UC-NRLF B 3 fifiS Obi THE CODES CHECK I AND ORNITHOLOGICAL DICTIONARY REESE LIBRARY NIVERSiTY OF CALIFORNIA. BIOLOGY Received Accessions No. Shelf No. THE COUES CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS SECOND EDITION, to ate, ant entirdg t&efontten, untor direction of tfje WITH A DICTIONARY OF THE ETYMOLOGY, ORTHOGRAPHY, AND ORTHOEPY OF THE SCIENTIFIC NAMES, THE CONCORDANCE OF PREVIOUS LISTS, AND A CATALOGUE OF HIS ORNITHOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS. BOSTON: ESTES AND LAURIAT. 1882. Copyright, 1882, BY ESTES AND LAURIAT. UNIVERSITY PRESS: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE. INTRODUCTION. IN 1873, shortly after the publication of the author's " Key to North American Birds," appeared the original edition of this " Check List," which was almost imme- diately reissued in connection with the same writer's " Field Ornithology," in 1874. That list reflected the classification and nomenclature of the "Key" with much exactitude, although it included, in an Appendix, a few species additional to those described in the "Key," and made some slight changes in the names. Excepting some little comment in foot-notes and in the Appendix, the original " Check List" was a bare catalogue of scientific and vernacular names, printed in thick type on one side of the paper. Meanwhile, the science of Ornithology has progressed, and our knowledge of North American birds has increased, both in extent and in precision, until the orig- inal list, faithful as it was at the time, fails now to answer the purpose of adequately reflecting the degree of perfection to which the subject has been brought. A new edition has therefore become necessary. The list has been revised with the utmost care. The gratif} r ing degree of accu- racy with which it represented our knowledge of 1873 is exhibited in the fact, that it is found necessary to remove no more than ten names. On the other hand, the progress of investigation has resulted in adding one hundred and twenty names to the list, and in showing the necessity or expedienc}^ of making many changes in nomenclature. The exact analysis of the differences between the two lists is given beyond. In revising the list for the main purpose of determining the ornithological statiis of every North American bird, the most scrupulous attention has been paid to the matter of nomenclature, not only as a part of scientific classification, deter- mining the technical relations of genera, species, and varieties to each other, but also as involved in writing and speaking the names of birds correctly. The more closely this matter was scrutinized, the more evidences of inconsistency, negligence, 4 INTRODUCTION. or ignorance were discovered in our habitual use of names. It was therefore determined to submit the current catalogue of North American birds to a rigid examination, with reference to the spelling, pronunciation, and derivation of every name, in short, to revise the list from a philological as well as an ornithological standpoint. The present "Check List," therefore, differs from the original edition in so far as, instead of being a bare catalogue of names, it consists in a treatise on the ety- mology, orthography, and orthoepy of all the scientific, and many of the vernacular, words employed in the nomenclature of North American birds. Nothing of the sort has been done before, to the same extent at any rate ; and it is confidently expected that the information given here will prove useful to many who, however familiar they may be with the appearance of these names on paper, have comparatively little notion of the derivation, signification, and application of the words ; and who unwittingly speak them as they usually hear them pronounced, that is to say, with glaring impropriety. No one who adds a degree of classical proficiency to his scientific acquirements, be the latter never so extensive, can fail to handle the tools of thought with an ease and precision so greatly enhanced, that the merit of ornitho- logical exactitude may be adorned with the charm of scholarly elegance. The purpose of the present l ' Check List " is thus distinctly seen to be twofold : First, to present a complete list of the birds now known to inhabit North America, north of Mexico, and including Greenland, to classify them systematically, and to name them conformably with current rules of nomenclature ; these being ornitho- logical matters of science. Secondty, to take each word occurring in such technical usage, explain its derivation, significance, and application, spell it correctly, and indicate its pronunciation with the usual diacritical marks ; these being purely philological matters, affecting not the scientific status of any bird, but the classical questions involved in its name. In the latter portion of his task, which, as is always the case when thorough work of any kind is undertaken, proved to be more difficult and more protracted than had been expected, and delayed the appearance of the list for nearly a year after the ornithological portion had been practically completed, the author of the original list has received invaluable assistance from Mrs. S. OLIVIA WESTON-AIKEN, who cor- dially shared with him the labor of the philological investigation, and to whose scholarly attainments he is so largely indebted, that it is no less a duty than a pleasure to recognize the co-operation of this accomplished lady. ANALYSIS OF THE TWO EDITIONS. THE original edition of the "Check List" ostensibly enumerates only 635 species of North American Birds. This is owing to the fact that only full species are num- bered, the many subspecies being given as , b, &c., and some names being inter- polated without corresponding numbers, both in the body of the list and in the- Appendix. By actual count there are found to be, in the body of the list, 750 ; to- which 28 are added in the Appendix : 750 + 28 = 778. First, with regard to subtractions. It is in gratifying evidence of the general! accuracy of the original list, that it is found necessary to remove only ten (10) names. Four of these are extra-limital ; six are mere synonyms. The following; is the LIST OF SUBTRAHEND NAMES. 1 . JEgiothus fuscescens. Summer plumage of JE. linaria. 2. Centronyx ochrocephalus. Fall plumage of Passercvlus bairdi. 3. Sphyropicus williamsoni. Male of S. thyrotdes. 4. Lampornis mango. Extra-limital. 5. Agyrtria linnaei. Extra-limital. 6. Momotus cceruleiceps. Extra-limital. 7. Ibis thalassina. Young of Plegadis yuarauna. 8. Ardea wuerdemanni. Dichromatism of A. occidentalis. 9. Sterna " longipennis." Meaning S. pikii Lawr. Young of S. macrura. 1 0. Podiceps cristatus. Extra-limital, as far as known. On the other hand, the numerous accessions to the list are in no less gratifying evidence of the progress of our knowledge. There are no fewer than one hundred and' twenty additions to be made. The large majority of these are bonaf.de species, and 1 actual acquisitions to the North American list, being birds discovered since 1873 in Texas, Arizona, and Alaska, together with several long known to inhabit Green- land. It may be here remarked that although the Greenland Fauna has long been usually claimed and conceded to be North American, yet the full list of Greenland 6 ANALYSIS OF THE TWO EDITIONS. birds has never before * been formally incorporated with the North American, as is done in the present instance. Aside from such additions, the increment is repre- sented by species or (chiefly) subspecies named as new to science since 1873 ; by a few restored to the list ; and by two imported and now naturalized species. The following is the full LIST OF ADDEND NAMES. [Continued on p. 10-1 1. Turdus migratorius propinquus. Since described by Ridgway. Western U. S. 2. Turdus iliacus. Greenland. 3. Harporhynchus curvirostris (verus). Restored. Arizona. 4. Cyanecula suecica. Alaska. 5. Regulus satrapa olivaceus. Recognized as a subspecies. 6. Parus rufescens neglectus. Since described by Ridgway. California. 7. Parus cinctus. Alaska. 8. Psaltriparus melanotis. Restored. Nevada. Arizona. 9. Catherpes mexicanus (verus). Restored. Texas. 1 0. Thryothorus ludovicianus miamensis. Since described by Ridgway. Florida. 1 1 . Anorthura troglodytes pacificus. Recognized as a subspecies. 1 2. Telmatodytes palustris paludicola. Recognized as a subspecies. 13. Alauda arvensis. Greenland; "Alaska;" Bermudas. 14. Motacilla alba. Greenland. 15. Mniotilta varia borealis. Recognized as a subspecies. 1 6. Parula nigrilora. Since described by Coues. Texas. 1 7. Helminthophaga lawrencii. Since described by Herrick. New Jersey. 18. Helminthophaga leucobronchialis. Since described by Brewster. Mass. 1 9. Helminthophaga cincinnatiensis. Since described by Langdon. Ohio. 20. Peucedramus olivaceus. Arizona. 21. Dendroeca palmarum hypochrysea. Since described by Ridgway. 22. Siurus naevius notabilis. Since described by Grinnell. Wyoming. 23. Cardellina rubrifrons. Arizona. 24. Vireo flavoviridis. Restored. Texas. 25. Vireo solitarius cassihi. Recognized as a subspecies. 26. Passer xnontanus. Naturalized. 27. Leucosticte atrata. Since described by Ridgway. Colorado. 28. Leucosticte australis. Recognized as & species. 29. Leucosticte tephrocotis litoralis. Recognized as a subspecies. 30. - 1881 . REMARKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. $ 1. ETYMOLOGY, OR DERIVATION. ETYMOLOGY, the erv/u-oAoyia. of the Greeks, consists in tracing the derivation of a word back to the root from which it springs, explaining its formation, inflection, and application, thereby more clearly illustrating its virtue or quality than can be done by merely considering an} r one of the various meanings it may in time acquire. For a good illustration of this definition, see the word Cardinalis. The large majority of the scientific names of birds are Latin or Greek words, or modern compounds of such, derived conformably to the rules for the construction of classic terms. In general, therefore, it is easy to give the exact meaning of the names in their original acceptation, and to point out their applicability as terms descriptive of the objects designated. On the whole, it has not been our design to go beyond a good fair definition of these Greek and Latin words, considering that all practical purposes are thus subserved. Many of the classic words being themselves derivatives, and the field of philological inquiry being boundless, it was necessary to keep within certain limits ; and we have therefore seldom found it advisable, even were it practicable, in a case like the present, to trace words back of their recog- nized stems. Yet there will be found in the present little treatise, it is believed, much philological information of interest and actual value to all who desire to be put at their ease in the use of the Greek and Latin names of birds. Many pure Greek or Latin names of birds known in classic times have been transferred in ornitholog} T , in a wholly arbitrary manner, to totally different species. Thus the Trochilus of the ancients was an Egyptian Plover ; in ornithological nomen- clature, it is a genus of American Humming-birds. So also, many proper names, and many of the epithets which classic writers were so fond of bestowing, have been adopted as generic or specific names of birds, with little reason or with none, except the will of the namer. The genus lache has no more to do with the Greek battle- cry than the name of Smith or Brown has to do with trade or color. 12 REMARKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. The remaining names, not classic in origin, are a miscellaneous lot not easy to characterize tersely. Many are modern geographical or personal names in Latin form ; as, wittoni, genitive case of Alexander Wilson's name, Latinized Wilsonus ; or wilsonianus, an adjectival form of the same ; americana for" American ; hudson- icus, after the territory named for Henry Hudson ; noveboracensis, which is liter- ally, inhabiting New York. Some others are post-classic, or late Latin, though in perfectly good form ; and there are more of these, we find, than is generally sup- posed. Not a few are wholly barbarous, as Pyranga, Guiraca ; and some of these, as cheriway, wurmizusume, are barbarous in form as in fact. Some are monstrous combinations, like Embernagra from Emberiza and Tanagra, or Podilymbus from Podi- ceps and Colymbus. Some are simply Latin translations of vernacular names ; as, Pujfinus anglorum, the puffin of the English. Finally, some are anagrams, like Dacelo from Alcedo, or pure nonsense-words, as Dafila, Viralva, Xema. The student who confidingly expects to discover erudition, propriety, and perti- nence in every technical name of a bird, will have his patieuce sorely tried in dis- covering what lack of learning, point, and taste many words imply. Besides the barbarisms, anomalies, and absurdities already indicated, he must be prepared to find names used with as little regard for precision of meaning, almost, as those of Smith, Brown, and Jones. Nothing like the nice distinctions, for example, that the Romans made between ater and niger, both meaning u black," or between albus and Candidas, t4 white," obtains in modern science, where names are too often mere sounds without sense, and where the inflexible rules of technical nomenclature com- pel us to recognize and use many terms of slight or obscure or entirely arbitrary applicability, if only they be not glaringly false or of express absurdity. Let him for example, compare the several birds whose specific name is fuscus, and see what color-blindness this word covers. The large majority of the names being, as already said, of Greek or Latin deriva- tion, we are enabled to give a reasonably full and fair account of their et}*mology, and to point out their significance and application. There are, perhaps, not two dozen words of the whole list which we are unable to explain and define. 2. ORTHOGRAPHY, OR SPELLING. The literation of the scientific names is fixed and exact in nearly all cases. Their derivation being known, and their form having crystallized in a language " dead" for centuries, the proportion of cases in which the orthography is unsettled is comparatively small. In general, there is no alternative spelling of a Greek or Latin word, and the modern derivatives are or can be compounded according to rules so fixed as to leave little latitude. In some instances, of course, two or more admissible forms of the same word occur: as hyemalis or hiemalis, cceruleus or cceruleus, Haliceetus or Haliaetus. But, in general, there remains only one right way of spelling, and that wa} T easily ascertained. We say, there remains ; for of course EEMAEKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. 13 there were centuries when the classics were undergoing the incessant changes inci- dent to all spoken or living languages, just as our tongue is now. But having, in the usual process of evolution, reached that point which we mean when we use the term " classic," the Greek and Latin have come down to us in a certain form, so measurably fixed as to permit no decided ulterior modification. Our orthography, as far as possible, should reflect the purity and lucidity of such crystallization ; and a little care will enable us to make such reflection clear. In the cases of actual Greek and Latin words employed as names of birds, there are probably not in the whole list a dozen instances of words which admit of defen- sible alternative spelling. In the modern compounds of Greek and Latin stems, there is necessarily some little margin for variability ; but in all cases, perhaps, at least a defensible orthography may be attained, though some alternative may not be without its claims to consideration. We can only say, that in this matter we have endeavored to reach good results according to definite recognized rules. In the much- vexed question of forming quasi-Latin genitives from the names of persons, we have adopted the following simple and uniform rule : If the word ends with a consonant add single i for a man's name, ce for a woman's name ; if ending with a vowel, change that vowel to i; as bairdi, cassini, but lawrencti, bonapartii ; blackburnce, gracice. There are but few exceptions to this, as anna, costce. The letter y gives the most trouble : it is best general!}' to treat it as a consonant, and say suckleyi, ridgwayi ; but it must sometimes be rendered b} 7 ', as lucice for Lucy (Latin Lucia), derbianus from Derby. It is rarely that a case occurs that such practice cannot readily meet. Names of birds derived from those of persons may of course be from any language, and consequently offer combinations of letters unknown in Latin ; but it is useless to attempt to Latinize them, further than by giving them a Latin genitive termination. We should be led into the pedantry of brunonis for browni, or even of nigri for blacki, if we attempt any systematic Latini- zation of " barbarous" proper names. It is best to apply the above rule even to names already Latin in form, and write, for instance, blasiusi, not blasii. The desirability of such conventional proceeding may be illustrated in the case of a bird named after a Mr. Wikox ; better wilcoxi, and be done with it, than vilcocis. Hitherto, we have spoken of Latin and Greek names of birds indiscriminate^. It will be remembered, however, that we are supposed to write the names always in Latin, be they of that language or actually Greek. This brings up the subject of the transliteration of words from the latter into the former. Most of the letters of the Greek alphabet have their exact and simple equivalents in Latin ; but some can only be represented by two Latin letters, and some combinations of Greek letters change in passing into Latin words. The following are the simple equivalents : a = a; ft = b; y = g ; 8 = d; e = e ; = z; 7) = e ; i i ; \ = 1; /* = m ; v = n ; = x ; = 0; TT = p ; p = r ; = o. The following are simple substitutions : K = c ; v = y. 14 EEMAEKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. The following are expressed by two letters : or & th ; $ = ph ; % = c h ; \l/ = ps. The letter , though written single z, is double, and equals dz. There being no letter h in Greek, the aspirate is expressed by the sign ', preced- ing a vowel or written over it ; thus a, e, 6, v = ha, he, ho, hy. The letter p also takes the aspirate, in which case p = rh ; and when p is doubled, the second is fol- lowed by h ; pp rrh. Among other transliterations frequently occurring may be noted : Final -77 may or does become -a; final -os or -ov becomes -us or -urn. The diphthong cu becomes ce ; , i; 01, oe; ov, u; w,yi. The letter y before itself, and before K and x, becomes n; thus yy, 7 K, yx = ng, nc, nch. It is needless to give formal examples of these rules here ; for the reader will find one or more of them illustrated on any page following the introductory matter. $3. ORTHOEPY, OR PRONUNCIATION. Correct pronunciation of Greek and Latin is a lost art. The best we can do now is to follow the usage of those scholars who conform most nearly with what the}' show reason for supposing to have been the powers of the letters as spoken by the Greeks and Romans. Unfortunately for the student, there are three reputable schools who pronounce certain letters, especially the vowels a, e, and , so differently that their respective methods are irreconcilable. I. The English Method. In England, and generally in America, excepting in the Jesuit colleges, the letters have nearly or exactly their English powers. This school teaches us " how not to do it," that is, to pronounce as the Greeks and Romans never did. If we imagine a dialogue between an English Professor of Latin and the Manes of Cicero, we are bound to infer that they would not understand each other ; in fact, that neither would know that the other was talking Latin ; though they might write to each other in identical words. Obviously, therefore, the English method is to be shunned. If the student will pronounce any word in the following list as if it were English, he will give it a sound the furthest possible removed from the right sound. The only excuse for the English method we ever heard is, that, as we do not know the right pronunciation, a conventional and consistent substitute is better than any doubtful approximation ; but such talk is a mere apology for the English pis utter, not a defence of that sorry makeshift. II. The Continental Method. This is universal in Europe, excepting in England, and has gained much ground in America through the teaching of the Jesuits and other learned scholars. It is also known as the Italian school. It may be defined, in brief, as a compromise between English Latin and Roman Latin ; the vowels having nearly or quite what is believed to have been their sounds as spoken by the Romans, while the consonants are heard more nearly in their English powers. Leading features of the school are : long a as in father ; long e as English a in fate ; long t as in machine; long u as English oo in moon; y, as a vowel, practically like i; j like REMARKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. 15 y ; c and g hard or soft as they would be in English, and most other consonants as in English, nearly or exactly. III. The Roman Method. This way of speaking Latin, if practicable, is obviously preferable ; and it is believed that a close approximation to Latin orthoepy is fea- sible. u The world over, nearly all the -Latin grammarians of the last quarter of a century have urged a return to first principles. The Latin has rights of its own, and a demonstrated pronunciation which should be respected." * The credit of lead- ing this reform in America has been ascribed to the late Professor S. S. Haldeman, of the University of Pennsylvania, whose "Elements of Latin Pronunciation" was published at Philadelphia in 1851. Nevertheless, the practicability of introducing such radical reform among natural- ists, to most of whom the writing and speaking of classical words is but an incident of their scientific studies, may be seriously doubted, however desirable it is to do so. We question whether ornithologists, of this generation at least, can be induced to say Kiki-ronia, Kirke, and Pikicorwus, or Chichernnia, Chirche, and Pichicorvus for Ciceronia, Circe, and Picicorvus, or wirraynce for virens. It may be most judicious at present, and best on the whole, to pave the way for the final consummation by carrying into practice the many points on which scholars agree, without insisting upon the extremes respecting which diversity of good authority is admitted. Upon such understanding we offer, for pronouncing the Latin names of North American birds, a scheme which insists upon the Roman sounds of the vowels and diphthongs, but yields the point in the disputed cases of certain consonants ; conced- ing, for example, that c may remain soft before e, t, and y, and that v need not be turned into w. We do not profess to go into the subtleties, or even all the niceties of Latin orthoepy. Much of the end we have in view will be attained, if we can succeed in preventing those barbarisms and vulgarisms which constantly come from the lips of some persons of great accomplishment in the science of ornitholog3 T . Having ourselves heard Oh-nanth and Fully-gewler for (Enanihe and Fuligula, we need not affect to conceal our belief that some ornithologists may profitably look a little further into the matter than they appear to have hitherto done. VOWELS. The difference between a "long" and a "short" vowel is essentially one of quantity only, not of quality : it is actually the prolongation of a sound, not neces- sarily involving a difference in sound. Thus, if we dwell never so long on the " short" a of fat, it does not convert the sound of that letter into that heard in the "long" a of fate. The phonetic quality of a vowel should therefore be distin- guished from its prosodiac quantity. Practically, however, no such discrimination is to be made in the case of the Latin vowels. We only know them as " long " or "short;" we determine their quantity by prosodiac rules, and make their qualit}' * W. G. Richardson on Latin Pronunciation : In Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1876. 