Letters , Extracts , and Notes. 
217 
least two clutches of the eggs of this species, taken in 1906, 
to the Tring Museum, where I have examined them (p. 598). 
The local race of the Tree-Creeper was not described by 
Dr. Hartert as a subspecies of C. famiharis , but under the 
name of C. hr achy dactyl a dorothece (not dorothea) in the 
Bull. B. O. C. xiv. p. 50. The Asia Minor form is also a 
local race of the same species (p. 605). 
Mr. BucknilTs supposition that Motacilla ficedvla of 
Sibthorp is identical with the British Pied Wagtail is quite 
untenable. In the first, place, Sibthorp’s observations were 
made in 1787 and published in 1818, while the first attempt 
to describe M. tuguhris was made by Temminck (who con¬ 
fused it with M. lugens) in 1820. Moreover, the British 
race is very unlikely to occur in Cyprus, as its ordinary 
migration-route does not come within a thousand miles of 
the island. One would naturally suppose “ MolacUla 
ficedula ” to refer to the Pied Flycatcher, but Mr. Bucknill 
includes that bird also among those identified by Sibthorp 
(P- 607). 
Clifton Vicarage, Yours &c., 
Ashburne, Derbyshire, F. C. 11. Jourdain. 
Nov. 20th, 1909. 
/ 
Sirs, —In 4 The Ibis/ 1909, p. 705, when reviewing 
Part Ye of my book ‘Die Vogel der palaarktischen Fauna/ 
you have objected to my accepting the name Sylvia borin 
for the “ Garden-Warbler” and that of Sylvia hortemis for 
the “ Orphean Warbler,” the latter having been used 
erroneously for about a century for the “ Garden-Warbler.” 
It is generally acknowledged that we must use the oldest 
names for all birds, and that erroneously applied names 
must be changed. This is frequently done by ornithologists 
in all countries, when writing on foreign and less known 
birds, and everybody acquiesces in such a proceeding, but 
when the same practice is followed in the case of “one of 
our familiar birds,” objection is raised. This is, however, 
inconsistent and unscientific, because the limit between a 
