76 
The Marquis of Tweeddale on the 
cineraceus must be superseded_,—a conclusion which has been 
generally accepted for many years_, but which is now, eoc 
cathedrdj upset in this Catalogue without any reason as¬ 
signed. 
In the synonyms of the various species catalogued by Mr. 
Sharpe he omits altogether the wholesome and useful practice 
adopted by most accurate authors of giving, either with or 
without brackets, according to the generic title employed, 
the name of the original author of the species, before that of 
the author using the title. The extreme inconvenience of 
this practice meets the student on every page; but it is very 
forcibly illustrated in the synonyms given of this species and 
of B. leucogenys. In the first case, the title D. leucophceus 
is attributed to Gray [nee V. being added), which mode of 
writing implies that the title of leucophceus was bestowed by 
Gray as well as Vieillot; all reference to Vieillot^s title, how¬ 
ever, being omitted. Under B. leucogenys we find the synonym 
D. leucophceus, Swinh. [nec V.),no reference to Vieillot being 
given; and lower down simply D. leucophceus, Gray,^"* with¬ 
out the intimation that it is not some one else^s species. 
To an author deep in the mysteries, say of the ^ Nouveau 
Dictionnaire,'’ this style of noting the titles used by different 
authors, though troublesome, would not render his search 
hopeless ; but to a student it would involve that'loss of time 
which it is the very object of a careful writer to save him. 
There are also many instances of birds which have received 
from diflPerent authors, unknown to one another and at dif¬ 
ferent periods, the same specific title, e. g. Hypsipetes phi- 
lippinensis, described separately by three different authors 
under the title of philippinensis. Again, there are some 
authors who would object to having some recent titles made 
to appear as if coined by them. But the main object of 
the synonymy ought to be to lead the student direct to all 
that has been written of importance relating to the species; 
and the method adopted by Mr. Sharpe does not in many cases , 
fulfil this condition. j 
Buchanga insularis. —This, it is to be presumed, is a new j 
title proposed by Mr. Sharpe for some undescribed Cevlonese | 