8vo, Washington, 1878. p. 484. 16 EEMAEKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. correspondent. For all that is known to the contra^, the Romans may have had, for example, as many qualities of their a as we have in English ; but as we know only their u long" and " short" a, it is simply a matter of more or less of the same sound of the letter, not a difference in sound. Our only resource, therefore, is to ascertain the natural or acquired quantity of the vowels according to the standard authorities, and pronounce them conformably therewith. It is the rule, with few exceptions, that a vowel before two consonants, or before the double consonants x and z, is long. We are inclined to believe that in man}' cases the full length of the vowel itself is not implied, but rather the length of the whole s}'llable in which it occurs. For instance, in the word melanorhynchus, the vowel y is encased in five consonants ; and the time required to speak the whole S3*llable -rhynch-, in metric composition, is what makes the y long. The Romans ma}' have had the y as short in quality as the y's in our word pygmy. Nevertheless, we have no assurance of this, and can only mark the y long, which means that this syl- lable is to be pronounced -rheench-. Take the word fuscescens, again, where each vowel is followed by two consonants. In this country we seldom if ever hear any thing but sounds of all three of the vowels as short as if they were English. We must, however, mark them long, which is equivalent to directing the word to be called foosaysaynce. But it does not follow that a naturally short vowel lengthened onl}' " b} T position" is to be sounded at full length. Thus, in tiffinis, Insignis, obso- letus, from ad-, in-, ob-, the long mark indicates the quantity of the S3'llable rather than of the vowel. The chief exceptions above alluded to are furnished b} r the con- currence of a mute and a liquid, when the preceding vowel remains short, in prose, at least. A vowel before a single consonant, or before another vowel, is short, as a rule ; but there are so many exceptions to this, that each case of the kind requires to be considered on its own merits. An accented vowel is likely to be long from this cause alone. Diphthongs are long, except before another vowel. In Latin words derived from the Greek, the vowels e and o are likely to be long or short, according to whether they stand for Greek eta or epsilon, omicron or omega. So, also, the Latin i is long when representing the Greek diphthong , as it often does ; and a vowel is likely to be long when in any case it comes by the con- traction of two or more vowels into one. Thus, the frequent Latin termination -pus, from the Greek pous, is long, or should be, like the proper Latin pes (foot). With these slight remarks, we take up the vowels, diphthongs, and consonants in alphabetical order. A. Orthoepists reckon from four to seven sounds of this vowel in English, the four usually recognized being those heard in fate, fat, far, fall. The English sounds of a in fate, fat, and fall are unknown in Latin. Long a in Latin is always sounded as a in psalm ; it is almost exactl}' the English interjection ah ! the name of the letter r without any roll. Short Latin a is the same sound, but with less stress and less prolonged, like the a in diadem, or the final a in Maria, Amelia, Hannah. Thus EEMAEKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. 17 in the frequently recurring word americana, all three a's have the same quality, but differ in quantity ; the first and the last a being short and the middle a long, simply because there is where the accent, or stress of voice, comes to prolong the sound. If the accent in this case were on the antepenult, all three a's would have exactly the same quantity and quality. Long a as in pSalm. Short a as in diadem. E. Long e has the sound of French e iufete, or English e in they, or English a in fate. Short e is like English e in them, not quite so short as in met ; something between mate and met. Example of long e : exilipes, pronounced ache-seal-i-pace. Long e as in they. Short e as in them. I. Long i is invariably like the English i in machine, police, oblique, pique ; that is, the English ee in feet, ea in feat, &c. ; but never the English i of fight, night. Short t is the same sound, but as brief and abrupt as possible, like English i in possible, ability, imitate. Short and long i are both heard in intrigue. Long i as in machine, pique. Short i as in ability, imitate. O. This letter, long or short, has always its pure English sound, there being no qualities of Latin o to correspond to such anomalies as the English o in move? more, come, &c. Long o as in old, no. Short o as in odd, not. U. It is not easy to correctly appreciate the powers of this vowel in Latin. Long u never has the sound of English u, eu, or ew, as in fury, feud, few ; but is; always broad as well as long, like o in move, oo in moon, fool. Short u is not the English u in tub or English o in love, but quite like the English u in bull, full. Take- for example the common word rufus, where the first u is long, the second short. This word is neither roof-uss, nor rewf-uss, nor rewf-ooce ; but if the consonants per- mitted, it would rhyme exactly with rue-ful. If I am asked " How many cats?" I may reply " I say ruefully there are a roof-full," and in so saying twice speak both the long and the short Latin u. Long u as o in move, oo in moon, ue in rue. Short u as in bull, full, pull. Y. This letter, as a vowel, has practically the sound of i, long or short ; more- exactly, that of the German u (ue), as in MuHer, which is nearer Miller than Muller.. It is scarcely a Latin letter, and chiefly occurs in words from the Greek, correspond- ing to Greek upsilon ; as hyperboreus, uropygialis. It is to be remarked, that any vowel is or may be modified in quality as well! as in quantity by its consonantal combination, this being especially the case when followed by the letter r. It is as if the r were rolling awa} r , and dragging the vowel after. Compare fuscus with turtur ; the first with the last syllable of turdus, 18 REMARKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. &c. We suspect that some of the less evident powers ascribed by orthoepists to various vowels, are not inherent in the vowels themselves, but due to consonantal modification of the sound. Let us add that orthoepists commonly and with great propriet3 r recognize what they call the u neutral" vowel-sound, a qualit}' so slight and obscure, that any one of the vowels may express it indifferently. Thus, if we pronounce the word martyr as rapidly as possible, it makes scarcely any appreciable difference whether it be written martar, marter, martir, martor, martur, or martyr; as we say scarcety any thing more than martr, the six " neutral" vowels are phonetically interchangeable. DIPHTHONGS. In diphthongs, each vowel must be sounded, and the two sounds be smoothly combined. Two vowels coming together do not necessarily form a diphthong. For example, aer is a word of two syllables, and aedon one of three ; the vowels in these cases to be separately and distinctly uttered, as in English aerial. Proper diphthongs, i. e., two vowel-sounds combined to make a third different from either, are comparatively rare ; and all the following components of diphthongs also come together without combining. JE consists of ah-ay, which when rapidly spoken becomes so nearly like Latin long e (see above) as to be practically the same. It was original^ written ai, and is by some directed to be so sounded. AI is a very composite sound. * itself is a compound, being ah-ee, the whole being therefore ah-ah-ee, which when run together becomes very nearly our English eye or the pronoun /. It seems quite like the French naif, naive, or English knife. A and O do not combine, and seldom come together. ATI is oftenest heard, but wrongly, as in cause, or as aw in awl, law, awful. It is like the ow in how, now, owl. It is precisely the German au, as in aucfy. E and A do not combine ; they frequently come together, especially at the ends of words, but each is separately pronounced. E. g., ^Ene-as Bore-as, Arde-a. El is frequent. The analysis is ay-ah-ee, contracted to a drawling sound little different from long English a in mate; more exactly, English ei in vein, eight. E arid O do not combine. E-os, E-opsaltria, &c. EU is equal to ay-oo. Strongly and rapidly uttered, it becomes the long Eng- lish u in tube, ue in due, ew in few, eu in feud, ou in you; and especially when initial represents the whole word you. For example Eugenes = Tougenes = Ayoogenes. It seldom occurs, except in Greek words. IA, IE, II, IO, IU do not combine. The very frequent ia, especially ending a word, and the ii, so frequent in the genitives of persons' names, are always two full syllables. The common iu, in the ending of words makes two syllables: e.g., spuri-us. So seri-es, rati-o have each three syllables. Some apparent diphthongs of vocal * with a following vowel, are really of consonantal i, which is^, pronounced y ; as plebeius, = plebe-jus, pronounced plebe-yus. EEMAEKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. 19 OA and OO and OU do not combine ; bo-ops has two, arcto-us or arcto-a three, and o-ology four syllables, ou diphthong very early passed into long u. OE, when fully but rapidly said in combination, seems to yield the diphthong , just as in Stephen or Steven. So also the original Indo-European aspirates &//, dk, yh are not retained in any European language ; there is nothing to correspond to log-house. Q,U is sometimes followed by another M, as in altiloquus. propinquus. It would seem to be rendered by kwooce. B is strongly pronounced with a trill. It is heard at the height of its power in the combination rrh ; as in catarrhactes, pyrrhorrhoa. S invariably retains its sharp hissing sound. Thus essence is a rhyme with fuscescens (as far as the s-sound is concerned) ; so also virens = virraynce, not vy-renz. Compare hiss or this with his. So particular were the Romans to avoid the z sound of s, that they even altered antecedent consonants ; saying, for example, urps and pleps for urbs and plebs. T always preserves its sound. There is nothing to correspond with the English -tion = shun, &c. E.g., gra-ti-a, rat-i-o, init-i-um. "V is directed by some to be sounded like English w in we. But this is rarely done. X is always ks or cs, never gz or z, even when initial, as in Xema, Xanthocephalus. Z, which only occurs in Latin words of Greek extraction, is a double letter equivalent to dz, and the best authorities recommend the d sound to be articulated. Thus Aphriza, Spiza, are pronounced Afreedza, Speedza. A word in regard to the pronunciation of modern proper names, as of persons and places, so often recurring in ornithology. After mature deliberation, we have decided to mark them for their pronunciation in the language to which they belong. It seems finical and pedantic to attempt to Latinize them ; for to carry out that plan to its logical result would be to give b'runonis instead of browni ; and even then some names would utterly defy us, unless changed be}*ond all recognition. So we have adopted the rule of preserving the orthography and orthoep} 7 of all modern proper names, even though containing the letter w. Barbarous geographical words of unsettled or no known orthography may, however, be sometimes dressed in quasi- Latin ; thus it is perfectly permissible to render aoonalaschkae by unalascce. We make this remark to explain what must seem inconsistent in our use of diacritical marks in some places ; for we mark the vowels long or short as the syllables are pronounced in the language to which the word belongs, not as they would be in Latin. REMARKS ON THE USE OF NAMES. 21 ACCENTUATION. This is a matter of prime importance. For elegant, even for bearable, pronun- ciation, it is essential to place the accent or stress of voice on the right syllable. Fortunately the rules are simple, with comparatively few exceptions. Accent the penult when it is long. Accent the antepenult when the penult is short. These two rules will carry us safely across the great majority of Latin words. In many cases lengthening the s}'llable, whether penult or antepenult, is actually equivalent to accenting it. We can scarcely recall a case of a short accented penult ; but many short antepenults take the accent, which is simply because it cannot be thrown still further back. Modern proper names of three s}*llables with the accent on the first, keep it there after addition of the i of the genitive case ; as, aud'uboni, rich'ardsoni. So important is the matter of accent, that were all other diacritical marks dis- pensed with, we could still pronounce the words with measurable accuracy, knowing where to put the stress of voice. The tendency in English is constantly to throw the accent back as far as possi- ble ; and there is much of this same practice in the usual pronunciation of Latin. For the latter language, and especially for words derived from the Greek, we con- sider it vicious and undesirable. It seems to us much more sensible and natural in the case of a word compounded of two Greek words, to keep the stress of the voice on the stem of each, than to throw it, for sake of glibness, on the most insig- nificant S}*llable, often the mere connective vowel, and a short one at that. Take for example Troglodytes, Lophophanes, Phylloscopus, or any similar words of four syllables, compounds of two words of two S3'llables each. It is glib to accent the antepenult, but it is done at the sacrifice of the strength and dignity of the stem which stands penult, and which we should prefer to accent, even if short. Where we have found it practicable on etj'mological grounds to lengthen and accent such penults, we have done so ; in general, however, we have closely conformed to routine custom, especially as there is to be strongly set before the inexperienced student the necessity of avoiding the glaring impropriety of accenting the penult of enjthrocephalus, for example. The tendenc}' of all persons who find it difficult to handle a long new word, is to dissect it, with two or even three accents ; and per- haps the inclination of the scholar to show his erudition has unconsciously led him to the opposite extreme. Any " rule" or custom aside, the natural accent of poly- syllabic words is rhetorical as if each syllable were a word. It may be seen in those words whose looseness of composition, so to speak, leaves them like sen- tences ; as nevertheless", not* with stand" ing. The naturalness of a'naly"tic, ge r omet"ric contrasts favorably with the conventionality of analysts, geo'metry ; and there is nothing in the qualit} 1 - of the final syllables to account for the differences in accent. But we are aware that our views of this matter will not pass current, even if they escape adverse criticism. EXPLANATIONS. 1. THE names in the Check List are consecutively numbered from first to last, whether they be of species or of subspecies. The latter are sufficiently distinguished by consisting of three terms instead of two. 2. The names in the Dictionary are numbered to correspond, each page containing the same numbers of the two series. 3. The person's name in parentheses immediately after each bird's name is that of the original describer of the species or subspecies. The unenclosed name succeeding is that of the authority for the particular combination of generic, specific, and subspecific terms adopted. When the original describer is also the authority for the combination, a single unenclosed name is given. The following are the principal abbreviations: All, Allen. Ganib., Gambel. Lawr., Lawrence. Sw., Swainson. Aud., Audubon. Gir., Giraud. Licht., Lichtenstein. Temm., Ternminck. Bd., Baird. Gm., Gmelin. Nutt., Nuttall. Towns., Townsend. Bodd., Boddaert. Gr., Gray. Reich.. Reichenbach. F, Vieillot. Bp.j Bonaparte. L., Linnaeus. Eidg., Eidgway. Fip., Vigors. Cab., Cabanis. Lafr., Lafresnaye. Scl, Sclater. Wagl, Wagler. Cass., Cassin. Lath., Latham. Steph., Stephens. Wils., Wilson. 4. After these terms come three letters, " B," " C," and "R," each followed by a number. These stand respectively for Baird's List, J858. Cones' s Check List, 1874, and Ridgivay's Catalogue, 1880. The number following each of these letters is that which the bird bears in such lists. Thus, Turdus migratorius was named by Linnaeus, who is also the authority for the combination, and is 155 of Baird's list, 1 of Coues's, and 7 of Ridgway's. The dash after any one of these letters shows that the species is not contained in B, C, or R, as the case may be. 5. The note of exclamation, in parentheses, indicates that the species is in North America only a straggler from the country that the following initial letter denotes: E., Europe, A., Asia, M., Mexico, TF. I., West Indies. G. shows the bird to be only North American as occurring in Greenland. 6. The note of interrogation, similarly enclosed, means that the name is considered to be of slight or uncertain value, as of a subspecies scarcely distinguished from its stock, or of a species not well known. 7. The Index will be found to contain matter additional to, or corrective of, that in the body of the work. See p. 137. OF TUB T UNIVERSITY' CHECK LIST NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 1. Turdus migratorius L. B 155. c i. R 7. Robin. 2. Turdus migratorius propinquus Riclg. B . c . R 7a. (?) Rocky Mountain Robin. 3. Turdus migratorius confinis (Ed.) Coues. B . c la. R 8. St. Lucas Robin. 4. Turdus iliacus L. B . c . R 6. (G. !E.) Redwing. 5. Turdus naevius Gm. B 156. c 2. R 9. Varied Thrush. 6. Turdus mustelinus Gm. B us. c 3. B i. Wood Thrush. 1. Tur'-dus mi-gra-to'-rl-Qs. Lat. turdus, a thrush. Lat. migro, to move from one place to another ; migrator, a wanderer, a migrant ; migratorius, migrator}'. 2. T. m. prd-pin'-qttfis [propeenkwoocej. Lat. propinquus, near, neighboring ; as related to T. migratorius. 3. T. m. con-fi'-nls [confeenis], Lat. confinis, subs, or adj., a neighbor, neighboring; here in sense of closely related to T. migratorius. 4. T. Il-I'-a-cQs. Lat. iliacus, relating to the ilia, or haunches ; also, Lat. Iliacus, Gr. 'IXtamfc, relating to Troy, Trojan ; application obvious in neither case. But Aristotle gives a kind of thrush, called l\tds, supposed by old ornithologists, as Gesner and Belon, to be this species, said to be called by the modern Greeks !\\ds, rv\ds, K/x* 7 ? ibid*, or * ^ a i\id8a ; and the actual form, Turdus iliacus, was an old name when Linnaeus adopted it. 5. T. nae'-vl-us [nayveus]. Lat. ncevius, spotted, from ncevus, a mole (birth-mark). The sub-genus Hesperocichla is Gr. eWcpoj, Lat. vesperus, evening, i.e., western, and KX A or K(X^, a thrush. 6. T. mus-te-li'-nus. Lat. mustdinws, weasel-like ; i.e., in this case, tawny. The sub-genus Hylocickla is Gr. #Ar?, a wood, and 24 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 7. Turdus fuscescens Steph. B 151. c 6. R 2. Wilson's Thrush. 8. Turdus unalascse Gm. B 150. c 46. R 5. Western Hermit Thrush. 9. Turdus unalascse auduboni (Bd.) Coues. B 149 var. c 4a. R 5a. Audubon's Hermit Thrush. 10. Turdus unalascse nanus (Aud.) Coues. B 149. c 4. R 56. Eastern Hermit Thrush. 11. Turdus ustulatus Nutt. B 152. c 56. R 4. Oregon Olive-backed Thrush. 12. Turdus ustulatus alicise (Bd.) Coues. B 154. c 5. R3. Gray-cheeked Thrush. 13. Turdus ustulatus swainsoni (Cab.) Coues. B 153. c 5. R 4. Olive-backed Thrush. 7. T. fus-ces'-cens [foosaysayncej. Present participle of a supposed Lat. inceptive verb fuscesco, I grow dark or swarthy; Lat./sco, of same signification. It means, or should mean, less than fuscus ; i.e., somewhat dark ; is not otherwise applicable to the lightest- colored thrush of this group. 8. T. u-na-las'-cae. Of the Island of Unalaska. It is permissible, indeed desirable, to resolve Gmelin's barbarous word aonalaschkae into a purer form. With this orthography the word is of sufficiently classical aspect, and corresponds with alascensis. See Anorthura, No. 78, and Passerella, No. 283. This is T. pallasi var. nanus of the orig. ed. of the Check List. For the change, see Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, 1880, p. 1. 9. T. u. aud'-u-bSn-i. To John James Audubon, the "American Backwoodsman," and famous author of the " Birds of America." This is T. pallasi var. auduboni of the orig. ed. of the Check List. 10. T. u. na'-ntis. Lat. nanus, from the Gr. v&vvos or vdvos, a dwarf. This is T. pallasi of the orig. ed. It is true that nanus has of late been applied exclu- sively to the "Western form, the true unalascce Gm. But the name nanus was originally based by Audubon on a bird from Pennsylvania, and only later amplified by him to include the Western form. The long survival of an error does not justify its continued perpetuation after detection. 11. T. us-tfi-la'-tiis. Lat. ustulatus, perfect participle of ustulo,! scorch, singe; with reference to the ashy coloration, as if the bird had been charred. This stands as T. swainsoni var. ustulatus in the orig. ed. The case is precisely parallel with that of nanus vs. pallasi ; for Nuttall named the Oregon bird ustulatus in 1840, and Cabanis did not apply the name swainsoni to the Eastern Olive-backed Thrush till several years afterward. 12. T. u. a-ll'-cl-ae. To Miss Alice Kennicott, sister of Robert Kennicott, of Illinois. See Scops, No. 466. This is T. swainsoni var. alicice of the orig. ed. See No. 11. 13. T. u. swam'-sbn-i. To William Swainson, the zealous and accomplished English natu- ralist. This is T. swainsoni of the orig. ed. See No. 11. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 25 14. Oroscoptes montanus (Towns.) Bd. B 255. c 7. R 10. Mountain Mocking-bird. 15. Mimus polyglottus (L.) Boie. B 253. c 8. R 11. Mocking-bird. 16. Mimus carolinensis (L.) Gr. B 254. c 9. R 12. Cat-bird. 17. Harporhynchus rufus (L.) Cab. B 261. c 10. R 13. Brown Thrush ; Thrasher. 18. Harporhynchus nifus longirostris (Lafr.) Coues. B 260. c lOa. R i3a. Texas Thrasher. 19. Harporhynchus curvirostris (Sw.) Cab. B 259. c . R. 15. Curve-billed Thrasher. 20. Harporhynchus curvirostris palmeri Ridg. B . c 11. R isa. Bow-billed Thrasher. 21. Harporhynchus bendirii Coues. B . c n&w. R Ua. Arizona Thrasher. 22. Harporhynchus cinereus Bd. B . c 12. R 14. St. Lucas Thrasher. 14. O-ro-scop'-tes [-tace] mon-ta'-nus. Gr. opos, a mountain, ffK^Trrijs, a mimic; alvu, I appear ; in allusion to the conspicuous crest. Lat. bicolor, two-colored. N. B. The accentuation of this and many similar words is questionable, and per- haps arbitrary. We give the above in deference to technical rule, conformably with Aristo'phanes, &c. The actual usage, in this country at least, is LSph-S-pha'-nes ; and 28 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 41. Lophophanes inornatus (Gamb.) Cass. B 287. c 28. R 38. Plain Titmouse. 42. Lophophanes atrocristatus Cass. B 286. c 29. R 37. Black-crested Titmouse. 43. Lophophanes wollweberi Bp. B 288. c 30. R 39. Bridled Titmouse. 44. Parris atricapillus L. B 290. c 31. R 41. Black-capped Chickadee. 45. Parus atricapillus septentrionalis (Harr.) All. B 289. c 3ia. R 4ia. Long-tailed Chickadee. 46. Parus atricapillus occidentals (Bd.) Coues. B 291. c 3ic. R 4i&. Western Chickadee. 47. Parus carolinensis Aud. B 293. c 3i&. R 42. Carolina Chickadee. [See Addenda, No. 879. 48. Parus montanus Gamb. B 294. c 32. R 40. Mountain Chickadee. 49. Parus hudsonicus Forst. B 296. c 33. R 45. Hudsonian Chickadee. we instinctively incline to the latter, both as throwing the stress of voice on the radical syllable, instead of on the connecting vowel, and as the a in -phanes represents two vowels, ai or 03 as in phenomenon, phoznogamous. 41. L. In-5r-na'-tus. Lat. in, negative, and ornatus, ornate, adorned; orno, I ornament. 