 
First as to the arrangement: I have seen the Buzzards placed between the 
Hawks and Falcons, which I take to be unnatural, and, consequently, wrong. 
Why ? because the Buzzards are among the ignoble, or the irreclaimable, and 
the Hawks and Falcons are the noble or reclaimable birds of prey [[The general 
habits, form, and structure, likewise confirm the propriety of Mr. Sweeting's 
arrangement.— Ed.]. The Buzzards should, therefore, stand as above, between the 
Kites and Harriers. It will then be found, that, according to the quinary or 
circular system, the Goshawk being at the top of the list, and the Buzzard at 
or near the bottom, they will approach sufficiently near to each other, both as 
regards their configuration and habits. 
As to the names, they are mostly such as have been conferred by various 
eminent naturalists, and are generally received and approved. Those which I 
believe are new, and perhaps unscientific, are of my own construction, and are 
in a private list which I wrote out some time since for my own amusement. 
As I consider them appropriate, perhaps you will allow me to say a few words 
respecting them. 
The tarsi and toes of the Merlin are, in proportion te his size, remarkably 
longer and more slender than those of the Falcons (Falco J, in which respect it 
approaches the Sparrow Hawk. I have therefore placed it between that bird 
and the Falcons. If Haliaetus is applicable to the Ossifrage, as possessing 
certain generic distinctions, that or any other similar name is totally inapplicable 
to the Osprey; for if we allow that its beak resembles that of the Ossifrage, in 
the conformation of its feet, and above all of its talons, it differs widely, not 
only from that bird, but also from all the rest of the family, and is, therefore, 
entitled to a peculiar generic appellation. Should any hypercritic object to my 
proposed name by saying that it implies half a fish, I reply that, on the same 
principle, Haliaetus implies half a sea^ either of which objections would be too 
absurd for ridicule. Falco is a much better name for the Falcons than any 
Greek word can be, as it implies at once their grand characteristics, as regards 
both beak and talons. 
The term lagopus, as applied to a bird, signifies, or ought to signify, that not 
only the tarsi, but also the toes, even to the claws, are covered with hair-like 
feathers, as in the Red Grous or the Ptarmigan, which is not the case in any 
of the Falcon family; and as I had seen the name applied to a foreign species, 
namely, the Booted Falcon (F. pennatusJ, I thought it would equally suit the 
Rough-legged Buzzard. Pennipes is, I conceive, still better. 
The specific designation Britanniciis^ as applied to the Red Grous, which I 