42. L. a-trS-cris-ta'-tus. Lat. ater, atra, atrum, black ; and cristatus, crested ; crista, a crest. Commonly written atricristatus ; see Parus, No. 44. N. B. The tenability of the position taken by Dr. Coues (B. C. V., i, p. 117 ; 1878) respecting atro-cristatus has been queried by several correspondents ; among them Mr. W. C. Avery, of Greensboro', Ala., who some time since furnished an extensive com- mentary on the names of the old Check List, and whose suggestions have often proved valuable. Mr. Avery maintains atricristatus, adducing albicerata (sc. ficus) from Pliny, 15, 18 ; and atri-, albi, magni-, &c., is undoubtedly a correct form of such compounds. But we take cristatus to be a perfect participle, and put ater in the ablative of instru- ment ; there being no such word as atricristatus, unless we coin it. We consider the word equal to cristatus atro, conformably with usage in Picus albo-larvatuf, Tyrannus aurantio-atro- cristatus, &c. Compare also the actual Latin auro-davatus, striped with golden. 43. L. woll-wgb'-6r-i. To Wollweber. 44. Pa'-rus a-trl-cap-IT-lus. Lat. parus, a titmouse ; etymology in question, but apparently parus for parvus, small, petty, like the actual adverb parum, little ; Gr. iravpos, of same signification, th. travw ; cf. pau-cus, pau-lus, pau-per, &c. Lat. atricapillus, black-hair(ed) ; capillus, hair of the head ; a diminutive, allied to caput , and Gr. /ceaA^, the head. Com- pare English capillary, thready, hair-like, i. e., as fine as a hair. Notice atri-, not atro- ; cf. Lophophanes, No. 42. If the compound were with capillatus, it would be atrocapillatus. 45. P. a. sep-ten-trl-o-na'-Hs. Lat. septentrionalis, northern ; septemtriones (septem and trio) being the constellation of seven stars near the north pole. 46. P. a. oc-cld-en-ta'-lls. Lat. occidentalis, western ; occido, I fall ; . e., where the sun sets. 47. P. ca-rSl-In-en'-sis. See Mimus, No. 16. 48. P. mon-ta'-nus. Lat. montanus, relating to a mountain ; mons, genitive montis, a mountain. 49. P. hud-s6n'-I-cus. Latinized from the name of Henry Hudson, discoverer of the region. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 29 50. Parus mfescens Towns. B 295. c 34. R 46. Chestnut-backed Chickadee. 51. Paras rufescens neglectus Ridg. B . c . R46a. (?) Californian Chickadee. 52. Parus cinctus Bodd. B . c . R 44. (!A.) Siberian Chickadee. 53. Psaltripams minimus (Towns.) Bp. B 298. c 35. R 47. Least Bush-tit. 54. Psaltriparus plumbeus Bd. B 299. c 36. R 48. Plumbeous Bush-tit. 55. Psaltriparus melanotis (Haiti.) Bp. B 297. c . R 49. (!M.) Black-eared Bush- tit. 56. Auriparus flaviceps (Sund.) Bd. B soo. c 37. R so. Yellow-headed Verdin. 57. Sitta carolinensis Gm. B 277. c 38. R 51. White-bellied Nut-hatch. 58. Sitta carolinensis aculeata (Cass.) All. B 278. c 38a. R 5ia. Slender-billed Nut-hatch. 50. P. ru-fes'-cens. Lat. rufescens, present participle of the inceptive verb rufesco, to grow red ; be rufous. " Chickadee " is an obvious onomatopoeia, from the bird's note. 51. P. r. neg-lec'-tiis. Lat. neglectus, neglected ; verbnegligo; equal to nee (won), not, and lectus, chosen, picked, taken ; lego, I gather in, select, &c. Neglect is a nearly exact opposite of collect. 52. P. cmc'-tus. Lat. cinctus, girdled; perfect participle of cingo, I surround, encompass, encircle. A cingulum is a little something that goes around as a girdle does, whence surcingle, cinche. 53. P-sal-trl-pa'-rfls mln'-I-miis [sound the initial p ; the a in parus is properly long ; some- times shortened in composition]. Lat. psaltria, Gr. \^d\rpia, one who plays on the lute; from the verb psallo, tyd\\(a, to strike such an instrument ; English psaltery, &c. ; and parus, a titmouse. See No. 44. Lat. minimus, least, superlative of parvus, small. 54. P. plum'-be-Qs. Lat. plumbeus, plumbeous, lead-colored. 55. P. mfcl-an-o'-tls. Gr. /j.4\as, genitive peXavos, black ; ols, genitive a>r6s, ear. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List, and scarcely established as North American, though given by Baird in 1858. Supposed to have been seen by Ridgway in Nevada, August, 1868. See Rep. Surv. 40th Par., iv, 1877, p. 415. See Index, p. 137. 56. Aur-I-pa'-riis [owriparusj fla'-vl-ceps. Lat. aureus, golden, from aurum, gold ; and parus, a titmouse. Lat. Jlavus, yellow, forflagvus, fromflagro, to glow; whence English defla- grate, flagrant, &c. Ceps is a Lat. termination, from Gr. KfQaX-f), the head; compare caput, cephalic, occiput, &c. A more strict method of compounding aure-us with parvs would give aureiparus ; but it may be taken direct from aurum, making auriparus admis- sible ; as we should say " gold-tit," like " bush-tit," " coal-tit." 57. Sit'-ta ca-r6-lln-en'-sls. Gr. , I col- lect. Lat. familiaris, familiar, domestic, hence common ; familia, or older familias, the family, the household. 63. Cam-p3r-16-rhyn'-chus brun-nei-c3p-flMus [broonaycapeellus]. Gr. Ko/iTruAos, bent, from KO/UTTTW, I bend ; and ftyxos (rhynchus), beak. Lat. brunneus, brown ; capillus, hair. The adjective brunneus is post-classic, Latinized from It. bruno, Fr. brun, Germ, braun ; A. S. bt/rnan, to burn ; related are brand, brunt, and many similar words, among them brant ; see Bernida, No. 700. 64. C. af-fin'-Is [affeen'is]. Lat. affinis, L e., ad and finis, at the end of, hence bordering on, neighboring ; here in the sense of related to, resembling, having affinity with,, No. 63. 65. Sal-pinc'-tes ob-sS-le'-tus. Gr. ffaXmyKriis, a trumpeter, becoming in Latin salpinctes, from adXiriy^ (salpigx = salpinx), a trumpet ; in allusion to the bird's loud, ringing song. Lat. obsoletus, unaccustomed, from ob, against, and soleo, I am wont ; hence obsolete, in sense of effaced, all the colors of the bird being dull. Wren is A. S. wrenna. 66. Cath-er'-pes mex-T-ca'-nus. Gr. /coffees, a creeper; /ca0e/>ira>, I creep down, from icard, down, and e/wrw, I creep, crawl. The stem of the word is seen in herpes, the disease which creeps over the skin ; herpetology, the science of creeping things, reptiles ; repto or repo, I creep, in Latin, simply altered from epirta. Lat. mexicanus, see No. 28. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 31 67. Catherpes mexicamis conspersiis Kidg. B . c 46. R 59a. Speckled Canon Wren. 68. Thryothonis ludoviciamis (Gin.) Bp. B 265. c 47. R 60. Carolina Wren. 69. Thryothoras hidovicianiis miamiensis Ridg. B . c . R 606. Floridan Wren. 70. Thryothonis ludovicianus berlandieri (Couch) Coues. B 266. c 47a. R 60a. Texan Wren. 71. Thryothonis bewicki (Aud.) Bp. B 267. c 48. R 61. Bewick's Wren. 72. Thryothonis bewicki leucogaster Bd. B . c 48a. R ei&. White-bellied Wren. 73. Thryothonis bewicki spilunis (Vig.) Bd. B . c 486. R 6i. (?) Speckled-tailed Wren. 74. Troglodytes domesticus (Bartr.) Coues. B 270, 272. c 49. R 63. House Wren. 75. Troglodytes domesticus parkmani (Aud.) Coues. B271. C49a. R63a. Western House Wren. 67. C. m. con-sper'-sus. Lat. conspersus, speckled; perfect participle of conspergo, from con and spargo (Gr. a-irelpca), I strew, scatter, sprinkle ; whence English sparse, scattered, and many other words, as disperse, aspersion. The Span, canon, brutalized as Eng. canyon, is constantly used in the West for a rocky gorge or mountain-pass. 68. Thry-6-tho'-rus lu-do-vl-cl-a'-niis. Gr. Bpvov, a reed, rush, and 6ovpos, a leaping, spring- ing, from (e6pca), epdxrica), I run or rush through. The penult is marked long, as equiva- lent to Gr. ov. Lat. Ludoviciana, Louisiana, of or relating to Ludovicus, Louis (XIV., of France). The old Territory was vastly more extensive than the present State is. 69. T. 1. ml-a-ml-en'-sls. Latinized from the name of the Miami river in Florida. 70. T. 1. be'r-lan'-di-e'r-i. To Dr. Louis Berlandier, a naturalist, sometime resident in Mexico. 71. T. be'-wlck-i. To Thomas Bewick, "the father of wood-engraving." 72. T. b. Ieu-c6-gas'-ter [lewco-J. Gr. \evit6s, white, and yourr-hp, stomach, belly; whence English gastric, gastronomy. 73. T. b. spll-u'-rus. Gr. a-irl\os, spotted ; odpa, tail. 74. Tr5g-15'-dy-tes [-tace] ddm-es'-tl-cus. Gr. rpwy\o^vr-rjs, a cave-dweller, from rp&yK-n, a cave (literally, a hole made by gnawing rp&yw, I gnaw), and Svrrjs, an inhabitant, from SiW or Svu, I go in or under. The TpwyKoMrai or Troglodyte were a cave-dwelling people of ^Ethiopia. The name was later applied to a kind of wren. Lat. domesticus, domestic, from domus, a house. The specific name aedon, applied by Vieillot to this bird, is the Gr. arjScav, a songster, par excellence the nightingale; from de^Saj, I sing. The pronunciation of Troglodytes wavers ; we mark it as commonly heard, and also as seems to be defensible, in Latin, the penult being indubitably short ; though to do so violates one of the leading principles of Greek accentuation, that no word with the ultimate long is a proparoxytone. Many persons say Trog'lody"tes, conformably with English Trog r - lodyte". The case is precisely parallel with that of Lopho'phanes, g. v., No. 40; and the analogy of Aristo'phancs is not decisive, the Greek being 'ApurroQdisris or 'Apio-ro^av^s, not 'Apiavris. 75. T. d. park'-man-i. To Dr. George Parkman, of Boston, murdered by Professor John W. Webster, in 1849. 32 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 76. Anorthura troglodytes hiemalis (Wils.) Coues. B 273. c 50. R 65. Winter Wren. 77. Anortlmra troglodytes pacificus (Bd.) Riclg. B . c . R 65a. (?) Western Winter Wren. 78. Anortlmra troglodytes alascensis (Bd.) Coues. B . c 50a. R 66. Alaskan Winter Wren. 79. Telmatodytes pamstris (Bartr.) Cab. B 268. c 51. R 67. Long-billed Marsh Wren. 80. Telmatodytes pamstris pamdicola Bd. B . c . R 67a. (?) Tule Marsh Wren. 81. Cistothoms stellaris (Licht.) Cab. B 269. c 52. R 68. Short-billed Marsh Wren. 82. Eremophila alpestris (L.) Boie. B 302. c 53. R 300. Horned Lark; Shore Lark. 83. Eremophila alpestris leucolaema Coues. B . c 535. R 300a. (?) Western Shore Lark. 84. Eremophila alpestris chrysolsema (Wagl.) Bd. B . c 53a. R soo, I go in or under. Lat. palustris, adjective from palus, a marsh, whence palustrine, like lacustrine from lacus, marine from mare. 80. T. p. pal-u-dl'-cS-la. Lat. palus, genitive paludis, a marsh; and (in)cola, an inhabitant. See No. 79. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. (Baird, Rev. Am. B., i, 1864, p. 148.) 81. Cis-tS-tho'-rus stel-la'-rls. Gr. icio-ros, a shrub, and dovpos, from (66po>) QP&GKW, I run or rush through ; compare Thryothorus, No. 68. Cabanis, who coined the word in 1850, gives dtfiScfytupfer as the German translation. Lat. stellaris, stellar, starry, adjective from Stella, a star, like aster, Gr. aa-r-fip ; here in the sense of speckled. 82. Er-e-mS'-phl-la al-pes'-trls. Gr. tyy/tos, a desert; 6s, albus, white ; that is, snowy. 83. E. a. Ieu-c6-lae'-ma. Gr. \cvx4s, white ; \aifi6s, the throat. This is a slight variety, lately described by Coues from the high central plains ; it is the bleached form of that region. (B. N. W., 1874, p. 38.) 84. E. a. chry-sS-lae'-ma. Gr. xp^o-eos, golden ; that is, of a golden color, from xpvffAs, gold ; and \atp.6s, the throat. A. S. laferc, Scot, laverock, Germ. Ier$e, Eng. lark. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 33 85. Alaiida arvensis L. B . c . R 299. (!E.) European Skylark. 86. Motacilla alba L. B . c . R 69. (G.) White Wagtail. 87. Budytes flavus (L,) Gr. B . c 54. R 70. Yellow Wagtail. 88. Anthiis pratensis (L.) Bechst. B . c 55Ms. R 72. (IE.) Meadow Pipit. 89. Anthus ludoviciamis (Cm.) Licht. B 165. c 55. R 71. Louisiana Pipit; American Titlark. 90. Neocorys spraguii (Aud.) Scl. B 166. c 56. R 73. Missouri Skylark; Sprague's Pipit. 85. A-lau'-da ar-ven'-sls. Lat. alauda, a lark, said to be literally " a great songstress," or one who sings on high; from the Celtic al, great, high, and aud, song. Some say from Gr. &\ij, roaming, and uS-fj, song ; t. e. the bird that sings as she soars. The form of the word might suggest ala, wing, and laus, genitive laudis, praise ; as if the bird sang praises on wing. But the Celtic is the only tenable etymon. Lat. arvensis, relating to a ploughed field; arvum, arable land; arvus for aruus, ploughed; aro, I plough. Not in the orig. ed. Said to occur in Greenland, Alaska, and the Bermudas. 86. Mo-ta-cilMa al'-ba. Lat. motadlla = wagtail, "quod semper caudam movet," early applied to some small bird; Lat. moveo, motus, I move, motion, and Gr. Ki\\w of similar signification. There is a Greek word Ki\\ovpos, for the wagtail ; on the contrary there are the Lat. albicilla, atricilla, meaning white-tail, black-tail, &c. The implication in either case seems to be tail, considered as a movable part. Compare Fr. hochequeue. Not in the orig. ed. The species is North American only as occurring in Greenland. 87. Bu'-dy-tes fla'-vus. Budytes is an unknown word to us, unless conjectured to be SVTTJS, with the augmentative particle 0ov-. See Troglodytes, No. 74. The particle /Sou, however, is from flows, a bull, ox, cow, and becomes " augmentative," just as we say " horse-laugh," " bull-finch," " elephant-folio," &c., being therefore of obvious inapplicability to this deli- cate little bird. Since the above was written, Mr. Henry T. Wharton, of London, has kindly replied to queries respecting various words of which we were in doubt. In this case, his MS. confirms the above etymology, but in a different application ; the actual form, povSvrris, being found in " Opp., Ix. 3. 2," for some small bird ; qu., one that goes among cattle ? There is some question whether the yellow wagtail of Alaska be the true B.flavus. 88. An'-thus pra-ten'-sls. Lat. anthus, Gr. &v6os, a kind of bird. Lat. pratensis, adjective from pratum, a meadow. For anthus, compare omanthe vitiflora, under Saxicola, No. 26. This is North American as found in Greenland, and said to also occur in Alaska. 89. A. lu-do-vl-cl-a'-niis. Lat. Ludovicus, nom. prop. See Thryothorus, No. 68. Pipit, little used in this country, though always said for these birds in England, is an onomatopoeia (ovofjutToirotia, word-making to express the sense by the sound), like the Lat. pipio, I pip, peep, chirp ; see Pipilo, No. 301. Titlark is good English for a small kind of lark, like tit-mouse, torn-tit ; tit in all its forms, and with numerous related words, conveying the sense of something little or otherwise insignificant. 90. N6-8'-cS-rys spra'-gul-i [three syllables]. Gr. v4os, new; teopvs, primarily a helmet; hence applied to the crested lark. To Isaac Sprague, companion of Audubon on the Missouri. 34 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 91. Mniotilta varia (L.) V. B 167. c 57. R 74. Black-and-white Creeper. 92. Mniotilta varia borealis (Nutt.) Ridg. B . c . R 74a. (?) Small-billed Creeper. 93. Parula anaericana (L.) Bp. B 168. c 58. R 88. Blue Yellow-backed Warbler. 94. Parula nigrilora Coues. B . c . R 89a. Sennett's Warbler. 95. Protonotaria citrea (Gm.) Bd. B 169. c 59. R 75. Prothonotary Warbler. 96. Helminthenis vermivorus (Gm.) Bp. B 178. c 60. R 77. Worm-eating Warbler. 91. MnI-6-tIF-ta var'-I-a. Gr. pviov, moss, and ri\\u, I pluck, or ri\r6s, plucked. Neither the orthography nor the applicability of the word is obvious. Vieillot wrote sometimes mniotilta, sometimes mniotilla. The conjectured application is to the weaving of moss into a nest. Lat. varia, variegated, as this bird is with black and white. 92. M. v. bSr-e-aMIs. Lat. borealis, northern. See Phyttoscopus, No. 32. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. 93. Pa'-rfi-la am-gr-I-ca'-na. Lat. panda, diminutive from parus, a titmouse, q. v., No. 44. Lat. americana, American. America is generally supposed to derive its name from Amerigo Vespucci, Latinized Americus Vespucius ; and is said to have first appeared in the form of America Provincia, on a map published at Basle in 1522. The counter-argu- ment is : (1) The name if from the Italian navigator's would have been from his surname. (2) His name was Alberico Vespuzio. (3) Americ, or Amerique, is the native name of a range of mountains in Nicaragua. " It is most plausible that the State of Central America, where we find the name Americ signifying great mountain, gave the continent its name." (Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, i, p. 692.) The author cited seeks to establish a connection with the Hindu Meni, or Meruah, of similar signification. 94. P. nIg-rMo'-r&. Lat. niger, black; and forum, a thong, strap, a bridle-rein; hence the cheeks, along which the bridle passes. The " lore " has become in ornithology a techni- cal name for a small space on the side of a bird's head between the eye and the bill. Not in the first ed. of the Check List. Lately discovered in Texas by Mr. George B. Sennett. See Coues, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., iv, 1878, p. 11. 95. Pro-tS-n8-ta'-rI-a cit'-rg-a. Low Latin for prothonotary ; from Gr. irpwros, first, and Lat. notarius, a scribe, a notary-public. The bird is le Protonotaire of Buffon, Latinized by Gmelin as protonotarius in 1788 ; but for the name, as Pennant observed in 1785, " the reason has not reached us." Lat. citrea, of or pertaining to the citron, in allusion to the yellow color. 96. Hel-min-the'-nis ver-ml'-vSr-iis. Gr. \fiivs, genitive eA/xi\cw, I love, elSeA^y, brother ; the latter from d connective (for a/j.a) and SeXtyts, the womb, that is, having one mother. But the compound itself, Philadelphia, is classic, as the name of a city, and there are the actual words 0iA.a5eA.0eta, , to run); Kivnr-fip, from Ktvew, to move. Gr. 6a\do-ffivos, sea-green, ed\affaiv6s, shining, and that it should be written as above, as he originally did. This, however, is merely a poetic form, from aeii/a>, itself poetic for Qaivoo. It would appear to be most naturally written Phcenopepla, like phcenomenon, phcenogamous, &c., from the same source ; but if the orthography Phainopepla, in five syllables, be preserved, it can be easily defended. Gr. ircVAa, poetic plural of ircirAos, a robe. Lat. nitens, present participle from niteo, I shine. 44 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 169. Myiadestes townsendi (Aud.) Cab. B 235. c 121. R 25. Townsend's Flycatching Thrush. 170. Vireo olivaceus (L.) V. B 240. c 122. R 135. Red-eyed Greenlet. 171. Vireo flaviviridis Cass. B 211. c . R 136. Yellow-green Greenlet. 172. Vireo altiloquus barbatulus (Cab.) Coues. B 243. c 123. R 137. Black-whiskered Greenlet. 173. Yireo philadelphicus Cass. B 244. c 124. R iss. Brotherly-love Greenlet. 174. Vireo gilvus (V.) Bp. B 245. c 125. R 139. Warbling Greenlet. 175. Vireo gilvus swainsoni Bd. B . c I25a. R i39a. Western Warbling Greenlet. 176. Vireo flavifrons V. B 252. c 126. R 140. Yellow-throated Greenlet. 177. Vireo solitarius V. B 250. c 127. R 141. Blue-headed Greenlet. 178. Vireo solitarms cassini (Xantus) Ridg. B 251. c . R I4ia. (?) Cassin's Greenlet. 169. Myl-a-des'-tes [mweeadaystace] town'-send-i. Gr. /j.v?a, a fly, and ^Seo-rfc, an eater; fSoj, or fSojuot, I eat; see Myiodioctes, No. 146. (Not to be written Myiadectes, as if fly- " taker," Muscicapa, from /tuTo and Se/cr^s, from Se'xo/iat). To J. K. Townsend, from whom Audubon received many new birds, and to whom he dedicated several. 1 70. VIr'-g-o [vir'ryoh, not vi'reo] 61-i-va'-cg-us. Lat. vireo, a kind of bird, from vireo, I am green or flourishing. Late Lat. olivaceus, olive-like, olive-colored ; green obscured witli neutral tint ; oliva, the olive, from olea, Gr. Aa/a, the olive-tree ; whence oleum, Gr. Aajoj>, Eng. oil, oleaginous, &c. 171. V. fla-vl-vlr'-l-dls. Lat. flavus, yellow, and viridis, green, from vireo. See Auriparus, No. 56. Commonly but wrongly written flavoviridis. This species is not in the first ed. of the Check List ; it has only recently been dis- covered in the United States, in Texas, by J. C. Merrill. 172. V. al-tl'-18-qufis bar-ba'-tu-lus. Lat. altus, high, from do, I bear up, sustain, and loquus, an adjective from loquor, I speak ; pronounced ahlty'lockwooce, like ventri'loquist, grandi'loquent, &c. Lat. barbatulus, having a small beard; barbatus, bearded; barba, a beard. The allusion is to the dusky maxillary streaks. 173. V. phil-a-del'-phl-cus. See Geothlypis Philadelphia, No. 142. 174. V. gil'-vus [g hard]. Lat. gilvus, gilbus, galbus, helvus, yellowish, greenish-yellow ; German gelfc, Ital. giallo, A. S. gelew, geoluwe ; related tofulvus,Jlavus, &c. 1 75. V. g. swam'-sSn-I. To William Swainson. 176. V. fla'-vl-frons. Lat. flavus, yellow ; frons, forehead. See Auriparus, No. 56. OBS. It would appear from B. C.V., i, 1878, p. 494, that the proper name of this species is V. och-rS-leQ'-cus (Gm.) Coues. Gr. uxpos, ochraceous, yellowish, and Aeu/ctfc, white. 1 77. V. so-ll-ta ; -rl-us-, Lat. solitarius, solitary ; solus, alone. 178. V. cas'-sin-I. To John Cassin, of Philadelphia, sometime the "Nestor of American ornithology " ; the only ornithologist America ever produced who knew any consider- able number of Old World birds. Not in the orig. ed. ; since recognized. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 45 179. Vireo solitarms plumbeus (Coues) Allen. B . c ma. R 1416. Plumbeous Greenlet. 180. Vireo vicinior Coues. B . c 128. R 147. Gray Greenlet. 181. Vireo noveboracensis (Gm.) Bp. B 248. c 129. R 143. White-eyed Greenlet. 182. Vireo huttoni Cass. B 249. c 130. R 144. Button's Greenlet. 183. Vireo belli Aud. B 246. c 131. R 145. Bell's Greenlet. 184. Vireo pusillus Coues. B . c 132. R 146. Least Greenlet. 185. Vireo atricapillus Woodh. B 247. c 133. R 142. Black-capped Greenlet. 186. Lanius borealis V. B 236. c 134. R 148. Great Northern Shrike; Butcherbird. 187. Lanius hidovicianus L. B 237. c 135. R 149. Loggerhead Shrike. 188. Lanius ludovicianus excubitorid.es (Sw.) Coues. B238. ci35a. Ri49. White-rumped Shrike. 179. V. s. plum'-bS-us. Lat. plumbeus, plumbeous, lead-colored ; plumbum, lead. 180. V. vi-ci'-nl-or. Lat. comparative degree of vicinus, neighboring ; vicinia, a neighborhood or vicinity ; this from vicus, digammated from Gr. O?KOS, a house. The allusion is to the close resemblance of the species to others. 181. V. n6v-6-b6r-a-cen/-sIs. Very late Latin for of, or pertaining to, New York; novus, new, and eboracensis, pertaining to Eboracum, the old name of York, England ; Noveboracum is literally New York. 1 82. V. hut'-teSn-i. To William Button, of Monterey, California. 183. V. bei'-li. To J. G. Bell, of New York, for many years the most skilful and most distin- guished taxidermist of America. 184. V. pu-sil'-lus. See Sitta pusilla, No. 60. 1 85. V. a-trl-cap-Il'-lus. Lat. ater, atra, black ; the opposite of albus. It properly means dead black, as niger does glossy black, which latter would have been better in this case. Capillus, hair of the head, from caput, head ; whence English capillary, thready. 186. Lan'-I-us b6r-g-a'-lls. Lat. lanius, a butcher; from lanio, I rend, lacerate. See Falco, No. 502. Lat. boreas, the north wind, h. e., the north ; whence borealis, northern. For reason of the generic change from Collurio of the orig. ed. of the Check List, and for Shrikes' names in general, see Birds Colorado Valley, i, 1878, p. 537 et seq. 187. L. lu-do-vl-cl-a'-nus. Lat. Ludovicus, Louis, a proper name. The application here is to the Territory of Louisiana, formerly of great extent. See Thryothorus, No. 68. 188. L. ex-cub-T-to-rl'-des. Lat. excubitor, a watchman, sentinel, from ex, out of, and cubitor, one who lies down, from cubo ; i. e., an out-lier. The termination of the word is the Gr. (ISos, appearance or resemblance (e?5o>, I see). There is a difference in the orthography of the word : it has oftenest been written exculitoroldes, and pronounced in six syllables, with the accent on the penult. But if this spelling is used, it should be excubiloro'ides, 46 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 189. Hesperophona vespertina (Coop.) Bp. B 303. c ISG. R 165. Evening Grosbeak. 190. Pinicola enucleator (L.) V. B 304. c 137. R 166. Pine Grosbeak. 191. Pyrrhiila cassini (Bd.) Tristr. B . c 138. R 167. (!A.) Cassin's Bullfinch. 192. Passer domesticus (L.) Koch. B . c 187. R . [imp. and Nat] Philip Sparrow. with the diaeresis over the i, and consequently making seven syllables. So long a word is therefore preferably shortened by omitting the connecting vowel o; which, with the usual change of Gr. el to long i in Latin, gives the above spelling and pronunciation. The full number of letters in the compound is excubitorieides. 189. Hes-pgr-8-pho'-na ves-per-ti'-na. Gr. lo-irtpa, Hesperus, the west, the place of sunset (X, region, being understood); hence, the evening; and wf), the voice; qxoveu, I speak; pvyi\os, the name of a bird in Aristophanes, and source of the modern genus Fregilus, a jackdaw. The idea seems to be some short sharp sound, as the hissing, sizzling of something cooking, frigo or p6yw, I cook.) Fringilla reappears in several Italian forms, from two of which two series of words branch off; from such Sisfringuello, frinco, are derived, with loss of the r, Germ, find, ftnf, and Eng. finch ; while from such as frinsone we pass through grinson, quinson, pinson, or later Fr. pinion to Eng. spink, a name of F. ccelebs. 5. An entirely different set of words gives the pedigree of modern Eng. sparrow, back from which we pass to sparrowe, or sparowe, or sparwe, Gothic sparwa or sparva, A. S. spearwa ; related forms being spSrr, spar, sper, spurr, spurv, sparf, spatz, sperg, sperfc, sperlingk, round again to the present Germ, fperltng or $au3fperttng, housesparrow, passer domesticus. 6. Eng. sparrow also curiously leads us back again to Latin, through such a form as sparva, Latinized as sparvius ; so, also, Falco sparverius, i. q. fringillarius, arirttfas, Fr. espervier or fpervier, anglice sparrow-hawk. 7. There is said to be an old Flemish name mousche for this bird, which may not improbably connect with O. Fr. moucft, moisson. 8. The present Fr. is moineau, or moineau franc, or moineau de mile. 9. Several languages have applied cant names to this sturdy vulgarian ; Span, gorrion, thief, rogue, scamp ; Fr. gamin ; American tramp, hoodlum. 10. An onomatopoeia as interesting as Fringilla itself has arisen from the sharp, abrupt, dissyllabic note. This is represented by the syllables yellop (cf. Gr. AAtfar-os), yellup, or phyllup, easily becoming Philip. Early in the sixteenth century appear the " Boke of Phyllup Sparrowe " and the "Praise of Philip Sparrow"; and this name is Shakspearian. Introduced, but now thoroughly naturalized everywhere. 193. P. mon-ta'-nus. Lat. montanus, of mountains. Not in the orig. ed. ; since introduced from Europe, and naturalized in some places. 1 94. Car-pS'-da-ciis pur-pilr'-g-us. Gr. K apir6s, a fruit, and UKOS, from MKVW, I bite ; 2d aorist or Sditov. Lat. purpureus, purple; Gr. iropQvpfos, English porphyry, &c. ; cf. (irup, 0pa, ashes ; and o5s, genitive ur6s, the ear ; the connective consonant c being introduced for euphony. 204. L. t. H-t5r-a'-Hs. Lat. litoralis, littoral ; from litus, the shore, of sea, lake, or river. The word is commonly written littoralis, but preferably as above. Not in the first ed. of the Check List, as not then supposed to be valid. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 49 205. Leucosticte griseinucha (Brandt) Bd. B 323. c I44a. R 174. Brandt's Rosy Finch. 206. Leucosticte arctoa (Pall.) Bp. B 324. c 145. R . Pallas's Rosy Finch. 207. jEgiothus linaria (L.) Cab. B 320. c 146, I46a. R 179. Common Red-poll. 208. JEgiothus linaria holboelli (Brehm) Coues. B . c . R I79a. (?) Holboll's Red-poll. 209. JEgiothus hornemanni (Holb.) Coues. B 321. c . R 178. (G.) Greenland Mealy Red-poll. 210. -SSgiothus exilipes Coues. B . c 1466. R I78a. American Mealy Red-poll. 211. Linota flavirostris brewsteri (Ridg.) Coues. B . c 147. R 180. (?) Brewster's Linnet. 205. L. grls-gl-nu'-cha. Lat. griseus, gray, and nucha, the nape or scruff of the neck. Neither part of the word is classic ; griseus is Latinized from such a word as seen in Fr. gris r Ital. griso, English grisly ; and nucha, a technical word in ornithology, is Latinized from Fr. nuque, the nape (A. S. cncep, a knob, knoll), which is the same as Gaelic cnoc, Welsh cnwc. Nape is thus closely related to neck itself ; A. S. hnecca, Dan. nakke, Dutch nak or nek, Germ, natfen, &c. 206. L. arc-to'-a. Gr. #/>KTOS, a bear; also, the constellation; hence, the north; adjective apitrcpos, same as apicriKos, northern, whence Lat. arctous and arcticus, of same signi- fication. 207. Aeg-I'-8-thus li-na'-rl-a. Gr. AlyioOos, given by Cabanis as a proper name: supposably derived from cuyls, a goat-skin, or aegis, and rlerj/jn, to put or place, as if the shield- bearer, like ^Egisthus. The application is far from being evident. The word is probably only another form of at-yiOos, the name of an unknown bird, occurring in Aristotle, Hist. ix. 1, conjectured by some to be this very species. Lat. linaria; from linum (Gr. \ivov), flax; the root is seen in many words, as line, linear, linen, lint, linnet, &c. 208. A. 1. h61'-boe"l-li. To Carl v. Holboll, a Danish naturalist, chiefly known in ornithology for his researches in Greenland. Not recognized in the first ed. of the Check List. 209. A. horn'-g-man-m. To Hornemann, who had to do with Greenland birds. This species is not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. It is only American inasmuch as it is found in Greenland. It is absolutely confined to that country, and is the bird usually quoted as Greenlandic " canescens." 210. A. ex-fl'-I-pes. Lat. exilis (for exigilis, from exigo), small, slender, &c., and joes, foot. See Ardetta, No. 667. 211. Li-no'-ta fla-vl-ros'-trls brews'-tgr-i. See Linaria, above : the word is not classic, being directly Latinized from the Fr. linotte, one of the numberless words from linum, linea, &c. Lat. flavirostris, yellow-billed. To William Brewster, of Cambridge, Mass., an excellent ornithologist. This is questionably North American, and questionably a good species. 50 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 212. Chrysomitris piims (Bartr.) Bp. B 317. c 148. R 185. Pine Linnet; American Siskin. 213. Astragalinns tristis (L.) Cab. B sis. c 149. R isi. American Goldfinch. 214. Astragalinus lawrencii (Cass.) Coues. B 316. c 150. R 183. Lawrence's Goldfinch. 215. Astragalinns psaltria (Say) Coues. B 314. c 151. R 182. Arkansaw Goldfinch. 216. Astragalinus psaltria arizonse Coues. B . c i5ia. R i82a. Arizona Goldfinch. 212. Chry-s6-ml'-trls pl'-nus. Gr. xpuo-o/tirpts, having a golden head-dress or girdle ; golden, and nirpa, a mitre. There are other forms of the word, varying in the vowels, as Xpvo-opirpris and x/>wo"o/*^Tpty. The latter, which occurs in Aristotle, is translated uurivittis by Gaza ; as Sundwall remarks, heightening the probability that it is the same word as* Xpv(rofji.lTpijs, and is based upon the bright appearance of the European Goldfinch, F. carduelis L. Some other names of classic origin for the Goldfinch and its relatives may be here conveniently noted. Aristotle had three species of " Acanthophaga" as he called them ; i. e., birds living upon prickly plants ; as we should say, " th'stle-birds." 1. One of these was the Opavrrls or 8\vir(s, concerning which see Geothlypis, No. 141. 2. The Xpvffofj.riTpis, as just said. 3. His anavdls, which was undoubtedly the Fringitta canna- bina L. This in Latin becomes spinus, of late years taken as the specific name of F, spinus L. The exact Latin of " thistle-bird " is carduelis, occurring in Pliny ; it is from carduus, a thistle, and reappears in numerous shapes ; as Ital. carduello, cardello ; carduelino, cardellino (compare Cardellina, No. 150), and also gardello and gardellino ; Fr. chardonneret, &c. Aristotle speaks of the sharp voice of his a.Kav6is \iyvpd ; whence ligurinus, another of the many names for birds of this kind. So have we later derived siskin from the sharp note ; Swedish siska, Dutch sijsken, Germ, gteftg, Polish czyz, &c. Another Greek name for some kind of thistle-bird, perhaps the European Goldfinch, is ao-Tpaya\wos, in 1850 applied by Cabanis to the American Goldfinch, as a generic term : see next word. Lat. pinus, a pine-tree. 213. As-tra-ga-H'-nus tris'-tls. Gr. affTpayaXwos is given by Cabanis as the word, and as a name of a thistle-bird ; it is evidently an adjectival form from avrpdyaXos, a die, one of the ankle-bones, and also, in Dioscorides, the name of some kind of plant ; whence the modern botanical genus Astragalus. The original application of aa-rpayaXTvos is undoubtedly to some bird that lived upon, or frequented, the plant in mention, its recent transference to an American Goldfinch being of course arbitrary. When the present species was first described it was called chardonneret de I'Ame'nque, i. e., carduelis ameri- cana: see No. 212. Lat. tristis, sad, in allusion to the plaintive cry of the bird. 214. A. law-rgn'-cl-i. To George N. Lawrence, of New York, the eminent ornithologist. 215. A. psal'-trl-a. See explanation of Psctltriparus, No. 53. Psaltria is not a Lat. adj. to be made agreeable in gender with Astragalinus, but a Greek noun, tya\rpia, signifying a female lutist. " Arkansaw " is not, as it would seem to be, " Kansas " with a prefix, nor is it the name by which the aborigines of that country knew themselves ; nor is " Kansas " the right name of any tribe of Indians. The meaning of neither of these words is known. "Arkansaw" is preferable to Arkansas, as nearer the original " Arkanso." 216. A. p. a-rf-zo'-nae. Named after the Territory of Arizona, where discovered in 1864. See Peuccea, No. 253. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 51 217. Astragalinus psaltria mexicanus (Sw.) Coues. B 315. c 151&. R 182&. Mexican Goldfinch. 218. Astragalinus notatus (Du Bus) Coues. B 310. c . R 184. (!M.) Black-headed Goldfinch. 219. Plectrophanes nivalis (L.) Mej-er. B325. c 152. R 186. Snow Bunting; Snowflake. 220. Centrophanes lapponicus (L.) Kaup. B 326. c 153. R IST. Lapland Longspur. 221. Centrophanes pictus (Sw.) Cab. B 327. c 154. R 188. Painted Longspur. 222. Centrophanes ornatus (Towns.) Cab. B 328, 329. c 155. R 189. Chestnut-collared Longspur. 223. Rhynchophanes maccowni (Lawr.) Bd. B 330. c 156. R 190. Maccown's Longspur. 224. Passerculus bairdi (Aud.) Coues. B 331. c 157, I57&w. R 191. Baird's Savanna Sparrow. 217. A. p. mex-I-ca'-na. Lat. mexicanus, of Mexico. See Sialia, No. 28. 218. A. nSt-a'-tus. Lat. notatus, noted, marked ; noto, I make note of. In allusion to the dis- tinction between this species and C. magellanicus. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. Said by Audubon to have been actually taken in Kentucky. (?) 219. Plec-trS'-pha-nes nlv-a'-lls. The Gr. irK^Krpov, or Lat. plectrum, was an instrument for striking the lyre, from 7rA^, I strike ; also used for a quill, a spur, &c. ; the meaning in this case is the hind claw of the bird, which is remarkably long and straight. The rest of the word is from (paivw, to appear, to seem, &c., the claw in mention being likened to the instrument spoken of. Obs. There is continual difference in opinion respecting the pronunciation of this and similar words, according to whether we consider them as Greek or as Latin. The rule in Greek would retain the accent upon the root of each word entering into the composition, giving Plec f -tro-pha"-nes. But in Latinizing it is allowable, and indeed preferable, to accent as above ; as we have also done in the cases of Helmin- tho'phaga, Lopho'phanes, &c. The gender of the many coined words ending in -phanes is practically in question among ornithologists ; we make them masculine. 220. Cen-tro'-pha-nes lap-p6n'-I-cus. Gr. Kevrpov, a prick, nail, claw, &c., from Kevrtw, I prick or goad. The reference, as in the case of Plectrophanes, is to the long hind claw. See Plectrophanes. Lat. lapponicus, pertaining to Lapland, formerly Lapponia. 221. C. pic'-tus. Lat. pictus, painted, from pingo, I paint or ornament; in allusion to th* variegated colors. 222. C. Sr-na'-tus. Lat. ornatus, adorned, decorated, from orno, I ornament. 223. Rhyn-ch8'-pha-nes mac-c8wn'-i. Gr. f>vyx*> snout, muzzle, beak, and alvw ; in allu- sion to the large bill. See Plectrophanes. To Capt. J. P. McCown, then of the U. S. Army. 224. Pas-ser'-cu-lus baird'-i. Lat. passerculus, a little sparrow; diminutive of passer. To Spencer F. Baird, long time the leader in North American ornithology. Centronyx ochrocephalus, No. 157 bis of the first ed., is this species in fall plumage. 52 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 225. Passerculus princeps Mayn. B . c 158. R 192. Ipswich Savanna Sparrow. 226. Passerculus sandvicensis (Gm.) Bd. B 333. c 1596. R 193. Sandwich Savanna Sparrow. 227. Passerculus sandvicensis savana (Wils.) Ridg. B332. c 159. R 193. Common Savanna Sparrow. 228. Passerculus sandvicensis anthinus (Bp.) Coues. BSS*. c I59a. R 194. Pipit Savanna Sparrow. 229. Passerculus sandvicensis alaudinus (Bp.) Ridg. B 335. c . R 1936. Lark Savanna Sparrow. 230. Passerculus rostratus (Cass.) Bd. B 336. c IGO. R 196. Beaked Savanna Sparrow. 231. Passerculus guttatus Lawr. B . c 160. R 195. St. Lucas Savanna Sparrow. 232. Pocecetes gramineus (Gm.) Bd. B 337. c 161. R 197. Bay- winged Bunting; Grass Finch. 233. Pocecetes gramineus confinis Bd. B . c ieia. R 197. Western Grass Finch. 234. Coturniculus passerinus (Wils.) Bp. B 338. c 162. R 198. Yellow-winged Sparrow. 225. P. prin'-ceps. Lat. princeps, first, principal ; from primus, first, and -ceps. 226. P. sand-vl-cen'-sis. Named after Sandwich Island, one of the Kurile or Aleutian Archi- pelago. 227. P. s. sa-va'-na. Properly Span, sabana or savana, anglicized savanna or savannah, a meadow. As a quasi-Latin word, it should have but one n, as in the Spanish. The quantity of the penult is marked by the general rule for accentuation in Spanish, that words ending in a vowel have the accent on the penult. 228. P. s. an-thi'-nus. Arbitrarily formed from anthus, a pipit, which see, No. 89. 229. P. s. al-aud-I'-nus. Arbitrarily formed from Lat. alauda, a lark ; this from the Celtic al, high, and aud, song. Not in the orig. ed., as then not recognized as valid. 230. P. ros-tra'-tiis. Lat. rostratus, beaked, t. e., having a large beak ; rostrum, a beak; this from rodo, to gnaw, corrode, &c. 231. P. gut-ta'-tus. Lat. guttatus, spotted, speckled; from gutta, a drop; as if marked with droppings. 232. PS-oe'-ce"-tes gra-mln'-g-us. Gr. ir6a, vola, ir6rj, irolrj, grass, herbage; and oiKeTtjs, an inhabitant ; from ohos, a dwelling. The orthography of this word has been unsettled : it was first written Pooccetes by Baird in 1858, and has since been variously spelled. The stem of the first word is iro, giving po-; and oiKeTrjs becomes in Latin oecetes; the above form seems eligible, as first emended by Sclater in 1859. It may be susceptible, but not preferably, of further contraction into Pcecetes. Lat. gramineus, grassy, figura- tively applied to a bird that lives much in the grass ; gramen, grass. 233. P. g. cSn-fi'-nls. Lat. confinis, like affinis, allied to, &c. ; con, with, and^nz's, the boundary, limit, edge, or end of a thing. 234. Co-tur-nl'-cu-lus pas-sgr-i'-nQs. Arbitrary diminutive of coturnix, a quail; said to be so called from the resemblance of the sound of its voice to the sound of the word. Passerinus, an arbitrary adjective from passer, a sparrow ; sparrowlike. CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 53 235. Coturniculus passerimis perpallidus Ridg. B . c i62a. R i98a. Bleached Yellow-winged Sparrow. 236. Coturniculus henslowi (Aud.) Bp. B 339. c 163. R 199. Henslow's Sparrow. 237. Coturniculus lecontii (Aud.) Bp. B 340. c 164. R 200. Le Conte's Sparrow. 238. Ammodramus maritimus (Wils.) Sw. B 342. c 165. R 202. Seaside Finch. 239. Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens Ridg. B . c i65a. R 203. Floridan Seaside Finch. 240. Ammodramus caudacutus (Wils.) Sw. B 341. c 166. R 201. Sharp-tailed Finch. 241. Ammodramus caudacutus nelsoni Allen. B . c . R 20ia. Nelson's Sharp-tailed Finch. 242. Melospiza lincomi (Aud.) Bd. B 368. c 167. R 234. Lincoln's Song Sparrow. 243. Melospiza palustris (Bartr.) Bd. B 369. c 168. R 233. Swamp Song Sparrow. 244. Melospiza fasciata (Gin.) Scott. B 363. c 169. R 231. Song Sparrow. 235. C. p. per-palMl-dus. Lat. pallidus, pallid, pale, and the intensive particle per. 236. C. hen'-slow-i. To Prof. J. S. Henslow, of Cambridge, Eng. 237. C. le-cdn'-tl-i. To Dr. John L. Le Conte, of Philadelphia. 238. Am-mS'-dra-mus mar-It'-I-mus. Gr. &/j./j.os, sand, sea-sand ; for the rest of the word, see under Peucedramus, No. 110. The name was originally written as above by Swainson, and we see no necessity of changing it to Ammodromus. It is commonly accented on the penult. Lat. maritimus, maritime ; mare, the sea. 239. A. m. nTg-res'-cens. Lat. nigrescens, present participle of nigresco, I grow black; niger, black. 240. A. caud-a-cu'-tGs fkowdakootus not cordakewtusl- Lat. cauda, tail, and acutus, acute, sharp ; acus, a pin or point, Gr. aic-f] or aids, whence the Lat. verb acuo, of which acutus is the perfect participle. 241. A. c. neT-s5n-i. To E. W. Nelson, of Illinois, who discovered it near Chicago. Not in the orig. ed. Since described by Allen, Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist,, xvii, 1875, p. 03. 242. Mgl-S-spi'-za lln'-cfil-m. Gr. /te'Aos, a song, melody, and o-irifa or {, on both sides, and enrffa, a finch ; in allusion to the close relation of the genus to those about it. See Afelospiza, No. 242. Lat. bilineata, two-lined ; bis, twice, and lineatus, striped ; linea, a line : see Linaria, No. 207. This is the Poospiza bilineata of the first ed. of the Check List. 259. A. belMI. To J. G. Bell, of New York. 260. A. b. ngv-a-den'-sis. To the Territory of Nevada. It were better written nivadensis,'m Latin, but is directly from the Spanish adjective nevada, snowy, white as snow ; Lat. niveus, snowy, from nix, genitive, nh-is, snow. The Territory was named for the snow- capped peaks of its Sierras Nevadas. 261. Jun'-co [pronounced yooncoj hl-e-ma'-lls. Lat. juncus, a reed or rush; cf. jungo, I join, junctus, joined; either, reeds growing densely together, or used as withes to bind with 1 ? For hiemalis, see Anorthura, No. 76. 262. J. h. ai'-kgn-i. To Charles E. Aiken, of Colorado, its discoverer. This and several other connecting forms of Junco (Nos. 264, 266, 267) are not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. 56 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 263. Junco hiemalis oregomis (Towns.) Coues. B 352. c 175. R 218. Oregon Snowbird. 264. Junco hiemalis annectens (Bd.) Coues. B . c . R 219. Pink-sided Snowbird. 265. Junco hiemalis caniceps (Woodh.) Coues. B 353. c 176. R 220. Gray-headed Snowbird. 266. Junco hiemalis dorsalis (Henry) Coues. B 351. c . R 221. Red-backed Snowbird. 267. Junco hiemalis cinereus (Sw.) Coues. B 350. c . R 222. Cinereous Snowbird. 268. Spizella monticola (Gm.) Bd. B 357. c 177. R 210. Tree Chipping Sparrow. 269. Spizella domestica (Bartr.) Coues. B 359. c 178. R 211. Chipping Sparrow; Hairbird. 270. Spizella domestica arizonae Coues. B . c i78a. R 2ii. Arizona Chipping Sparrow. 271. Spizella agrestis (Bartr.) Coues. B 358. c 179. R 214. Field Chipping Sparrow. 272. Spizella pallida (Sw.) Bp. B 360. c iso. R 212. Clay-colored Chipping Sparrow. 263. J. h. Sr-g'-gS-ntis. To the Territory of the Oregon. The name is much in dispute; by some derived from the name of a plant (origanum) growing there. It is probably, how- ever, the Algonkin name of the " great river," the Columbia. 264. J. h. an-nec'-tens. Present participle of annecto,! join together, connect, annex; ad, to, and necto, I fasten, join. The bird is very closely related to several others. 265. J. h. ca'-m-ceps. Lat. canus, hoary, grayish white, and -ceps, the termination indicating head, from KeepaA^. 266. J. h. dor-sa'-lls. Lat. dorsum, the back, whence the late Latin adjective, dorsalis. 267. J. h. cln-eV-g-Gs. Lat. cinereus, ashy (-colored) ; cinis, ash. The true Mexican cinereus has been found in the United States (Arizona) since the orig. ed. of the Check List appeared. 268. Spiz-el'-la [pronounced speedzaylla] mon-ti'-cft-la. An arbitrary diminutive, in Latin form, from Gr. , I eat. Is not the word more properly to be written chondrestes ? We suppose it to be masculine. Lat. grammicus, from gramma, a line, word, mark, in allusion to the 68 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMEEICAN BIRDS. 282. Passerella iliaca (Merr.) Sw. B 374. c 188. R 235. Fox Sparrow. 283. Passerella iliaca unalascensis (Gm.) Ridg. B 375. c iso. R 235a. Townsend's Fox Sparrow. 284. Passerella iliaca schistacea ( Bd.) All. B 376. c I89a. R 235c. Slate-colored Fox Sparrow. 285. Passerella iliaca megarhyncha (Bd.) Hensh. B . c . R 2356. Large-billed Fox Sparrow. 286. Calamospiza bicolor (Towns.) Bp. B 377. c 100. R 256. Lark Bunting. 287. Spiza americana (Gm.) Bp. B 378. c 101. R 254. Black-throated Bunting. 288. Spiza townsendi (Aud.) Ridg. B 379. c 192. R 255. (?) Townsend's Bunting. stripes on the head ; Gr. ypdpfjia, ypaftfjuitSs. Usually written grammaca or grammacus, for which there is no authority. And even the corrected form is bad enough ; for grammicus does not mean lineatus, striped, marked with lines, but linearis, linear, having the quality of a line. 282. Pas-sgr-el'-lS I-H'-a-ca. An arbitrary diminutive of Lat. passer, like spizella from spiza. For iliaca, see Turdus iliacus, No. 4. Applicability of the name inobvious ; it may be intended to note some resemblance to the thrush in mention, or refer to the conspicuous markings of the flanks. 283. P. i. u-na-las-cen'-sls. The name of the Aleutian Island for which this species is named, has no settled orthography : Unalashka, Unalaschka, Unalascha, Ouna-, Oona-, Aoona-, Aona-, &c. In the present case, Pennant wrote Unalascha Bunting, of which Gmelin made Emberiza unalaschcensis, and was nearly followed by Ridgway ; but the word may be euphonized as above, just as we have alascensis as the name of a wren, No. 78. This stands as Passerella townsendii in the orig. ed. 284. P. i. schls-ta'-cS-a. Lat. (late) schistaceus, slaty, relating to slate; in this case, in color; schistos or Lat. rhynchus, snout, muzzle, beak. More exactly to be written megalorhyncha. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List ; since revived by H. W. Henshaw. 286. Cal-a-mo-spiz'-a bi'-c61-8r. Lat. calamus or Gr. Kd\afj.os, a reed, rush, cane, flag; and spiza. See under Passer, No. 192, and Melospiza, No. 242. Lat. ticolor, two-colored ; Us, twice ; in allusion to the black-and-white of the male. 287. Spiz'-a [pronounced Speedzah] am-gr-T-ca'-na. See under Melospiza, No. 242. This stands as Euspiza amer. in the orig. ed. For the change, see Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, 1880, p. 3. 288. S. town'-sSnd-i. To J. K. Townsend. Given as Euspiza towns, in the orig. ed. No second specimen of this alleged species is known, and it is not improbable that the type came from an egg laid by S. americana. But even such immediate ancestry would not forbid recognition of "specific characters;** the solitary bird having been killed, it represents a species which died at its birth. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 59 289. Zamelodia ludoviciana (L.) Coues. B 380. c 193. R 244. Rose-breasted Song Grosbeak. 290. Zamelodia melanocephala (Sw.) Coues. B 381. c 194. R 245. Black-headed Song Grosbeak. 291. G-uiraca ccerulea (L.) Sw. B 382. c 195. R 246. Blue Grosbeak. 292. Passerina ciris (L.) Gray. B 384. c 196. R 251. Painted Finch ; Nonpareil. 293. Passerina versicolor (Bp.) Gray. B 385. c 197. R 250. Versicolor Painted Finch. 294. Passerina amcena (Say) Gray. B 386. c 198. R 249. Lazuli Painted Finch. 295. Passerina cyanea (L.) Gray. B 387. c 199. R 248. Indigo Painted Finch; Indigo-bird. 296. Spermophila moreleti Pucheran. B 388. c 200. R 252. Morelet's Seed-eater. 297. Phonipara zena (L., 1758) Bryant. B . c 201. R 253. (!W.i.) Black-faced Finch. 289. Za-mgl-o'-dl-a lu-do-vl-cl-a'-na. Gr. fa an intensive particle, and peKyMa, singing, melody ; in allusion to the strikingly rich song. To Louisiana ; see Thryothorus, No. 68. This is given as Goniaphea lud. in the orig. ed. For the change, see Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 98. 290. Z. m61-an-6-c6ph'-a-la. Gr. jueAas, feminine /xeAoivo, neuter /te'Acw, black ; KcQaX-fi, the head. 291. Guir'-a-ca [pronounced Gweerahcah] coe-rGF-g-a. The generic word is barbarous, from some South American vernacular, and of uncertain meaning. It occurs, with several similar words, as guira, in Marcgrave. We mark the accent (for which there is no author- ity) as usually heard. For ccerulea, see Polioptila, No. 36. 292. Pas-sgr-i'-na ci'-rls. Passerina, formed from Passer, as Passerella and Passerculus also are. Ciris, Gr. Kftpis, a kind of bird, into which Scylla, daughter of Nisus, is fabled to have been changed. Nonpareil = " the incomparable." For use of Passerina, instead of Cyanospiza of the orig. ed., see Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 96. 293. P. ver-sl r -c61-8r. Lat. versicolor, of changing or versatile colors, many-colored, party-col- ored ; verso, I turn about, change, am occupied with, versed in, &c.; color, color. 294. P. a-moe'-na [ahmwaynahj. Lat. amcena, delightful, charming, dressy. 295. P. cy-an'-g-a. Lat cyaneus, Gr. Kvdveos or KVO.VOS, dark blue. 296. Sper-m6'-phl-la mSre-lgt'-I. Gr. erW^ua, genitive a-Wp^a-ros, a seed ; from arirfipw, equal to the Lat. spargo, I sow seed : and $l\os, from i\ew, I love. The word is contracted ; the full form is spermatophila. To - Morelet, a French naturalist. 297. Pho-nl'-pa-ra ze'-na. Gr. tfxav-fi, a sound, the voice ; ^/i/, I speak ; the English " phonetic " is from the same. The rest of the word appears to be from Lat. pario, I bring forth, beget, produce, having the same root as is seen in primi-para, par-turient, vivi-par-ous, &c. ; if so, the word is a hybrid which would be better written sonipara or vocipara. The mean- ing of zena we do not know ; we suppose it not to be of Greek or Latin derivation. This is given as P. bicolor in the orig. ed. of the Check List, after Frinyilla bicolor L., 1766; but it seems that F. zena L., 1758, is the prior tenable name. 60 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 298. Pyrrhnloxia sinuata Bp. B 389. c 202. R 243. Texas Cardinal Grosbeak. 299. Cardinalis virginiana Bp. B 390. c 203. n 242. Cardinal Grosbeak; Virginia Redbird. 300. Cardinalis virginiana ignea (Bd.) Coues. B . c 203a. R 242a. Fiery-red Cardinal Grosbeak. 301. Pipilo erythrophthalmus (L.) V. B 391. c 204. R 237. Towhee Bunting; Chewink. 302. Pipilo erythrophthalmus alleni Coues. B . c 204a. R 237a. White-eyed Towhee Bunting. 303. Pipilo maculatus oregonus (Bell) Coues. B 392. c 205. R 2G8&. Oregon Towhee Bunting. 304. Pipilo maculatus arcticus (Sw.) Coues. B 393. c 205a. R 238. Arctic Towhee Bunting. 305. Pipilo maculatus megalonyx (Bd.) Coues. B 394. c 2056. R 238a. Spurred Towhee Bunting. 298. Pyr-rhu-lox'-I-a sln-ii-a'-ta. A forcible combination of Pyrrhula and Loxia : see these words, Nos. 190 and 199 ; or may be said to be more properly compounded of pyrrhus, irvfyos, fiery-red, and Ao|/as; in which event, it should be written pyrrholoxia. Lat sinua- tus, bent, bowed, curved, as the bill of the bird is ; from sinuo, the verb ; sinus, the noun, a curve, bending, bay. 299. Car-dln-a'-Hs vir-gln-I-a'-na. Lat. cardinalis, pertaining to a door-hinge ; cardo, genitive cardinis, a door-hinge ; hence, that upon which something turns or depends ; as, cardinal points of the compass ; hence, any important thing or person ; applied with obvious sig- nification to the chief officials of the Pope. These ecclesiastical dignitaries wear red ; hence the phrase " cardinal-red." The term is applied to the bird as descriptive of its rich red color. As a Latin word, cardinalis is only an adjective ; used substantively, its gender is either masculine or feminine. We take the latter, because most words ending in is- are feminine. Lat. virginiana, of Virginia, euphemistically named for Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII. 300. C. v. Ig'-ne-a. Lat. igneus, fiery, flaming ; said of color as well as of other properties ; ignis, fire. 30 1 . PI r -pfl-5 g-ryth-roph-thal'-mfis. Vieillot, in forming the word, wrote both pipilo and pipillo. It is a Latin verb, meaning, like pipio, I pip, peep, chirp. Notice the accentua- tion and quantity of the vowels. Gr. tyvepos, red or reddish; e>ev0, I redden ; o<0aA- p.6s, the eye, from &rro/iai, a verb obsolete in the present, or opdca, I see ; we find both words in " ophthalmic," " optic." The species is red-eyed. The curious English words " towhee " and " chewink " are onomatopoeic : that is, coined to imitate the sound of the bird's voice. 302. P. e. al'-lSn-I. To Joel Asaph Allen, of Cambridge, Mass., one of the leading naturalists of the United States. 303. P. ma-cfil-a'-tus 6r-6-go f -nus. Lat. maculatus, spotted ; macula, a spot. To the Oregon River. Quantity of the penult in question, perhaps better ore'gOnus. The stock species, P. maculatus, is not North American. 304. P. m. arc'-tl-ca. See Sialia, No. 29. 305. P. m. mg-gal'-6-n~x. Gr. neydkij (feminine of fjteyas), large, great, and ovv, Lat. onyx, a nail, claw, talon. The word is commonly accented on a long penult; a practice perhaps defensible on the ground that megalti-onyx = megalonyx. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 61 306. Pipilo fuscTis mesoleucus (Bd.) Ridg. B 397. c 206. R 240. Brown Towhee Bunting ; Canon Bunting. 307. Pipilo fuscus albigula (Bd.) Coues. B . c 206a. R 240a. White- throated Towhee Bunting. 308. Pipilo fuscus crissalis (Vig.) Coues. B 396. c 2066. R 2406. Crissal Towhee Bunting. 309. Pipilo aberti Bd. B 395. c 207. R 241. Abert's Towhee Bunting. 310. Pipilo chlorurus (Towns.) Bd. B 398. C 208. R 239. Green-tailed Towhee Bunting. 311. Embernagra rufovirgata Lawr. B 373. c 209. R 236. Green Finch. 312. Dolichonyx oryzivorus (L.) Sw. B 399. c 210. R 257. Bobolink; Reed-bird; Rice-bird. 306. P. fus'-ciis mSs-S-leu'-cfis. Lat./wscws, fuscous, dark, dusky, like furvus ; both allied to Gr. op6s, of same meaning, from opQvfi, night or darkness 1 Gr. /tcVos, middle, Aeu/c, I shine ; this from ayXaia, splendor, the name of one of the Muses. This is given as P. fuscus in the orig. ed. ; but the bird of Arizona is said to be dis- tinguishable from the Mexican stock species. 307. P. f. al-bl'-gu-la. [Not albigew'ler.] Lat. albus, white; gula, throat. This is one of num- berless cases where the termination of the word is in question, Albigula may be taken as a feminine noun, and left in this form, whatever the gender of the word with which it is associated ; or it may be considered an adjective in -us, -a, -urn, and made masculine to agree with P. fuscus. There is ample authority and precedent for the latter course, which our taste disinclines us to take. English affords a parallel latitude of construc- tion, as when we say indifferently "yellow-rump warbler" or "yellow-rumped warbler," " Carolina chickadee " or " Carolinian chickadee." A better form than either albigulus or albigula would be albigularis. 308. P. f. cris-saMls. Late Lat. crissalis, pertaining to the crissum, or under-tail coverts, which in this bird are highly colored. There are no such classic words, they having been in- vented by Illiger in 1811 ; but, there is a verb crisso, expressing a certain action of the parts. 309. P. a'-bgrt-i. To Lieutenant J. W. Abert, of the U. S. Army, who discovered it. 310. P. chl5-ru'-rus. Gr. x^-vpds, green, from x\6a, green grass ; olpa, tail. 311. Em-ber-na'-gra ru-fS-vir-ga'-ta. Embernagra is a villanous word, concocted by Lesson out of Emberiza and Tanagra. Emberiza, a bunting, is a word the derivation of which is not classic. It is said, doubtless correctly, to be Latinized from the O. H. G. Embritz ; "Charleton (1668) has Embryza" (Wharton's MS.) ; and we may add that there were various other forms of the word before it settled into the present one. There are Latin words Tanager and Tanagra ; but these are geographical proper names, having nothing to do with the present case. Tangara or Tanagra is a South American vernacular word. Lat. rufus, rufous, reddish, and virgatus, literally, made of twigs; from virga, a rod, switch, the application being the stripes with which the bird is marked. Commonly written nifivirgata : see Lophopkanes, No. 42. 312. D6Mch'-6-nyx 6-ry-zI'-v6-rfis. Gr. So\ixos, long, and &/u, a nail, claw, talon. The gender is in question ; but the Greek 6w, Lat-onyx, is masculine, though Latin words in -yx are usually feminine. The usual pronunciation is dolicho'nyx: but see Pipilo, No. 305. Gr. , or Lat. oryza, rice, and voro, I devour. 62 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 313. Molothrus ater (Bodd.) Gray. B 400. c 211. R 258. Cowbird. 314. Molothrus ater obscurus (Gm.) Coues. B . c 2iia. R 258a. Dwarf Cow-bird. 315. Molothrus seneus Cab. B . c . R 259. Bronzed Cowbird. 316. Agelaeus phceniceus (L.) V. B 401. c 212. R 261. Bed-winged Marsh Blackbird. 317. Agelaeus phoeniceus gubernator (Wagl.) Coues. B402. C2i2a. R2Gia. Bed-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. 318. Agelseus tricolor Nutt. B 403. c 2126. R 262. Bed-and-white-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. 313. MS-lS'-thriis a'-tgr. Unde derivaturl The orthography and etymology of molothrus are alike in dispute. Swainson himself says, " fjio\oOpos, qui non vocatus alienas aedes intrat ; " that is, an uninvited guest. There being no such Greek word as yuoAofyos, but there being a good Greek word /xoAo/>o's, meaning one who roams in quest of food, a vagabond, a beggar, a parasite, a " tramp" (as we should say now), and therefore exactly answering to Swainson's explanation of his molothrus, it has been supposed by Cabanis that Swain- son meant to say molobrus, and the word has consequently been changed. Though this is very true, it is also to be observed that Swainson wrote molothrus more than once, showing it not to be a misprint or other mistake, and that, further, it is quite possible to construct the word molothrus from fiu\os and 0pc6 (0opetV, 66pw, 6va>], and answer all the conditions of Swainson's definition ; molothrus being, in this case, a bird which takes uninvited possession of other birds' nests, and there leaves an alien egg in mockery of the rightful owners. We therefore see no necessity to replace molothrus by molobrus. The first o is marked long as being Gr. ta, the second as lengthened by position. This stands in the orig. ed. as M. pecoris, corrected in a footnote. 314. M. a. ob-scu'-rus. Lat. obscurus, obscure, dark; obscuro, I darken; Gr. triad, shadow, shade. This stands as M. pecoris var. obscurus in the orig. ed. 315. M. a. ae'-nS-us. Lat. ceneus, of brass, brassy, brazen, bronzed; from ces, genitive cms, brass. Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered by J. C. Merrill, in Texas. 316. A-ggl-ae'-us pboe-m'-c6-tis. Gr. &ye\aios, pertaining to flocks and herds, from ftyeAi?, a flock : this from ayetpca, I assemble, from &ya>, I lead ; in allusion to the gregariousness of these Blackbirds. Gr. Qoiviiceos, or Lat. phoeniceus, deep red ; " a color first intro- duced into Greece by the Phoenicians." The fabulous bird Phoenix, and the name of Phoenician, and the word for flame-color, are all the same, (polvij;. This itself is a radi- cal word, but related through (froivos, 6vos, with fyeva), aa, I kill, slay, as if the idea of the whole set of words were that of murder, from its traditional color of blood. The obvious application is to the scarlet on the wings. 317. A. p. gub-er-na'-t5r. Lat. gubernator, Gr. Kv&epvfiTys (cybernetes), a pilot, helmsman; gubernum or gubernaculum, a rudder, tiller ; guberno, Gr. /cuj8epi/oo> or Kvficpv>, I steer a ship ; hence, to direct or govern in general. Govern, governor, are directly from guberno, and the actual Latin lingers in gubernatorial. The implication is the red shoulder-knots or epaulettes of the bird, as if signs of rank or command. 318. A. trl'-c61-8r. Lat. tricolor, three-colored; tres, three, becoming in composition tri-. This stands as A. phoeniceus var. tricolor in the first ed., but proves to be sufficiently distinct. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 63 319. Xanthocephahis icterocephalus (Bp.) Bd. B 404. c 213. R 260. Yellow-headed Swamp Blackbird. 320. Sturnella magna (L.) Sw. B 406. c 214. R 263. Meadow Starling; Field-lark. 321. Sturnella magna mexicana (Scl.) Eidg. B . c . R 263a. Mexican Meadow Starling. 322. Sturnella magna neglecta (Aud.) Allen. B 407. c 2i4a. R 264. Western Meadow Starling. 323. Icterus vulgaris Daud. B 408. c . R 265. (! w.i.) Troupial. 324. Icterus spurius (L.) Bp. B 414. c 215. R 270. Orchard Oriole. 325. Icterus spurius affinis (Lawr.) Coues. B . c 215. R . (?) Texas Orchard Oriole. 326. Icterus galbula (L., 1758) Coues. B 415. c 216. R 271. Baltimore Oriole. 319. Xan-thS-ceph'-al-Qs ic-tgr-8-ceph'-al-fis. Gr. fr v 66s, bright yellow. Gr. r/crepos, or Lat. icterus, see Icteria, No. 144. Related apparently to ficw, I attack, as disease does. 320. Stur-nel r -la mag'-na. Diminutive of Lat. sturnus, a starling ; as spizella from spiza. Lat. magnus, great, large ; root mag, as seen in Gr. pfyas ; whence also mactus, magnified, glo- rified : magi, magician, magic, are all allied. 321. S. m. mex-I-ca'-na. Latinized Mexican. See Sialia, No. 28. Not in the orig. ed. Since discovered in Texas by J. C. Merrill. 322. S. m. neg-lec'-ta. Lat. neglecta, neglected, that is, not chosen, not heeded; from nee, not, and lego, I choose, select, &c. See Parus, No. 61. 323. Ic'-ter-us vul-ga'-rls. See Sturnus, No. 363. Troupial or troopial, from the Fr. trouper, is simply trooper, the bird that goes in troops. Not in the orig. ed. Said to straggle to Southern States. No late case of its so doing. 324. I. spu'-rl-us. For Icterus, see Icteria, No. 144, and Xanthocephalus, No. 319. Lat. spurius, illegitimate, bastard, spurious; related to the Gr. triropd, seed, generation, birth, &c., aveipw, I sow seed. The bird was formerly called " Bastard Baltimore Oriole," whence the undeserved Linnaean name. 325. I. s. af-fi'-nls [accent the penult]. Lat. affinis, ad, and finis, allied, affined. This subspecies is very slightly distinguished from its stock. 326. I. gal'-bu-la. Lat. galbula or galgula, some small yellow bird of the ancients ; doubtless derived from some word signifying yellow ; there are Latin words galbus, galbanus, Germ. gelb, &c., of such meaning. The curious English word oriole, for which no derivation is given in some standard works, has evidently a similar reference to the color yellow, being equivalent to aureole ; Lat. aurum or Gr. adpov, gold : such form of the word for gold, with or- instead of aur-, is seen in the Fr. or. "Baltimore," the former specific name of the bird, is not directly from the city of that name, but from the name of Sir George Calvert, first Baron of Baltimore, the colors of the bird being chosen by him for his livery, or, as Catesby has it (N. H. Car., i, 1731, p. 48), the bird being named from its resemblance in color to the Lord's coat of arms " which are Paly of six Topaz and Diamond, a Bend, interchang'd." The name baltimore, L., 1766, as given in the orig. ed. of the Check List, is antedated by Coracias galbula L., 1758 ; see Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, April, 1880, p. 98. 64 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 327. Icterus bullocki (Sw.) Bp. B 416. c 217. K 272. Bullock's Oriole. 328. Icterus cucullatus Sw. B 413. c 218. K 269. Hooded Oriole. 329. Icterus parisiorurn Bp. B 411. c 219. K 268. Scott's Oriole. 330. Icterus melanocephalus auduboni (Gir.) Coues. B 409. c 220. R 266. Audubon's Black-headed Oriole. 331. Scolecophagus ferrugineus (Gm.) Sw. B 417. c 221. R 273. Rusty Grackle. 332. Scolecophagus cyanocephalus (Wagl.) Cab. B 418. c 222. R 274. Blue-headed Grackle. 333. Quiscalus macrurus Sw. B 419. c 223. R 275. Great-tailed Crow Blackbird. 327. I. buT-16ck-i. To William Bullock, sometime a collector in Mexico, and proprietor of a famous museum in London. 328. I. cu-cul-la'-tus. Lat. cucullatus, hooded; cuculla, a kind of hood or cowl fastened to a gar- ment, to be drawn over the head. 329. I. par-is-I-o'-run. Lat. Parisiorurn, of the Parisians. The Parisii were a people of Gaul, settled on the river Senones, now the Seine ; their chief city, Lutetia, called also Lutetia Parisiorum and Parisii, is now Paris. There is no applicability of the name to the bird : Bonaparte probably so called it from national vanity, or because he found a specimen in a museum in Paris. The name is commonly but wrongly written parisorum. 330. I. mei-an-6-ceph'-al-us aud'-u-btin-i. Gr. /t&os, feminine n4\aiva, black; and /ce^aA^, head. To J. J. Audubon. 331. Sco-le-cd'-pha-gus fer-ru-gln'-g-us. Gf. o-K(a\r)itodya\-fi, head. 333. Quis'-ca-lus mac-ru'-rus. Unde derivator quiscalus J We have no proof whence it comes or what it means : it varies in form, as quiscala, quiscula. Mr. W. C. Avery asks : " Is quiscalus an onomatopceon ? I can find no Latin or Greek word like it." Mr. H. T. Wharton observes : " Quiscalus seems a native name ; if it is, the termination -us only obscures its origin without Latinizing it." Professor A. Newton remarks at greater length : " Quiscalus was doubtless taken by Vieillot from the Gracula quiscula of Linnaeus (S. N., ed. 10, p. 109). I cannot find this word or any thing like it in any older author; but I have an instinctive conviction that it must occur somewhere ; for, as far as my studies of Linnaeus's work go, they show me that he did not invent names. From his printing the word in both eds. (10th and 12th) with a capital initial letter, it is obvious that he regarded it as a substantive, and I should think he must have found it in some book of travels as the local name of a bird. The word seems to me Spanish or quasi- Spanish say Creole and the regular Castilian quisquilla, which dictionaries explain to be a trifling dispute, suggests a meaning, especially when one reads of the noisy and fussy bickerings of your Boat-tails." If, as seems highly probable, we are here on the CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 65 334. Quiscalus major V. B 420. c 224. R 277. Boat-tailed Crow Blackbird ; Jackdaw. 335. Quiscalus purpureus (Bartr.) Licht. B 421. c 225. R 278. Purple Crow Blackbird ; Purple Grackle. 336. Quiscalus purpureus aeneus Ridg. B . c . R 2786. Bronzed Crow Blackbird. 337. Quiscalus purpureus aglaeus (Bd.) Coues. B 422. c 225a. R 278a. Florida Crow Blackbird. 338. CorVUS COraX L. B 423. 424. C 226. R 280. Raven. 339. Corvus cryptoleucus Couch. B 425. c 227. R 281. White-necked Raven. 340. Corvus frugivorus Bartr. B 426. c 228. R 282. Common American Crow. 341. Corvus frugivorus noridanus (Bd.) Coues. B 427. c 228a. R 282a. Florida Crow. 342. CorVUS CaurinUS Bd. B 428. C 2286. R 2826. Northwestern Crow. right track of the word, we may perhaps go a step further, and trace the undoubtedly barbarous word quisculus through quisquilla to the similar Lat. quisguilice, which the lexi- cons give as meaning refuse, dregs, or other trifling worthless matters ; as we might say,. riff-raff, rag-tag ; and such would not be wholly inappropriate to these vagabond troopers,, so common everywhere as to come under the contempt of familiarity. Gr. paitpSs, long,, large, and o3/>a, tail. 334. Q. ma'-j8r. Lat. major, greater, comparative of magnus. 335. Q. pur-pur'-6-us. See Carpodacus, No. 194. 336. Q. p. ae'-ng-us. See Molothrus, No. 315. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List : since recognized. 337 Q. p. ag-lae'-fls. Gr. ay\aios or Ity\a6s, shining, from ct-yAo/a, splendor; also the name of one of the Muses. Obs. Not to be confounded with agelceus, which see, No. 316. 338. Cor'-viis c5r'-ax. Lat. corvus, a crow. Lat. corax or Gr. icrfpof, a raven. Corvus is by some considered an onomatopoeon, and referred through the Gr. icpdfy, Kpcafa, to croak, back to a Sanscrit root of same signification. Corax is more obviously a word of similar formation, as may also be the English crow. 339. C. cryp-tS-leu'-cus. Gr. itpwirrds, hidden (with which compare Eng. crypt), and \fvx6s, white ; the allusion being to the concealed white at the bases of the feathers of the neck. 340. C. fru-gl'-v6-rus. Lat. Jrugivorus, fruit-eating; frux, genitive frugis, fruit, and voro, I devour. Frux is from fruor, fruitus, fructus, as it is something that may be enjoyed. Voro is rooted in &op, as seen in &opd, food, and pdcrKw (&6iv6s, the nose. The specific name is morio, " a dark brown gem," in allusion to the color, which is remarkable in this group of birds. 347. Pi'-ca ruV-tl-ca hud-s8nM-ca. Lat. pica, a magpie. It is supposed by some to be for piga, that equivalent to pigta or picta, from pingo, I paint; hence signifying painted, speckled, pied. The same dubious etymology is ascribed to the masculine form of the word, picus, which see, No. 433. Lat. rusticus, rustic, rural, from rus, the country as dis- tinguished from the city. To Hudson's Bay, named after Henry Hudson, the explorer. This stands as P. melanoleuca hudsonica in the orig. ed. ; but rustica has long priority. 348. P. r. nfit'-tal-li. To Thomas Nuttall, the botanist and ornithologist. This stands as P. melanoleuca nuttalli in the orig. ed. 349. Cy-an-6"-cit'-ta cris-ta'-ta. Gr. KvavSs, cyaneus, blue, and Kirra, a jay. Lat. cristatus, crested ; crista, a crest ; related to cresco, I grow, and crinis, hair, through a common root. For use of Cyanocitta instead of Cyanurus, as in the orig. ed., see Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 98. 350. C. stei'-lr-I. To G. W. Steller, surgeon and naturalist. 351. C. s. an-nec'-teris. Lat. annectens (ad and necto, to bind), annexing, annectant, connecting, tying together ; because this subspecies is intermediate between others of the same stock, serving to link them to each other. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 67 352. Cyanocitta stelleri macrolopha (Bd.) Coues. B 435. c 235a. R 290c. Long-crested Jay. 353. Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis (Ridg.) Coues. B . c 2356. R 290a. Blue-fronted Jay. 354. Aphelocoma floridana (Bartr.) Cab. B 439. c 236. R 291. Florida Jay. 355. Aphelocoma floridana woodhousii (Bd.) Allen. B 438. c 236a. R 292. Woodhouse's Jay. 356. Aphelocoma floridana californica (Vig.) Coues. B437. c 2366. R 293. Californian Jay. 357. Aphelocoma ultramarina arizonse Ridg. B 440. c 237. R 295. Arizona Jay. 358. Xanthura luxiiriosa (Less.) Bp. B 442. c 238. R 296. Rio Grande Jay. 359. Perisoreus canadensis (L.) Bp. B 443. c 239. R 297. Canada Jay. 360. Perisoreus canadensis fumifrons Ridg. B . c . R 2976. Alaskan Jay. 352. C. s. maorS'-lS-pha. Gr. fuucp6s, long, and \6(pos, a mane, crest, comb, from AeVw, as is also ACTT&, AeTros, a scale, and many similar words. Usually pronounced macrolo'pha. 353. C. s. fron-ta'-lls. Lat./rontafo, relating tofrons, the forehead, front. 354. A-phg-lS'-cfi-ma flS-rl-da'-na. Gr. d^eA^js, smooth, sleek, and KOM, Lat. coma, hair ; in allusion to the lack of crest. The word primarily means smooth, even in the sense of free from stones ; a privative, and eAos or eAAo's, a stone ; AAeus, rocky soil, &c. 355. A. f. wo6d-hous'-I-i. To S. W. Woodhouse, M. D., of Philadelphia, who explored in*. New Mexico and Arizona. 356. A. f. cal-I-for'-nl-ca. To the State of California. 357. A. ul-tra-mar-i'-na a-rl-zS'-nae. Lat. ultra, beyond, from the adverb uls, beyond, opposed to cis, on this side ; and marina, marine, relating to the sea, mare ; in allusion to the deep blue color, as of the high sea ; " ultramarine " blue. See Peuccea, No. 253. This stands in the orig. ed. as A. sordida, " Sieber's Jay." 358. Xan-thu'-ra lux-u-rl-o'-sa. Gr. av&6s, yellow, and ovpa, tail. Luxuosa was doubtless intended by Lesson for Lat. luxuriosa, luxurious, in allusion to the elegant coloration. This stands in the orig. ed. as X. yncas var. luxuosa, but proves to be distinct from the Peruvian yncas. 359. Pr-I-so'-r6-us can-a-den'-sls. Unde deriratur? One of the dictionaries gives a sonar, defined as a bird dedicated to Saturn ; whence Perisoreus might be derived as an adjec- tival form, intensified by the preposition peri-. This would accord in idea with the term infaustus bestowed by Linnaeus on the European species, and also with Dysornithia, the generic term invented by Swainson ; there being some superstition attaching to the jays of this genus. But we advance this etymology as mere conjecture. We may note also the Gr. , I offer incense. Described since the orig. ed. ; Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, 1880, p. 5. 68 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 361. Perisoreus canadensis obscurus Ridg. B . c 239a. R 298. Oregon Jay. 362. Perisoreus canadensis capitalis Bd. B . c 239&. R 297a. Rocky Mountain Jay. 363. Sturmis vulgaris L. B . c . R 279. (G. IE.) European Starling. 364. PitangTis derbianus (Kaup) Scl. B . c . R 308. Lord Derby's Flycatcher. 365. Myiodynastes luteiventris Scl. B . c . R 310. Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. 366. Milvulus tyrannus (L.) Bp. B 122. c 240. R 302. (is. A.) Fork-tailed Flycatcher. 367. Milvulus forficatus (Gm.) Sw. B 123. c 241. R 301. Swallow-tailed Flycatcher; Scissor-tail. 368. Tyrannus carolinensis (L.) Bd. B 124. c 242. R 304. Tyrant Flycatcher; King-bird; Bee-martin. 369. Tyrannus dominicensis (Gm.) Rich. B 125. c 243. R 303. Gray Tyrant Flycatcher; Gray King-bird. 361. P. c. ob-scu'-rtis. See Molothrus, No. 314. 362. P. c. cap-l-ta'-lls. Lat. capitalis, capital, relating to the head, caput, the color of which distinguishes the race from the stock species. 363. Stur'-nus vul-ga'-rls. Lat. sturnus, a stare or starling. Lat. vulgaris, vulgar, common; vulgus, or volgus, the people or folk, is digammated Gr. Fo\xos, with transposition of letters from &x^*> a crowd. it Not in the orig. ed. Only American as occurring in Greenland, and there only acci- dentally, in one known instance. 364. Plt-an'-gfis der-bl-a'-nus. Pitangus is a barbarous word, of some South American ver- nacular ; it occurs, in several forms, in Marcgrave. The species is dedicated to the Earl of Derby. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. Since discovered in Texas by G. B. Sennett. See Coues, The Country, i, p. 184, July 13, 1878. 365. Myl-S-dyn-aV-tes lut-gl-ven'-trls. Gr. /turn, a fly, and Swaarr-ffs, a sovereign, ruler, &c. ; SiWfus, power, from 5vva/j.ai, I can, I am able. Lat. luteus, luteous, yellow, from lutum, a plant used for yellow dye, and venter, genitive ventris, the belly ; said to be digammated from Gr. evrepov, the entrails. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List: since discovered in Arizona by H. W. Henshaw. See Hensh., Rep. Expl. W. 100 Merid., v, 1875, p. 346, pi. xiv. 366. Mil'-vii-lus tyr-an'-nus. Lat. milvulus, diminutive of milvus, a kite. Lat. tyrannus, Gr. rvpavvos, a ruler, despot, " tyrant ; " well applied to a bird of this genus. 367. M. for-fl-ca'-tus. Lat. forjicatus, a participial adjective, as if from a verb/or/ico; forfex, a pair of shears, scissors, which the deeply forked tail resembles. 368. Tyr-an'-nGs ca-rS-Hn-en'-sIs. See Milvulus, No. 366. Named after the State of Caro- lina : the direct adjective from Carolus, Charles. See Mimus, No. 16. 369. T. dSm-In-I-cen'-sIs. Named after the island of Hayti, or St. Domingo; dominicus, do- minus, domus. See Dendrceca, No. 129. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 69 370. Tyrannus verticalis Say. B 126. c 244. R 306. Arkansas Tyrant Flycatcher. 371. Tyranmis vociferans Sw. B 127. c 245. R SOT. Cassin's Tyrant Flycatcher. 372. Tyrannus melancholicus couchi (Bd.) Coues. B 128, 129. c 246. R 305. Couch's Tyrant Flycatcher. 373. Myiarchus crinitus (L.) Cab. B iso. c 247. R 312. Great Crested Flycatcher. [See Addenda. No. 880. 374. Myiarchus erythrocercus Scl. and Salv.? B 132 v c . R 311. (?) Rufous-tailed Crested Flycatcher. 375. Myiarchus cinerescens (Lawr.) Scl. B 131. c 248. R 313. Ash-throated Crested Flycatcher. 376. Myiarchus lawrencii (Gir.) Bd. B. 133. c 249. R 314. (!M.) Lawrence's Crested Flycatcher. 377. Sayiornis sayi (Bp.) Bd. B 136. c 250. R 316. Say's Pewit Flycatcher. 370. T. ver-tl-caMls. Lat. verticalis, vertical, t. e., relating to the vertex, top or crown of the head, which has a flame-colored patch. The etymological meaning of vertex is vortex, the turning or whirling thing, from verto, I turn. 371. T. vo-cl'-fer-ans. Lat. present participle vociferans, vociferating, vociferous, from vocifero ; vox, genitive vocis, voice, andyero, I bear. 373. T. mgl-an-chSF-I-cus. Gr. /teAayxoAimfc, melancholy, from /ieXos, feminine /ieAotj/a, black, and x^os, gall, bile ; Lat. melancholicus, atrabilious. The ancients had some notions on this subject which make the term not wholly inapplicable to a bird of splenetic, irri- table disposition, as all of this genus are. To Lt. D. N. Couch, U. S. A., who collected extensively in Matamoras and Texas. 373. Myl-ar'-chus cri-m'-tus [not " crinnytus," as usually heard]. Gr. //u?a, a fly, and apxos, a ruler, leader, chief, from &px<, I am first, lead, rule, or apx"fi, the beginning. This theme is seen in our prefix arch-, as arch-bishop, &c. Lat. crinitus, haired, i. e., crested, from crinis, hair of the head. See Myiodioctes, No. 146. 374. M. 6-ryth-r6-cer'-cus. Gr. tpvep6s, reddish, and MPKOS, tail. Not in the Check List, orig. ed. Since discovered in Texas by G. B. Sennett. The proper name of the species is much in question. The bird is the M. crinitus erythrocercus of Coues, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., iv, no. 2, p. 32, and v, no. 3, p. 402 ; the M. eryth- rocercus var. cooperi of Ridgway, Pr. Nat. Mus., i, p. 138; and the M. mexicanus of Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, p. 14. 375. M. cln-gr-es'-cens. Lat. present participle of an inceptive verb cineresco, I grow ashy ; in the sense of being somewhat ashy ; cinereus, ashy, from cinis, ash. N. B. The name has always been written cinerascens, for which we find no authority; while there is actually a verb cineresco : we therefore emend as above. 376. M. law-rgn'-cl-i. To George Newbold Lawrence, of New York. 377. Say-i-or'-nls say'-i. " Sayornis " is a violent combination of the name of Mr. Thomas Say, of Philadelphia, with the Greek word for bird, &pvis. It may be somewhat improved as above, when the combination of vowels becomes no more unusual than is seen in myw-dioctes, myia-rchus, &c. In equally loose style, Bonaparte made the specific name sayus, a direct Latinization of the same person's name; but it must either be put in 70 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 378. Sayiornis nigricans (Sw.) Bp. B 134. c 251. K 317. Black Pewit Flycatcher. 379. Sayiornis fusca (Gm.) Bd. B 135. c 252. R 315. Pewit Flycatcher; Phoebe-bird. 380. Contopus borealis (Sw.) Bd. B 137. c 253. R sis. Olive-sided Pewee Flycatcher. 381. Contopus psrtinax Cab. B . c 254. B 319. Coues's Pewee Flycatcher. 382. Contopus virens (L.) Cab. B 139. c 255. R 320. Pewee Flycatcher ; Wood Pewee. 383. Contopus virens richardsoni (Sw.) Coues. B 138. c 255a. B 321. Western Pewee Flycatcher. 384. Empidonax acadicus (Gm.) Bd. B 143. c 256. R 324. Acadian Flycatcher. 385. Empidonax trailli (Aud.) Bd. B 140. c 257. R 325a. Train's Flycatcher. 386. Empidonax trailli pusillus (Bd.) Cones. B HI. c 257a. R 325. Little Western Flycatcher. the genitive, sayi or sail, or in adjectival form, saynna or saiana it must in the latter case be feminine to agree with sayiornis. The above emendation of both generic and specific names is respectfully submitted. (See Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 99.) 378. S. nig'-rl-cans. Present participle of nigrico, I am blackish; niger, black. 379. S. fus'-ca. Lat./uscus, dark, dusky, swarthy. See Pipilo, No. 306. 380. Con^td-pus bfir-g-a'-lis. Gr. n6vTos, in some sense unknown to us, and TTOUV, foot. Lat. borealis, northern ; boreas, the northwind. " Pewee/' like " pewit/' is an onomatopoeon. N. B. Many words ending in -opus, from the Gr. TTOVS and a connecting vowel o, are habitually accented on the lengthened penult, and the last syllable is made short. But as -pus here stands for Gr. irovs, and the connecting vowel is invariably short, we should throw the accent back to the antepenult, and dwell on the last syllable. Thus, not Conto'-pus, Hcemato'-pus, Phalaro'-pus, but Cont'6-pus, HcEma'tG-pus, Phalar'0-pus. 381. C. per'-tl-nax. Lat. pertinax, pertinacious, holding fast on to ; from per and tenax, tenacious, from teneo, I hold ; this species closely resembling C. borealis. 382. C. vir'-ens. See Dendrceca virens, No. 112. 383. C. v. rlch'-ard-sfin-i. To Dr. John Richardson, an author of the Fauna Boreali- Americana, &c. 384. Em-pld-o'-nax a-cad'-I-cus. Gr. fairls, genitive tfurtHos, a small kind of insect, gnat; and 2>va. or #va|, king. Acadicus, Latinized adjective for Acadian ; from Acadia or Acadie. N. B. This species has never been found, and probably does not occur, in the region formerly called Acadia; the name is therefore geographically false. The name "Aca- dian Flycatcher," whence Muscicapa acadica Gm., no doubt actually refers to Traill's or the Least Flycatcher, the proper name of the present species being probably Empidonax subviridis (Bartr.) Coues. Lat. subviridis, somewhat green, greenish. 385. E. trail'-li. To Thomas Stewart Traill, a Scottish naturalist. He was professor of medi- cal jurisprudence in the University of Edinburgh, and editor of one of the later editions of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." 386. E. t. pu-sil'-lus. See Sitta, No. 60. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 71 387. Empidonax minimus Bd. B 142. c 258. R 326. Least Flycatcher. 388. Empidonax flaviventris Bd. B 144. c 259. R 322. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 389. Empidonax flaviventris dimcilis Bd. B I44a. c . R 323. (?) Western Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. 390. Empidonax hammondi (Xant.) Bd. B 145. c 260. R 327. Hammond's Flycatcher. 391. Empidonax obscurus (Sw.) Bd. B 146. c 261. R 328. Wright's Flycatcher. 392. Mitrephorus fulvifrons pallescens Coues. B . c 262. R 329, the evening, here apparently meaning to close in, as evening does. The allusion is to the crepuscular habits of the bird, its curious notes being oftenest heard at evening. Swainson originally wrote chordeiles, an inadmissible contraction, and further erroneous in retaining Gr. et instead of changing to long Lat. i. The word has sometimes been written chordlles. Cabanis properly emends as above. Swainson was very negligent in these matters : for instance, he made a genus aipunemia, the proper form of which is cepycnemis. The word popetue is barbarous, of meaning and pronunciation alike unknown to us. We have heard it as three and as four sylla- bles, accented in each case on the antepenult. This stands as Chordeiles virginianus in the orig. ed. 400. C. p. hgn'-ry-I. To Dr. T. Charlton Henry, who collected and observed in the West. 401. C. p. mnV-Sr. Lat. minor, minor, less, smaller, this form holding such relation to the stock species. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. Stated to have occurred in Florida. See Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., iii, 1880, p. 219. 402. C. a-cu-tl-pen'-nls tex-en'-sls. Lat. acutus, acute, sharp, pointed, and penna, wing or feather, in allusion to the long wings. Texensis, adjective formed from Texas. Texas is properly a plural noun, singular Texa, meaning the Texas ; as we should say now, the Texans, a race of the Caddos. Tachies and Taxus are also found. This stands as C. texensis of the orig. ed. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 73 403. Panyptila saxatilis (Woodh.) Coues. B 107. c 269. R 349. White-throated Rock Swift. 404. Nephcecetes niger borealis (Kenn.) Coues. B 108. c 270. R 350. Black Rock Swift. 405. Chaetura pelasgica (L.) Steph. B 109. c 271. R 351. Chimney Swift. 406. Chaetura vauxi (Towns.) De Kay. B no. C 272. R 352. Vaux's Chimney Swift. 407. Basilinna xantusi (Lawr.) EUiot. B . c 273. R 347. Xantus Humming-bird. 408. Eugenes fulgens (Sw.) Gld. B . c 274&w. R 334. Refulgent Humming-bird. 409. Trochilus colubris L. B 101. c 275. R 335. Ruby-throated Humming-bird. 403. Pan-yp'-tl-la sax-at'-l-lls. Gr. irdvv, much, very, from iras, iraffa, irav, all, and irrl\ov, wing: in allusion to the great length of this member. Lat. saxatilis, rock-inhabiting : saxum, a rock. 404. Neph-oe'-cg-tes nlg'-Sr b6r-g-a'-lls. Gr. vfyos, a cloud, and omertjs, an inhabitant; well applied to this bird of great wing and high flight. See Pocecetes, No. 232. Lat. niger ; black. Lat. borealis, northern. 405. Chae-tu'-ra pgl-as'-gl-ca. Gr. XCH'TT?, a stiff hair, a bristle, and ovpa, tail, in allusion to the spines which project from the ends of the tail-feathers. The specific word was written pelagtca by Linnaeus in 1758, and pelasgia by him in 1766. The word has occasioned much conjecture as to its orthography, derivation, and applicability. We cannot suppose it to be pelagica, pelagic, relating to the high seas, like marine. It is apparently one of Linnreus's whims of nomenclature, by which he likened this migratory species to a Pelasgian, one of the nomadic tribes of Greece, the Pelasyi, lie \aa-yoi. There is indeed a geographical name pelasgia, but such would hardly be used in this form, and would be geographically false, moreover. Excluding pelasgia or pelagica as out of the question, and supposing the allusion to be to the nomadic Pelasgi, we con- clude that the proper form of the word is as above given, pelasgica, the adjective meaning Pelasgian. t. e., in a tropical sense, nomadic, migratory. 406. C. vaux'-i. To William S. Vaux, of Philadelphia. 407. Bas-iMn'-nS xan'-tus-i. Gr. fra.op6s, bearing, po>, I bear ; eupho- niously compounded, at the expense of strict propriety. Lat. rufus, rufous, reddish. 412. S. Sl'-ien-I. To C. A. Allen, of Nicasio, California. Not in the orig. ed. ; since distinguished from S. rufus by Mr. Henshaw : see Bull. Nutt. Club, ii, 1877, p. 64. 413. S. plat-y-cer'-cus. Gr. irXarts, broad, wide ; KepKos, tail. 414. C. an'-nae. Dedicated to the Duchess of Rivoli. This is Selasphorus anna in the orig. ed. 415. Ca-lyp'-te c5s'-tae. Gr. KaAwTrr^, a proper name ; KaXvirrw, I conceal. To Costa, This is Selasphorus costce in the orig. ed. 416. At'-thls h61-6-i'-sae. Gr. 'ArBis, Attic, Athenian; probably in allusion to some peculiar charm of the bird. Attic was ne phis ultra Greek, as Parisian is par excellence French. This is Selasphorus heloisce of the orig. ed. 417. StelMQ-15 cal-H'-6-pe. Lat. stellula, a little star, diminutive of Stella, a star. Gr. KaA- \i6irrj, Calliope, one of the Muses ; na\6s, feminine /coAAVj, beautiful, &c., and fy, voice. The application of the word to a voiceless bird is not obvious, unless it be simply dedicatory. 418. Cal-6-tho'-rax lu'-cl-fgr. Gr. Ka\6s, beautiful, and 0cfya|, thorax, chest. Lat. Lucifer, Lucifer, the light-bearer, from lux, lucis, light, and fero, I bear. Both words note the glittering plumage. Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered in Arizona by H. W. Henshaw; and first announced from that locality under the erroneous name of " Dorlcha enicura," in Am. Sportsm., v, p. 328, Feb. 20, 1875. See Lawr., Bull. Nutt. Club, ii, 1877, p. 108. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 75 419. Amazilia fuscocaudata (Fras.) Elliot. B. . c . R 345. Dusky-tailed Humming-bird. 420. Amazilia cerviniventris Gld. B . c . R 346. Buff-bellied Humming-bird. 421. lache latirostris (Sw.) Elliot. B . c . R 348. Circe Humming-bird. 422. Trogon ambiguus Gld. B 65. c 284. R 384. (!M) Copper-tailed Trogon. 423. Ceryle alcyon (L.) Boie. B 117. c 286. R 382. Belted Kingfisher. 424. Ceryle americana cabanisi (Reich.) Coues. B 118. c 287. R 383. Texas Kingfisher. 425. Crotophaga ani L. B 66, 67. c 288. R 389. Black Ani. 419. Am-a-zIl'-I-a fus-co-caud-a'-ta. The word amazilia is apparently Latinized from Lesson's word amazili, used in the plural form amazilis for a group of hummers. We do not know what it means. Lat./uscws, dark, and caudata, tailed; cauda, tail. Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered in Texas by J. C. Merrill. This has been called Pyrrhophcena riefferi in papers relating to the Texas specimens. See Merrill, Bull. Nutt. Club, i, 1876, p. 88, and Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., i, 1878, p. 147. 420. A. cer-vl-nl-ven'-trls. Lat. cervinus, relating to a deer, cervus; and ventris, pertaining to the belly, venter. The allusion is to the fawn-colored, under parts. Not in the orig. ed.; since discovered in Texas by J. C. Merrill. See Bull. Nutt. Club, ii, 1877, p. 26, and Pr. Nat. Mus., i, 1878, p. 148. 42 1 . I'-a-che la-ti-ros'-trls. Gr. lax^, a battle-cry ; also a proper name, whence derived. Lat. latirostris, broad-billed ; latus, wide, like Gr. v\ar^s, of same meaning ; and rostrum, beak. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List; since discovered in Arizona by H. W. Henshaw. See Amer. Sportsm., Feb. 20, 1875. 422. TrS'-gon am-bi'-gu-us. Gr. rpdywv, a gnawer, rodent, from rptayw, I gnaw, eat away, corrode ; from the stout, dentate bill ; see Troglodytes, No. 74. The word was applied by Moehring in 1752 to the Brazilian Trogon, called curucui by the natives, and made generic by Brisson in 1760. Lat. ambiguus, ambiguous, equivocal, of more than one meaning, in a double sense; hence, doubtful, uncertain; from ambo, both, on two sides, and ago, to act or do. Ambiguity is literally a double-dealing, " with double sense deluding ; " compare Fr. double entendre, and such homely expressions as " back and fill," " blow hot and cold," " on the fence," " hedge" (to bet on both sides). It was badly applied to this fine species when considered doubtfully distinct from T. mexicanus. This stands as T. mexicanus in the orig. ed. For its actual occurrence in Texas, see Pr. Nat. Mus., i, 1878, p. 118. 423. Ce'-ry-le aF-cy"-on. Gr. /c^puXos, a kingfisher. Gr. a.\ttvd>v, Lat. halcyon or alcyon, a kingfisher. 'AA/cuch/r; or Alcyone was a mythical character, daughter of ^Eolus, fabled to have been transformed into a kingfisher when, out of love for her shipwrecked husband Ceyx, she threw herself into the sea. The kingfisher was also believed to nest on the water, at a time the waves were stilled ; hence the term " halcyon days." 424. C. am-gr-I-ca'-na cab-Sn'-Is-i. To Dr. Jean Cabanis, long time one of the leaders of German ornithology, and editor of the Journal fur Ornithologie. 425. Cr8-to'-pha-ga a'-ni. Gr. Kpor&v, a bug, tick, plant-louse ; and Qoiyos, from ^dyo/xat, I eat. 76 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 426. Crotophaga sulcirostris Sw. B . c . R 390. Groove-billed Ani. 427. Geococcyx californiaims (Less.) Bd. B 68. c 289. R 385. Ground Cuckoo; Chaparral Cock; Road-runner. 428. Coccygus erythrophthalmus (Wils.) Bd. B 70. c 290. R 388. Black-billed Cuckoo. 429. Coccygus americamis (L.) Bp. B 69. c 291. R 387. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 430. Coccygus seniculus (Lath.) V. B 71. c 292. R 386. Mangrove Cuckoo. 431. Campephilus principalis (L.) Gr. B 72. c 293. R 359. Ivory-billed Woodpecker. 432. Hylotomus pileatus (L.) Bd. B 90. c 294. R 371. Pileated Woodpecker. 433. Picus borealis V. B 80. c 296. R 362. Red-cockaded Woodpecker. 426. C. sul-cl-ros'-tris. Lat. sulcus, a groove, furrow, channel; a word sibilated from Gr. 6\Kos, a trace, track, trail ; and rostris, pertaining to the beak, rostrum. Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered in Texas by G. B. Sennett. See Coues, The Country, i, July 13, 1878, p. 184. 427. Gg-S-coc'-cyx cal-I-fdr-nl-an'-Gs. Gr. 77} or yea, the earth, and /ct\os, tA, I love. Lat. principalis, principal, chief, from the great size of the bird. 432. Hy-lS'-tS-mus pi-lS-a'-tQs. Gr. V\OTOJJ.OS, cutting wood, i. e., a woodcutter : 8\r), wood, and rffjLVfiv, to cut. Lat. pileatus, capped, i. e., crested; from plleus or pileum, a cap ; related to pilus, a hair ; the same root is seen in depilatory, pile, as of velvet, &c. 433. Pi'-cQs b6r-g-a'-lls. Lat. Picus, a mythical person, and also a woodpecker, because the former, one of the victims of Circe, whose love he had scorned, was transformed into a woodpecker. The etymology of picus is doubtful ; the word is said by some to be prob- CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 17 434. Pious scalaris Wagl. B 79. c 297. R 363. Texas Woodpecker. 435. Picus scalaris mittalli (Gamb.) Coues. B 78. c 297a. R 364. Nuttall's Woodpecker. 436. Picus scalaris lucasanus (Xant.) Coues. B . c 2976. R 363a. St. Lucas Woodpecker. 437. Picus stricklandi Malh. B . c . R 365. Strickland's Woodpecker. 438. PiCUS villoSUS L. B 74. C 298. R 360, 360a. Hairy Woodpecker. 439. Picus villosus harrisi (Aud.) All. B 75. c 298a. R 3606. Harris's Woodpecker. 440. Picus pubescens L. B 76. c 299. R 361. Downy Woodpecker. 441. Picus pubescens gairdneri (Aud.) Coues. B 77. c 299a. R 36ia. Gairdner's Woodpecker. ably for pigus, from pingo, I paint, and hence to mean pigtus or pictus, painted, spotted ; if so, it is well applied to the woodpecker, a bird of variegated colors, a much pied bird : compare Pica, No. 347. Others hold, however, that picas is from the same root as the Gr. iriiru or ir'nros, a little bird, a peeper, chirper ; just as Gr. 'iinros or fv/cos and Lat. equus (which was formerly spelled very differently, and with c instead of , I squeeze, strangle, distress, &c. ; the same root and idea is seen in anxious, anxiety, &c. ; frons, forehead. The allusion is to the narrowness of the yellow frontal band. 456. A-syn-des'-mfis tor-qua'-tOs. Gr. d privative, xp v vs> golden, of the color of gold, xp v(r ^ 5 > resemblance. 80 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMEEICAN BIRDS. 459. Colaptes mexicanus Sw. B 98. c 314. R 378a. Red-shafted Woodpecker. 460. Conurus carolinensis (L.) Kuhl. B 63. c 315. R 392. Carolina Parrot ; Paroquet. 461. Aluco flammeus pratincola (Bp.) Coues. B 47. c 316. R 394. American Barn Owl. 462. Bubo virginiaims (Gm.) Bp. B 48. c 317. R 405. Great Horned Owl. 463. Bubo virginiaims arcticus (Sw.) Cass. B . c 3i7a. R 405a, 4056. Arctic Horned Owl. 464. Bubo virginianus pacificus Cass. B . c 3176. R 405c. Pacific Horned Owl. 459. C. mex-I-ca'-nus. To Mexico. 460. Co-nu-ru's ca-r8-lln-en'-sls. Gr. KUVOS, Lat. conns, a cone, pine-cone, whence our word for a figure of that kind ; olpa, tail; in allusion to the wedged or cuneate tail. NOTE. The nomenclature of our owls, Nos. 461-488, must be considered still unsettled in several instances, though we have endeavored to approximate toward a fixed terminology in this difficult group, where the species and subspecies are not readily determined, and where authors have bandied about the generic and specific names so indiscriminately as to produce great confusion. The names here provisionally adopted are in the main according to results reached by Mr. Ridgway, who has given special attention to these birds. 46 1 . Al-u'-co flam'-me-iis prat-in f -c5-15. The meaning of Aluco we do not know, further than that it has long been used for some kind of owl ; perhaps related to e'Aeo's, which occurs in Aristotle as the name of some owl, and is enumerated by Brisson among the syno- nyms of the European barn owl. Numberless names of owls in very many languages are doubtless more nearly related than their diverse orthography would show at first sight, and mostly appear to be onomatopoeic, in imitation of the hooting, howling cries of these inauspicious birds of the night : Eng. owl, owlet, howlet; A. S. ul, eul, ule; Dutch, nil; Dan. ugle ; Sw. uggla ; Germ, eule; Fr. huloite ; Ital. alocho (compare aluco) ; Sansk. uluka, &c. Lat. flammeus, flaming, fiery-red; flamma (flag-ma), a flame, blaze; the root is seen in flagrant, flagitious, de/Za^rrate ; flagro, I flare up, am inflamed; and many kin- dred words. The allusion, rather strong, is to the flagrant colors of this species in com- parison with most owls. Lat. pratincola, an inhabitant of fields; pratum, a meadow, incola, an inhabitant (in and colo, I cultivate). This stands as Strixflammea americana in the orig. ed., and Ridgway has A.flammea americana; but pratincola Bp. (1838) antedates americana Aud. (1839) ; and, on the gen- eric nomenclature of owls, especially on the type of Strix L., see Newton, Yarr. Br. B., 4th ed., i, p. 150, and Ibis, 3d ser., vi, 1876, p. 94. 462. Bu'-bo vlr-gln-I-a'-nu's. Lat. bubo, the horned owl ; perhaps related to bubulus or bubalus; bos, Gr. ftovs, a bull, horned cattle ; there is a similar Greek word &vas, for a horned owl. So, also, the verb bubo or bubah, to low, hoot ; the word for the bittern, butor, botaurus (bos, taunts), and others, are related, all being onomatopoeic, with reference to the low- ing or bellowing of cattle. Virginianus, see Cardinalis, No. 299. 463. B. v. arc'-tl-cfis. See Sialia, No. 29. 464. B. v. pa-d'-fl-cQs. Lat. pacificus, pacific, peaceable, peace-making ; pax, peace, facio, I do, make ; " the stilly sea." The reference is to the habitat of the bird. We retain the three forms of Bubo as given in the orig. ed. Mr. Ridgway, after dis- missing Mr. Cassin's var. pacificus, has four : B. v., and B. v. arcticus, as we have them ; OF THE UKI7ERS CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 81 465. Scops asio (L.) Bp. B 49. c sis. B 402. Screech Owl; Mottled Owl; Red Owl. 466. Scops asio kennicotti (Elliot) Coues. B . c 3i8a. R 402<*. Kennicott's Screech Owl. 467. Scops asio maxwellae Ridg. B . c . R 4025r)s, from y\av and elSos, from which Glaucidium may be modified. The allusion in all these cases is to the eyes of the bird ; if not in color, then in the general aspect and expression of these remarkable organs of vision. There being actu- ally no owls with blue eyes, as y \avic6s, glaucus, is commonly translated, the direct impli- cation is probably to the owl as the bird of wisdom, sacred to Minerva, yXavKanris being one of the most familiar Homeric epithets of the " blue-eyed " goddess. Such may therefore be the meaning of y\av, without reference to the color of the bird's own eyes. The word gnoma is very pat for an owl, and especially interesting in such application. Gr. yva>/j.a, an opinion, decision ; 71/0^77, reason ; yrt&fuav, a judge, arbiter ; all from yiyvcaffKu, I know ; whence also gnostic, and the very English word know, with countless related forms, all rooted in the idea of knowledge. Hence gnoma is apt for the bird of Minerva, goddess of wisdom, and is given just as Athene was made a similar epithet. Further- more, the English word gnome, by which we may directly translate gnoma in this case, is from the same root, meaning etymologically "the knowing one," "one who arbi- trates certain destinies " : by metonymy, a kind of sprite or elf presiding over mines. Gnoma is thus an eligible epithet of a bird which combines a reputation for wisdom with certain superstitions connected with the gnome-like or goblin-like quality of its knowingness. 84 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 485. Grlaucidium fernigineiim (Maxim.) Kaup. B . c 330. R 410. Ferrugineous Owl. 486. Micrathene whitneyi (Coop.) Coues. B ,>c 331. R ill. Elf Owl. 487. Speotyto cunicularia hypogaea (Bp.) Coues. B 58, 59. c 332. R 408. Burrowing Owl. 488. Speotyto cunicularia floridana Ridg. B . c . R 408a. Florida Burrowing Owl. 489. Circus cyaneus hudsonius (L.) Coues. B 38. c 333. R 430. Marsh Hawk; Harrier. 490. Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus ( ) Ridg. B 37. c 334. R 429. Everglade Kite. 491. Ictinia subcoerulea (Bartr.) Coues. B 36. c 335. R 428. Mississippi Kite. 492. Elanus glaucus (Bartr.) Coues. B 35. c 336. R 427. White-tailed or Black-shouldered Kite. 485. G. fer-ru-gin'-S-iim. Lat. ferrugineum, rusty-red ; femigo, iron-rust ; ferrum, iron. 486. Mi-cra-then'-e whlt'-ngy-i. Gr. fuicpAs, small ; 'A.e-f)vn or 'Aenva or 'Aeyvaia, the Greek goddess of wisdom, to whom the owl was sacred. There was already a genus Athene, when Dr. Coues constructed the above. The genus Atthis, No. 416, is rooted with the same, as are Attic, Athens, Athenian, Athenaeum, &c. To Professor J. D. Whitney, Director of the Geological Survey of California. 487. SpS-6'-ty-to cun-i-cG-la'-rl-a hy-pS-gae'-a. Gr. , a kind of owl. The first refers to the burrowing of this species ; the last, like ulula, is onoma- topaic, in imitation of an owl's hooting or "tooting"; tyto, a " tooter." Lat. cunicu- larius, a miner, burro wer; cuniculus, a mine, pit, hole. Lat. hypogceum, a vault, cellar; Gr. virdyeios, under ground, subterranean ; vir6, under, 760, 71), the ground. Thus all three words refer to the same thing. 488. S. c. flor-Id-a'-na. To Florida, " land of flowers." Not in the orig. ed. ; since described ; Ridg., Am. Sportsman, July 4, 1874, p. 216. 489. Cir-cGs cy-an'-6-iis hfid-sSn'-I-iis. Gr. KipKos, Lat. circus, a kind of hawk, so called from its circling in the air. Gr. KVO.VOS, Lat. cyaneus, blue ; the color of the old male. To Hudson's Bay. 490. Rostr-hany-us sS-cI-a'-bl-Hs plum'-be'-Gs. Lat. rostrum, beak, and hamus, Gr. x /^*? a hook, from the greatly decurved form of the upper mandible. It is a queerly com- pounded word, meaning literally bill-hook, though the person who invented it meant to say hook-bill, hamirostrum. It is very bad form as it stands, but we hardly know how to emend without entirely changing it. Lat. sociabilis, sociable, gregarious ; socius, a companion. Lat. plumbeus, plumbeous, lead-colored. 491. Ic-tln'-i-a sub-coe-rul'-g-a. Gr. ittriv or IKTWOS, a kite ; probably rooted same as tnrepos, a disease, in the idea of attacking ; Lat. ictus, a blow, &c. Lat. sub, a prefix of diminishing force, and cceruleus, blue ; bluish, pale blue. See Dendroeca, No. 117. This stands as 1. mississippiensis in the orig. ed. See Coues, Pr. Phila. Acad., 1875, p. 345. 492. El'-an-fis glau'-cus. Lat. elanus, a kite; derived from the Gr. iXafov, I drive on, urge forward, press upon, harass, &c. ; a good name for a bird of prey which exhibits what the French would call dan. Lat. glaucus, Gr. y\avKos, bluish, glaucous ; from \fvd\xuj/, Lat./ifco, a falcon, from the falx, falcis, a sickle, scythe: in , allusion to the falcate form of the hooked beak. The English is directly from falco, and the word reappears in many languages : Fr. faucon; Ital.falcone; Span, halcon, &c. The word Gyrfalcon or Jerfalcon has much exercised the ingenuity of the dictionaries. To us the etymology seems clear and indisputable. It is found in many forms, as ger-, gir-, gyr-, giro-, ier-, Her-, and this leads directly to tfpds, divine, sacred, noble, auspicious, chief, &c. ; lepers, a priest ; whence tepa|, the actual Greek word for a hawk, as used in divination, and therefore sacred. The idea is the same as that in hierarck, &c. The English Gyrfalcon or Jerfalcon is therefore a mere transliteration of Hierofalco. In the same spirit, Steenstrup recently made a genus Gyralca for the principal bird of the auk tribe, already known in many vernaculars by a corresponding epithet. Speculations respecting gyr- as meaning gyrus, a whirl, from the hawk's gyrations, are superfluous. Lat. sacer. sacred, consecrated, sanctified, &c. ; the root sac- is the Greek root ay, as seen in ayios, a.yv6s. By the above name we indicate the continental Gyrfalcon of Arctic America, corre- 86 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 499. Falco sacer obsoletus (Gra.) Ridg. B . c . R 4i2c. Labrador Gyrfalcon. 500. Falco islandicus Gm. B 12. c . R 4i2a. Iceland Gyrfalcon. 501. Falco candicans Gm. B 11. c 34ia. R 412. (G.) Greenland Gyrfalcon. 502. Falco mexicanus Licht. B 10. c 342. R 413. American Lanier Falcon. 503. Falco peregrinus Tunstall. B 5, 6. c 343. R 414. Peregrine Falcon; Duck Hawk. 504. Falco peregrinus pealii (Ridg.) Coues. B . c 343a. R 4i4a. (?) Peale's Peregrine Falcon. 505. Falco columbarius L. B 7. c 344. R 417. Pigeon Hawk. 506. Falco columbarius stickleyi Ridg. B . c 344a. R 4i7a. (?) Suckley's Pigeon Hawk. spending to F. gyrfalco of Continental Europe, without raising the much-vexed question of their identity. We give the dark Labrador bird as a variety of this, and the Ice- landic and Greenlandic as both specifically distinct ; though we suppose all the northern Hierofalcones to be but geographical races of a single species. 499. F. s. 5b-s61-e'-tus. Lat. obsoletus, unaccustomed, unwonted, disused, obsolete ; here refer- ring simply to the ill-defined character of the markings ; ob and soleo, I am accustomed. Not in orig. ed. This is Falco labradorus of Audubon, lately accredited by Mr. Eidg- way with varietal distinction, and identified with F. obsoletus Gm. 500. F. is-land'-I-ciis. [ees-]. Latinized directly from the native name of Ice-land (Island, otherwise known as Eisland and Ijsland), and thus meaning Icelandic, not "in- sular." 501. F. can'-di-cans. Lat. candico, I am white ; present participle of the verb ; candidus, white ; candeo, I am shining, &c. Candid is pure, clean, hence truthful ; candescent, brilliantly glowing; candidates were so called because clothed in white; candles give light; canescent hairs grow white ; in all these, and countless words, the same root is seen. In the orig. ed. as Falco sacer var. candicans ; see above, No. 498. 502. F. mex-i-ca'-nus. To Mexico, whence Lichtenstein described it. It has been identified with F. polyagrus of Cassin. " Lanier " or " Lanner " is the name applied in ornithology and falconry to certain Old World species ; it is from laniarius, of a butcher, laniator, a butcher, from lanio, I lacerate, mangle; lanius (which see, No. 186) is the same thing. 503. F. pgr-e-gri'-niis. See Helminthophaga, No. 109. This stands as F. communis in the orig. ed. It is well to stretch a point in favor of Tunstall, 1779, to be able to restore this well-known name. 504. F. p. peal'-i-i [in three syllables]. To Titian E. Peale, of United States Exploring Expe- dition fame. Of doubtful standing. 505. F. c61-um-ba'-rl-us. Post-classic Lat. columbarius, pertaining to a pigeon, columba ; or, a pigeon-fancier, as this spirited little falcon is. 506. F. c. suck'-iey-i. To George Suckley, known in ornithology for his researches in Oregon and Washington Territories. The first syllable is long, and pronounced with the full Latin force of u, like oo in moon. A very dubious bird. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 87 507. Falco columbarius richardsoni Ridg. B . c 345. R 418. Richardson's Pigeon Hawk. 508. Falco sparverius L. B 13. c 346. R 420. Sparrow Hawk. 509. Falco sparverius isabellinus (Sw.) Ridg. B . c 346a. R 420a. Isabel Sparrow Hawk. 510. Falco sparverioid.es Vig. B . c . R 421. (!w. i.) Cuban Sparrow Hawk. 511. Falco fusciccemlescens V. B 9. c 347. R 419. Femoral Falcon. 512. Bnteo Tinicinctus harrisi (Aud.) Ridg. B 46. c 348. R 434. Harris's Buzzard Hawk. 513. Buteo albocandatus V. B . c . R441. White-tailed Buzzard Hawk. 507. F. e. rlch'-ard-s8n-i. To Sir John Richardson, the species having been described and figured in the Fauna Boreali- Americana. 508. F. spar-v6'-rl-us. Post-classic Latin, meaning, relating to a sparrow, as columbaritts from columba. There is a quasi-Latin word sparvius, from which sparverius is directly formed. The word sparrow in some of its forms doubtless antedates any corresponding word in the South European languages. We have not traced the Latin sparvius or sparverius back of Gesner, 1555. See Passer, No. 192. 509 F. s. I-sa-bel-H'-nus. The Lady Isabel, having confidence in her husband's prowess, vowed not to change her chemise until that warrior had taken a certain town. He was longer about it than she expected, and she wore the garment until it assumed a peculiar brown tint : hence the term " isabel-color " ; whence quasi-Latin isabellinus. 510. F. spar-vS-rl-S-I'-des. This is an aggravated case of bastardy. Anglo-Saxon and Gothic sparwa or sparva, Latinized as sparvius, a sparrow, whence sparverius, a sparrower, so to speak, or sparrow-catcher, as this hawk is ; with the Gr. ?5os, to denote the resemblance of the West Indian to the North American bird. Not in the orig. ed. of the Check List. Lately said to have occurred in Florida. See Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., iii, 1880, p. 220. 511. F. fus-ci-coe-riil-es'-cens. Lat. fuscus, dusky, and ccerulescens, growing blue; t. e., being bluish : cceruleus, blue. This was written fuscocarulescens by Vieillot, but the above is preferable. " Femoral " relates to the color of the thigh ; femur, the thigh-bone. This is F.femoralis of the orig, ed. See Sharpe, Cat. Accip. Br. Mus., i. p. 400. 512. Bu'-t6-5 u-nl-cmc'-tus har'-rls-i. Lat. buteo, a buzzard-hawk; of doubtful etymology; the word occurs in Pliny. Lat. uni, once, and cinctus, girded ; unus, one, and cingo, I gird, bind about ; with reference to the single zone of white color on the tail. To Edward Harris, of Philadelphia. 513. B. al-bS-caud-a'-tus. Lat. albus, white, caudatus, tailed; cauda, tail. The latter part of the word being a participial adjective of a supposed verb caudo, permits albus to be in the "ablative of instrument," "white" being that wherewith the bird is "tailed." In another form, it would be albicauda, like albicilla for instance. See No 42. Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered in Texas both by G. B. Sennett and J. C. Merrill. See Coues, The Country, July 13, 1878, p. 184; and Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., i, Oct. 2, 1878, p. 154. 88 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 514. Buteo cooperi Cass. B 29. c 349. R 437. (?) Cooper's Buzzard Hawk. 515. Buteo harlani (Aud.) Bp. B 22. c sso. R 438. Harlan's Buzzard Hawk. 516. Bnteo borealis (Gm.) V. B 23. c 351. R 436. Red-tailed Buzzard Hawk; Hen Hawk. 517. Buteo borealis calurus (Cass.) Ridg. B 20, 24. c 35ia. R 436&. Western Red-tailed Buzzard Hawk. 518. Buteo borealis lucasanus Ridg. B . c 3516. R 436e. St. Lucas Buzzard Hawk. 519. Buteo borealis krideri Hoopes. B . c 35ic. R 436a. (?) Krider's Buzzard Hawk. 520. Buteo lineatus (Gm.) Jard. B 25. c 352. R 439. Red-shouldered Buzzard Hawk. 521. Buteo lineatus elegans (Cass.) Ridg. B 26. c 352a. R 439a. Western Red-shouldered Buzzard Hawk. 522. Buteo abbreviatus Cab. B . c 353. R 440. Band-tailed Hawk. 523. Buteo swainsoni Bp. B is, 19, 21, 28. c 354. R 442. Swainson's Buzzard Hawk. 514. B. coop'-6r-i. To Dr. James G. Cooper, of California, well known for his studies of the birds of that country. Doubtful species : only one specimen known. 515. B. harMan-I. To Dr. Richard Harlan, of Philadelphia, author of Medical and Physical Researches, Fauna Americana, etc. 516. B. b8r-g-a'-lls. Lat. borealis, northern; boreas, the north wind. 517. B. b. cal-u'-nSs. Gr. Ka\6s, beautiful, and olpa, tail. 518. B. b. lu-cas-a'-nus. Named after Cape St. Lucas, Lower California. 519. B. b. kri'-dgr-i. To John Krider, the veteran taxidermist of Philadelphia. Dubious. 520. B. li-nS-a'-tus. Lat. lineatus, lineated, limned, from linio ; linea, a line. In reference to the streaking of the plumage. 521. B. 1. e'-lg-gans. Lat. elegans, elegant, because select, chosen: e and ligo, I pick out. 522. B. ab-brSv-I-a'-tus. Lat. abbreviatus, shortened ; ab and brevio, I abridge, contract ; brevis, short ; Gr. ppaxts- Applicability unknown to us. This stands as B. zonocercus in the orig. ed. See Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., iii, 1880, p. 220. 523. B. swaln'-s8n-i. To William Swainson, Esq., the celebrated English naturalist. Mr. Sharpe has lately called this B. obsoletus (Gm.), but very erroneously, Gmelin's bird of that name being a Gyrfalcon. B. insignatus of Cassin is simply a melanism. B. bairdi of Cassin is the young. This bird is the nearest form we have to the Euro- pean B. vulgaris, which latter has been attributed to Michigan : see Maynard, Bull. Nutt. Club, i, No. 1, 1876, pp. 2-6. The meaning of the word " buzzard " is unknown to us. It runs through several languages, as buzhard, buzard, busard, buse. Some think it onomatopoeic, related to buzz ; that seems doubtful ; more likely related to the Latin buteo. Butes is a Latin proper name, but of no obvious connection. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 89 524. Buteo pennsylvanicTis (Wils.) Bp. B 27. c 355. R 443. Broad- winged Buzzard Hawk. |See Addenda, Nos. 882, 883. 525. Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis (Gm.) Riclg. BSO, 31. C356. R447. American Rough-legged Buzzard. 526. Archibuteo femigineus (Licht.) Gr. B 32. c 357. R 448. Ferrugineous Bough-legged Buzzard. 527. Asturina plagata Schl. B 33. c 358. R 445. Gray Hawk. 528. Umbitinga anthracina (Licht.) Lafr. B . c . R 444. Anthracite Hawk. 529. Onychotes gruberi Ridg. B . c 359. R 446. Gruber's Hawk. 530. Pandion haliae'tus (L.) Sav. B 44. c 360. R 425. Fish Hawk; Osprey. 531. Thrasyaetus harpyia (L.) Gr. B . c . R 450. (! M.) Harpy Eagle. 524. B. penn-syl-van'-I-cus. See Dendrceca, No. 124. 525. Arch-I-bu'-te-o lag-o'-pus sanc-tl-j6-han'-nls. Lat. archi-, equivalent to Gr. &pxos, & leader, a chief ; &px>> I rule, I am first ; the word simply means " arch-buzzard," like archbishop, archetype, architect, &c. Lat. lagopus, Gr. \aycairovs, hare-footed, from \ayd>s, a hare, and irovs, a foot : in allusion to the feathering of the tarsi. The penult here remains long in Latin as it is in Greek ; but words in -opus, where the o is simply a connecting vowel, shorten the penult. Lat. sancti-johannis, of Saint John, alluding to the place in Newfoundland so called. 526. A. fer-ru-gln'-g-iis. See Scolecophagus, No. 331. 527. As-tur-i'-na pla-ga'-ta. Asturina is simply formed from Lat. astur, which see, No. 496, without any difference of meaning. Lat. plagata, striped, from plago, I strike ; plaga, a blow, stroke, stripe ; Gr. ir\riyfi, a blow, wound, from ir\^ffff(a or TTA^TTW, I strike. Com- monly written plagiata, for which we see no good reason. 528. U-ru-bl-tm'-ga an-thra-ci'-na. Umbitinga is a barbarous word, of some South American dialect ; urubu means a vulture ; we do not know what the rest of the word is, nor the quantity of the first two vowels ; we hear them long and leave them so. Lat. anthra- cinus, Gr. a.vQpos, reddish ; from cpv6p6s, red. This is C.flavirostris of the orig. ed. As the bill is not at all yellow, another name is desirable. See Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, 1880, p. 9. 541. C. leu-cd-ceph'-a-la. Gr. Xeu/co'y, white, and /ce^aA^, head. 542. En-gyp'-ti-la al'-bl-frons. Gr. lyyts, narrow, slender, contracted, and ir\i\ov, a feather; from the attenuated outer primaries. Lat. albus, white ; frons, forehead. Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered in Texas by G. B. Sennett. See Coues, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., iv, 1878, p. 48, and Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 100 ; Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., i, 1878, p. 158. 92 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIKDS. 543. Ectopistes migratorius (L.) Sw. B 448. c 370. R 459. Wild Pigeon ; Passenger Pigeon. 544. Zenaidura carolinensis (L.) Bp. B 451. c 371. R 460. Carolina Dove. 545. Zenaida amabilis Bp. B 449. c 372. R 462. Zenaida Dove. 546. Melopelia leucoptera (L.) Bp. B 450. c 373. R 464. White-winged Dove. 547. Chamsepelia passerina (L.) Sw. B 453. c 374. R 465. Ground Dove. 548. Chamsepelia passerina pallescens (Bd.) Coues. B . c 374a. R . (?) St. Lucas Ground Dove. 549. Scardafella inca (Less.) Bp. B 452. c 375. R 466. Scaled Dove. 550. Geotrygon martinica (Gm.) Reich. B 454. c 376. R 467. Key West Pigeon. 543. Ec-t8-pis'-tes mf-gra-to'-rl-us. Gr. e/cToirto-T^s, a wanderer, passenger; wander, change place ; from e, out of, and TOTTOS, place ; " out of place." Lat. migratorius, of same meaning ; migro, I migrate. 544. ZSn-a-i-du'-ra ca-r5-lln-en'-sls. "We think zenaida is a barbarous word. Its meaning we do not know. See Phonipara, No. 297, and compare zena there given. The rest of the word is formed by adding the Greek ovpd. Bonaparte originally wrote zenaidura, which has usually, of late, following Dr. Coues' lead, been turned to zencedura ; but if the word is not classic, there is no occasion for the modification. 545. Zgn-a-I'-da am-a'-bll-Is. Zenaida, a proper name, perhaps Spanish ; meaning unknown to us : see No. 544. Lat. amabilis, lovable, lovely ; amo, I love. 546. M61-8-pl-i'-a leu-cop'-tgr-a. Gr. /xeAos, melody, and irc'Aem, a dove. Name derived from Tre'AAos, the peculiar dark slaty -blue color, so characteristic of pigeons ; we say to-day in sporting parlance " blue-rocks " for the ordinary domestic pigeon. The word, like many others ending in -pelia, is often wrong- written -peleia. Observe that the Greek i becomes long t in Latin, giving us -pelia, accented on the penult. Gr. \evic6s, white, and Trrepcfj/, a wing. 547. Cham-ae-pel-i'-a pas-sSr-i'-na. Gr. xc^ta/, an adverb, on the ground, and ire A cm, a dove. See No. 546. See Chamcea, No. 39. This word is spelled about a dozen different ways, by writers or printers who are careless or ignorant. Lat. passerina, sparrow-like, in allusion to the diminutive size: passer, a sparrow. See No. 192. 548. C. p. pal-les'-cens. See Mitrephorus, No. 392. Scarcely distinguishable from No. 547. 549. Scar-da-fel'-la m'-ca. Scardafella is an Italian word, thus accounted for by Bonaparte, who founded the genus, in his " Coup d'CEil sur 1'Ordre des Pigeons " (p. 43 of the separate copies) : " une expression du Dante m'a inspire le nom de scardafella, qui peint 1'apparence e'cailleuse de notre treizieme genre." The " scaly appearance " is due to the coloration, not the texture, of the feathers. Inca is a barbarous word ; the incas or yncas were Peruvian chiefs. This is S. squamosa var. inca in the orig. ed. ; later determined to be distinct. 550. G5-8-try'-gon mar-tln'-I-ca. Gr. yea, the earth, the ground, and rpvyv, a pigeon ; from rpvfa, to coo; onomatopoeic, like turtur. There seems to be reason for keeping the penult long, and accenting it. Lat. martinica, Latinized adjective from Martinique, one of the West Indies. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMEEICAN BIEDS. 93 551. Starnoenas cyanocephalus (L.) Bp. B 455. c 377. R 468. Blue-headed Pigeon. 552. Ortalis vetula maccalli (Bd.) B 456. c 378. R 469. Texan Guaii. 553. Meleagris gallipavo L. B 458. c 379. R 470. Domestic Turkey; Mexican Turkey. 554. Meleagris gallipavo americana (Bartr.) Coues. B 457. c 379a. R 470a. Common Wild Turkey of the United States. 555. Canace canadensis (L.) Bp. B 460. c 380. R 472. Canada Grouse ; Spruce Partridge. 556. Canace canadensis franklini (Dougl.) Coues. B 461. c 380a. R 472a. Franklin's Spruce Partridge. 557. Canace obscura (Say) Bp. B 459. c 381. R 471. Dusky Grouse. 558. Canace obscura richardsoni (Dougl.) Coues. B . c 38ia. R 4716. Richardson's Dusky Grouse. 551. Star-noe'-nas cy-an-6-ce"ph'-a-lus. From ? (probably Italian; Agassiz gives Starna as a proper name), and Gr. olvas, Lat. oenas, the vine : also, a kind of pigeon ; oenas geems to have been transferred to the pigeon, as cenanthe was to some other bird ; see Saxicola, No. 26. The olvds of Aristotle is Columba livia L. Gr. Kvav6s, cyanus, blue, and Keos, a crest, helmet, and oprv. 576. L. gam'-bei-I. To William Gambel, of Philadelphia. See Zonotrichia, No. 278. 577. Cal-H-pep'-la squa-ma'-ta. Gr. /eoAo'y, feminine Ka\\-?i, and ireVxos, a certain robe of state; Ka\\nrfTr\os, beautifully robed, as this quail is. Lat. squamata, squamous, scaled, covered with scales, the peculiar colors presenting such an appearance; squama, a scale-^ 06 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 578. Cyrtonyx massena (Less.) Gould. B 477. c 394. R 485. Massena Partridge. 579. Coturnix dactylisonans Meyer. B . c . R . Migratory Quail (imported). 580. Squatarola helvetica (L.) Cuv. B 510. c 395. R 513. Black-bellied Plover; Bull-head. 581. Charadrms dominions Mull. B 503. c 396. R 515. American Golden Plover. 582. Charadrius dominions fulvus (Gm.) Ridg. B . c . R 5i5a. (! A.) Asiatic Golden Plover. 583. Charadrius pluvialis L. B . c . R 514. (G.) European Golden Plover. 578. Cyr-to'-nyx mas-se'-na. Gr. Kvpr6s, bent, curved, crooked, and tfw|, a claw, nail ; related to Lat. uncus, a hook. To the French Marshal Andre' Massena, Frince d' Essling. 579. C6-tur'-nTx dac-ty'l-I'-so'n-ans. Lat. coturnix, a quail; onomatopoeic, a sono vocis, from the sound of the voice, just as we have invented " bob-white " and " whip-poor- will." Lat. dactylisonans, sounding a dactyle. The dactyle, in poetry, is afoot con- sisting of a long and two short syllables ; from ScforuAos, the finder, which has a long and two short joints. Sono, I sound ; sonorous, &c. This bird, lately imported, has become naturalized, with the same right to a place in the list that Passer domesticus has acquired. 580. Squa-ta-ro'-la hel-ve'-tl-ca. Of squatarola the authors learned little, until a note from Professor Newton supplied the desired information, in substance as follows: As a generic term it is of course from the Linnaan Tringa squatarola, and Linnaeus obviously got his trivial name from Willughby, who says (Ornith., ed. 1676, p. 229), " Pluvialis cinerea. Squatarola Venetiis dicta, ubi frequens est. The Gray Plover." The word is not to be found in the best Italian dictionaries ; but Salvador!, in his Fauna d' Italia Uccelli, seems to acknowledge it as a genuine word; though probably it is only local in its application. It may possibly have to do with the regular Italian squartare, "to quarter." Lat. helvetica, from ancient Helvetia, now Switzerland ; the bird is still often called " Swiss plover." The Helvetians were probably so called from their fairness, with flaxen or auburn hair ; helvus, helveolus (related to gilvus), meaning some such color. 581. Char-ad'-rl-us dSm-In'-I-cus. [Ch- hard; second syllable long.] Gr. x a P&P>s> some kind of a bird, supposed to be a plover, and the same as rp^x^os ; from xpafy>a, the watery places inhabited by such birds. As used by Aristotle, the word apparently refers to Oedicnemus crepitans. Lat. dominicus, see Dendraca, No. 129. This stands as C. falvus var. virginicus in the orig. ed., but Miiller's name has priority over Gmelin's. See Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, 1880, p. 9; and Cassin, Pr. Phila. Acad., 1864, p. 246. 582. C. d. ful'-vus. Lat./Zin/s, fulvous, yellow. Not in the orig. ed. Since discovered in Alaska. See Coues, in Elliot's Prybilov Report, 1875, 179; and Birds N. W., 1874, p. 450, note. 583. C. pluv-T-aMls. Lat. pluvialis, rainy, pertaining to rain, bringing rain; pluvia, rain; pluo, to rain : the bird was supposed in some way related to rain or the rainy season : " plover " is the same. Not in the orig. ed. ; ascertained to occur in Greenland; see Newt., Man. N. H. Greenl., 1875, p. 101 ; Freke, Zoologist, September, 1881, p. 374. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 97 584. JEgialites vocifems (L.) Cass. B 504. c 397. R 516. Kildeer Ring Plover. 585. JEgialites wilsonius (Ord) Cass. B 506. c 398. R 522. Wilson's Ring Plover. 586. JEgialites semipalmatus (Bp.) Cab. B 507. c 399. R 517. Semipalmated Ring Plover; Ring-neck. 587. JEgialites melodus (Ord) Cab. B 508. c 400, 400a. R 520. Piping Ring Plover; Ring-neck. 588. JEgialites melodus circumcinctus Ridg. B . c 400. R 520. (?) Belted Piping Plover. 589. JEgialites hiaticula (L.) Boie. B . c . R 518. European Ring Plover. 590. JEgialites cnronicus (Gm.) Gray. B . c 400&is. R 519. European Lesser Ring Plover. 591. JEgialites cantianus nivosus (Cass.) Coues. B 509. c 401. R 521. Snowy Ring Plover. 584. Aeg-I-5Ml-tes v5-d'-fgr-Qs. Gr. aiyiaXlrijs, masculine, or alyia\?rts, feminine, or alyia- \f6s, an inhabitant of the seashore ; aiyia\6s, the coast, from the breaking of the waves- upon it (&yvvfj.i). The name is very appropriate to these beach-birds. Both forms,. cegialites, masculine, and cegialitis, feminine, are in common use ; either is perfectly correct ; but as Boie wrote cegialites originally, this form should be preserved. Lat. vociferus, vociferous ; vox, genitive vocis, voice, and fero, I bear ; vox digammated* from dty. 585. A. wll-sdn'-I-us. To Alexander Wilson. 586. A. sgm-I-pal-ma'-tus. Lat. semi, half; sibilated from Gr. TJ/JLI, hemi-, a contraction of finurvs, half, and palmatus, palmated, web-footed ; palma, the palm of the hand, the hand itself; from Gr. ira\dfj.Tj, of same meaning. The bird is conspicuously webbed between the toes, in comparison with its allies. * 587. A. mel-S'-diis. Lat. melodus, Gr. /*e\p6s, surf, sea-foam, and d(a, I live ; badly formed, but euphonious. Compare Aphrodite, the Greek Venus, foam-formed. Audubon, who invented the word, gives the above etymology ; but Wharton's MS. suggests more direct derivation from a

, I foam. Lat. virgata, striped, streaked; virga, a rod, green sprout, osier ; from vireo, I am green. 595. Haem-at'-S-pus os-trl'-le'-gus. Gr. alp.a.Toirovs, red-footed ; aTjua, genitive aYjuaros, blood, and TTOVS, foot. The word is commonly but wrongly accented on the penult ; but that would be a.ifjia.Ta>, future o-rpfyw, I turn ; o-rpfyis, a turning over ; and \os, a stone; literally "turn-stone." Lat. interpres, a go-between, factor, broker, agent ; literally, an interpreter, that is, inter-proztor ; prcetor, a Roman magistrate, from prce and eo, I go before. 599. S. i. mei-an-S-ceph'-al-us. Gr. p.e\as, genitive jueWoy, black, and K^a.\-}\, head. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 99 600. Recnrvirostra americana Gm. B 517. c 407. R 566. American Avocet. 601. Himantopus mexicamis (Miill.) Ord. B 518. c 408. R 567. Black-necked Stilt. 602. Steganopus wilsoni (Sab.) Coues. B 519. c 409. R 565. Wilson's Phalarope. 603. Lobipes hyperboreus (L.) Cuv. B 520. c 410. R 564. Northern Phalarope ; Red-necked Phalarope. 604. Phalaropus fulicarius (L.) Bp. B 521. c 411. R 563. Red Phalarope; Gray Phalarope. 605. Philohela minor (Gm.) Gr. B 522. c 412. R 525. American Woodcock. 606. Scolopax rusticula L. B . c 413. R 524. (!E.) European Woodcock. 600. R-cur-vI-r5s'-tra am-gr-I-ca'-na. Lat. recurvus, bent upward, recurved, and rostrum, beak : as the bill of the avocet notably is. The English word is either avocet or avoset, the meaning of which we know not. 601. Hlm-an'-tS-pus mex-I-ca'-nus. Gr. i/j.avT6irovs, Lat. himantopus, the stilt, from f/tos, genitive lfj.ai.vros, and irovs, foot. The former word means a thong or strap ; applied to this bird on account of its very long leathery legs like straps. Commonly accented on the penult ; see Contopus, No. 380. This stands as H. nigricolUs of the orig. ed.; see Cassin, Pr. Phila. Acad., 1864, p. 246. 602. St6g-an'-6-pus wfl'-sdn-i. Gr. (rreyav6irovs, web-footed; ffreyavos, webbed; a\apis, the coot, so called from the conspicuous white of the bill, i\os, loving, or a lover, and e'Aos, a swamp. Commonly accented on a wrongly lengthened penult. Lat. minor, comparative degree of parvus, smaller (than the European woodcock). 606. Sc61'-6-pax rus-tl'-cQ-la. Gr. o-/coAo7ra, Lat. scolopax, a snipe ; the name of this very species. The dictionaries give it as a theme, and any possible derivation is open to conjecture, cf. aKo\o\l/, from the shape of the bill (most likely) ; ai((f>\r)l-, a worm ; tr/caAAw, I scratch. Lat. rusticus, a rustic, a countryman; diminutive rusticulus ; from rus, the country, as opposed to the city. The word occurs as msticola in Linnaeus, and has so almost universally been written ; but as Wharton shows (Ibis, 1879, p. 453), this is erroneous. The word would be ruricola, if from rus and colo, I inhabit. Rusticula is good Latin, and the epithet of "little countryman " is very appropriate to the bird. 100 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 607. Gallinago media Leach. B . c . K 526. (G.) European Snipe. 608. G-allinago wilsoni (Ternm.) Bp. B 523. c 414. R 526a. American Snipe; Wilson's Snipe. 609. Macrorhamphus griseus (Gm.) Leach. B 524. c 415. R 527. Red-breasted Snipe; Gray-back Snipe; Dowitcher. 610. Macrorhamphus griseus scolopaceus (Say) Coues. B525. C4i5a. R527a. Western Red-breasted Snipe. 611. Micropalama himantopus (Bp.) Bd. B 536. c 416. R 528. Stilt Sandpiper. 612. Ereunetes pusillus (L.) Cass. B 535. c 417. R 541. Semipalmated Sandpiper. 613. Ereunetes pusillus occidentalis (Lawr.) Coues. B . c 4i7a. R 54ia. (?) Western Semipalmated Sandpiper. 614. Actodromas minutilla (V.) Coues. B 532. c 418. R 538. Least Sandpiper. 615. Actodromas bairdi Coues. B . c 419. R 537. Baird's Sandpiper. 607. Gal-lln-a'-go m6d'-I-a. Lat. gallus, a cock, gallina, a hen, gallinula, a chicken, gallinarius or gallinaceus, relating to poultry; the present word is an arbitrary derivative, as a Latin word, though the forms gallinago, gallinazo, and others are found in different lan- guages. It is formed from gcdlina like fringillago from fringilla, or like virago from vir. Lat. medius, median, medium, in the middle (in size, between certain other species). Not in the orig. ed. ; only North American as occurring in Greenland. 608. G. wH'-sSn-I. To Alexander Wilson. 609. Mac-rQ-rham'-phQs grls'-g-iis. Gr. jj.aicp6s, great, large, long; and ftd^os, beak, bill. Notice that the p is aspirated, requiring to be followed by h, as many writers forget. Griseus, gray, grisly, grizzly; not classic; a late Latinizing of an Anglo-Saxon word; compare Fr. gris and Gr. ypavs or ypyvs, yepai6s, yepas or yrjpas all these relate to age, when people grow gray. The word " grous " or " grouse," " the gray bird/' may be related. See Leucosticte, No. 205. 610. M. g. sc81-8-pa'-c6-us. The word is formed as an adjective from scolopax, which see, No. 606 ; scolopaceous, scolopacine, snipe-like. 611. Mic-r8-pal'-a-ma hlm-an'-tS-pus. Gr. fjuKpds, small, and TraAcfyiTj, the palm, the hand; same as the Lat. palma ; referring to the webbing between the toes. Himantopus, see No. 601. 612. E-reu-ne'-tes pus-IF-lus. Gr. ^pevvrjr^s, a searcher; from the way in which the bird probes with its bill. Lat. pusillus, puerile ; see Sitta, No. 60. 613. E. p. ood-den-ta'-Hs. Lat. occidentalis, western. See Dendroeca, No. 113. 614. Ac-tQ'-drfim-as mln-u-tflMa. Gr. oirH?, the seashore; from Hyvv/jn, &y ^ ie mouth, from a word signify- ing to open, to gape. Lat. subarquatus, slightly curved ; see Arquatella, No. 620. 626. Trin'-ga can-u'-tus. Lat. tringa, or trynga, or tryngas, a sandpiper ; not classic. Derived from Gr. rptyyas, an obscure and obsolete word, occurring in Aristotle as the name of some unknown bird. The species was very aptly named by Linnaeus after old King Canute, who, it is said, sat on the seashore and allowed the waves to reach him, to rebuke his toadying courtiers who had declared the sea would obey his majesty, a myth according well with the habits of sandpipers. Canutus, if it has any relation with, or is of same meaning as canus, gray, hoary, vo\ios, is well suited either to the old king, or to this sandpiper in its winter dress. 627. Cal-id'-rls a-re-na'-rl-a. Gr. calculus, &c., considering that it alludes to the pebbly or shingly beaches which the bird frequents. Lat. arenarius, relating to sand ; arena, sand, or a sandy place, as the arena was, where gladiatorial and other sports were witnessed by the Roman brutes. 628. Li-mo'-sa foe'-da. Lat. limosus, miry, muddy ; limus, mud, slime. We can learn nothing of any such word asfedoa, and take it to be a misprint or other mistake for fcedus, -a, -um t ugly, unseemly, &c. It might be supposed to have some relation to fcedus, a compact, treaty, the sense of which is seen in federal, confederate, &c., and the application of which would be to the gregariousness of the bird. But fcedus, in the latter sense, is not an adjective; it is fcedus, feeder is, and the adjectival form would be federatus ; while there is an adjective fxdus, ugly, as well as a verb fcedo, to defile, the participial of which is fcedatus. In view of these facts, we propose to substitutey^cfa forfedoa, until some satis- factory explanation of the latter can be given. Fedoa occurs at least as far back as Edwards as the name of this species, and has since passed unchallenged. 629. L. haem-as'-ti-ca. Gr. cujuotrr/Kos or af/xart/cos, hsemastic or haematic, of a bloody-red color ; alfida-ffu, I make bloody ; at]ua, blood ; referring to the red under parts, so con- spicuous in this species. This stands as L. hudsonica in the orig. ed. See Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 100. CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 103 630. Limosa aegocephala (L.) Leach. B . c . R 546. (G.) Black-tailed Godwit. 631. Limosa uropygialis Gould. B . c 430. R 544. (!A.) White-rumped Godwit. 632. Symphemia semipalmata (Gra.) Hartl. B 537. c 431. R 552. Semipalmated Tattler ; Willet. 633. Totanus melanoleucus (Gm.) V. B 539. c 432. R 548. Greater Tattler ; Stone Snipe. 634. Totanus flavipes (Gm.) V. B 540. c 433. R 549. Lesser Tattler; Yellowshanks. 635. Totanus glottis (L.) Bechst. B 538. c 434. R 547. (!E.) Greenshanks. 636. Bhyacophilus ochropus (L.) Ridg. B . c . R 551. (IE.) Green Sandpiper. 637. Bhyacophilus solitarius (Wils.) Bp. B 541. c 435. R 550. Solitary Tattler. 638. Tringoi'des macularius (L.) Gr. B 543. c 436. R 557 Spotted Tattler; Spotted Sandpiper. 630. L. aeg-5-c6ph'-a-la. Gr. alyoKetyaXos, an Aristotelian epithet of some unknown bird ; it literally means "goat-headed," but what application 1 About the middle of the sixteenth century it was applied by Belon to a species of Limosa, perhaps from the cry of the bird being fancied like the bleating of a goat ; " bleating " is a term in every-day use now to express the peculiar sounds made by some snipes. The curious English word godwit is derived by Johnson from Anglo-Saxon god, good, and wiht, animal : by others from god, and wide, game ; latter not unlikely. Not in the orig. ed. Only North American as a straggler to Greenland. 631. L. u-rS-py-gl-a'-Hs. See Centurus, No. 452. 632. Sym-phe'-ml-a sSm-T-pal-ma'-ta. Gr. o-y^^i ; r)fji.l, I speak; alluding to the noisy concerts of the birds. Lat. semipalmata, half-webbed: see ^Egialites, No. 584. "Willet" is derived from the sound of the bird's voice; sometimes written "pilwillet." 633. T6-ta ; -nus mgl-an-S-leu'-cus. Totanus is Latinized from the Italian totano, a name of some bird of the kind. We suppose it should be accented on a lengthened penult. Gr. fjLe\as, genitive jueAcwos, black, and \evKos, white. 634. T. fla'-vi-pes. Lat. flavus, yellow ; pes, foot. 635. T. gl5t'-t!s. Gr. yhoocrora or yKwrra, the tongue ; referring to the noisiness of the bird. This is given in the orig. ed. as Totanus chhropus. 636. R. 5ch'-r5-pus. Gr. uxpos, pale, sallow, wan, and TTOVS, foot. From this word come Lat. ochra, and our ochre, ochreous, ochraceous, as names of some dull yellowish color. Linnaeus had originally ocrophus by misprint. Not in the orig. ed. Since found in Nova Scotia as a straggler from Europe. See Bull. Nutt. Club, iii, 1878, p. 49. 637. Rhy-a-c5'-phfl-\is sQl-T-ta'-rf-us. Gr. /3uo, genitive {>va.Kos, a stream, brook; free* or uo>, I flow ; and i\as, loving, loved, a lover. Lat. solitarius, solitary; solus, alone. 638. Trin-g6-i'-des mSc-ul-a'-rl-us. See Tringa, No. 623, and add elSos, resemblance. Note that the word is in four syllables, accented on the penult. Lat. macularius, not classic ; like maculatus and maculosus, spotted ; macula, a spot. 104 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 639. Machetes pngnax (L.) Cuv. B 544. c 437. R 554. (IE.) Buff(^); Reeve (9). 640. Bartramia longicauda (Bechst.) Coues. B 545. c 438. R 555. Bartramian Tattler. 641. Tryngites rufescens (V.) Cab. B 546. c 439. R 556. Kurt-breasted Sandpiper. 642. Heteroscelus incanus (Gm.) Coues. B 542. c 440. R 553. Wandering Tattler. 643. Numenms longirostris Wils. B 549. c 441. R 558. Long-billed Curlew. 644. Numenius phseopus (L.) Lath. B . c . R 561. (G.) European Whimbrel. 639. Mach-e'-tes pug'-nax. Gr. fiaxyr-fis, a fighter, combatant, in allusion to the pugnacity of the male in the breeding season ; /j.dxofj.ai, I fight ; /tcx>7, a battle. Lat. pugnax, pugna- cious, combative; pugao, I fight; pugna, a battle; properly, fisticuffs, as the primitive mode of fighting; pugnum, the fist; root pug, whence come the whole set of words, and others, as pygmy, &c. 640. Bar-tram'-I-a lon-gl-caud'-S. To William Bartram, "grandfather of American orni- thology." The usual generic name, actiturus, is from the Gr. SLKT'ITTJS, a doer by the sea, a beach-inhabiter, a " longshoreman," from d/cr^, the seashore, and olpa, tail. Lat. longus, long, and cauda, tail. This is Actiturus bartramius of the orig. ed. See Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 100. 641. Tryn'-gl-tes ru-fes'-cens. See Tringa, No. 626. Here we have another form of the word, nearer the original Gr. rp6yya.s, with the termination -TTJS, -tes ; this suffix commonly denoting active agency, as the English -er, for example, makes work-er from work. Lat. rufescens, present participle of rufesco, I grow reddish. 642. Het-g-rS'-scSl-Qs m-can'-us. Gr. erepos, opposite, different, otherwise, and o-/ce\os, the leg, shin ; from the peculiar scutellation of the leg. Lat. incanus, very gray, quite hoary, as the bird is : in and canus. 643. Nu-me'-nl-us lon-gl-ros'-trls. A curious etymology is this, if the derivation assigned be true. Gr. veos, new, young, and /j.-f]v, a month, id]vi\, the moon; the narrow arcuate bill being likened to the new crescent moon. The same word is seen in meniscus, a kind of lens, but primarily and literally a little moon. But numenius might also be derived directly from numen, a nod, a bending of the head downward and forward (hence assent, command, and hence a divinity, who nods assent or expresses its will by such gesture) ; Gr. j/eD/xa, a nod, vcfa, I nod ; very applicable to the attitude of the birjl. Whichever of these derivations we approve, they amount to practically the same thing; for numenius certainly refers to the shape of the bill, being used by the ornithologists of the heroic age as synonymous with arquata or arcuata. Lat. longirostris, long-billed ; longus and rostrum. " Curlew " is not an imitation of the bird's voice, but a mangling of the French name cour-fieu, " run-place," from the coursing of the birds : compare courlis, courly, courlan, cocorli, &c. 644. N. phae'-Q-pus. Gr. ai6s, dark colored, dusky, gray, swarthy ; its exact meaning is expressed when we say " gray of the morning : " related to 6$ov\ see for instance in rhodocolpus, rose-breasted. Ajaja or ajaia or aiaia or ayaya is the old Brazilian name of this bird, of signification and pronunciation alike unknown to us. This stands as Platalea ajaja in the orig. ed. ; for the change of this longstanding name, see Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., iii, 1880, p. 10. 654. Myc-te'-rl-a am-gr-I-ca'-na. Gr. ^vKT-ftp, the nose, snout; nvKrnpifa, literally, "I work the nose," i. e., turn up the nose at, sneer, scorn, deride, &c. ; well applied to the expres- sion of this ugly bird. 655. Ar'-dg-a h6r-o'-dl-as. Lat. ardea, a heron. Gr. pc*>5;as, tyMs, or epdbSios, & heron. There is also a proper name Herodias. 656. A. 6c-cl-den-ta'-lls. See Dendrceca, No. 113. NOTE. The Ardea wurdemanni of the orig. ed. is a dichroism of this species. See Ridg., Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., iv, No. 1, 1878, p. 227. 657. A. cln-fir'-e'-a. Lat. cinereus, ashy. See Harporhynchus, No. 22. Not in the orig. ed. Only North American as occurring in Greenland. See Reinh., Ibis, 1861, p. 9. 658. Hr-5'-dI-as e-gret'-ta. Latin proper name Herodias: see Ardea, No. 655. Egretta is Latinized from the French aigrette, a top-knot, plume; whence also egret. These words are said to be related to heron itself, all springing from O. H. G. hiegro, a heron. 659. Gar-zet'-ta can-dl-dls'-sl-ma. Garzetta is the Italian name of the corresponding Euro- pean species. Lat. candidissima, very white, entirely white; superlative of candidus. See Falco, No. 501. 660. Hyd-ra-naV-sa tri'-c51-8r. Gr. vScap, water, giving in Latin hydra-, and va chroma, color ; originally, probably, flesh-color; and vau|, gen. WKTJS, night, and Lat. ardea, a heron ; better Noctiardea, like Noctiluca, &c. Lat. griseus, see Macrorham- phus, No. 609, and Leucosticte, No. 205. Lat. ncevius, see Turdus, No. 5. 665. Nyc-ter-o'-dl-us vI-6-la'-c6-us. Gr. */u|, night, and tyu8i6s, a heron, like the Latin ardea. Commonly written nyctherodius ; but we see no occasion for the h, the e not being aspi- rated ; though the h is seen in the Lat. herodias. Lat. violaceus, violet-colored ; viola, a violet, pansy. 686. B5-tau'-rus mu-gl'-tans. The many words bittern, bitorne, bitore, butor, butio, are all onoma- topoeic, from the hollow guttural sound of the bird's voice, and are referable to bos- taurus or bo-taurus? see Bubo, No. 462. Lat. mugitans, bellowing; mugilo, I low like a cow ; as the children say, " moo." 667. Ar-det'-ta ex-IMls. Ardetta is an Italian word, equivalent to ardeola, diminutive of ardea. Lat. exilis, contracted from exigilis, equivalent to exiguus, from exigo, this equal to ex and ago, literally, I drive out. Any thing exacted or exact, is carefully measured, con- sidered, strictly accounted for ; hence likely to be scanty, as opposed to abundant, or superfluous ; therefore, poor, thin, mean, small; any of these latter adjectives well suited to this lean little bird. We have the idea in several applications in the English words exigency, an emergency ; exiguous, small ; the French exigeant, exacting ; and in our rare though actual word exile, small. (The latter must not be confounded, however, with exile, banishment, one banished ; though this might seem exactly from exigo, " I drive out," it is from another root : exsulo, exsul.) 108 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 668. Grus americana (L.) Temm. B 478. c 462. R 582. White Crane; Whooping Crane. 669. G-rus canadensis (L.) Temm. B 480. c 463. R 584. Northern Sandhill Crane. 670. Grus pratensis Bartr. B 479. c . R 583. Southern Sandhill Crane. 671. Aramus pictus (Bartr.) Coues. B 481. c 464. R 581. Scolopaceous Courlan ; Limpkin. 672. Parra gymnostoma Wagl. B . c . R 568. (! M.) Mexican Jacana. i 673. Rallus longirostris crepitans (Gm.) Ridg. B 553. c 465. R571. Clapper Rail ; Salt Marsh Hen. 668. Grfis am-Sr-I-ca'-na. Lat. grus, genitive gruis, feminine noun of the third declension, a crane. The word refers to the hollow guttural voice of the birds, and is apparently related to English grunt, 669. G. can-a-den'-sls. It was doubtless upon the northern bird, figured by Edwards, that Linnaeus based this name. G. fraterculus of Cassin has been found distinct from the common sandhill crane of the United States, and identical with the northern bird. It is therefore properly a synonym of canadensis, and another name must be found for the United States bird commonly called canadensis. See next species. See Ridg., Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 187 ; Coues, ibid., p. 188. 670. G. pra-ten'-sls. Lat. pratensis, relating to pratum, a field. Not in the orig. ed. See last species. 671. Ar'-a-mus pic'-tus. The word aramus is unknown to us. Agassiz gives it as " nom. propr." A correspondent remarks : " Vieillot's Analyse is very incorrectly printed, and some letter may have been omitted or changed ; hence the clue is still to seek. The origin seems hopeless, unless revealed by accident." Under these circumstances, it is consoling to reflect that the word is more decorous in form than many of known classic derivation. Lat. pictus, see Setophaga, No. 151. 672. Par'-ra gym-no'-st6-ma. Parra is a good Latin word, being the name of some unknown bird regarded as of ill-omen ; as occurring in Pliny, said to be the European Lapwing, Vanellus cristatus. Transferred by Linnaeus to a mixed lot of spur-winged birds, chiefly of America. " Ja9ana " is the Brazilian name of a species of this genus ; made a generic term by Brisson in 1760, and we do not see why it should not be employed instead of Parra. Gr. yvp.v6s, naked, and oro'/ta, mouth ; in allusion to the caruncular skin at the base of the bill. Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered in Texas by J. C. Merrill : see Bull. Nutt. Club, i, 1876, p. 88; Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus., i, 1878, p. 167. 673. RalMiis lon-gl-ros'-trls crgp'-I-tans. Rallus is said to be contracted from rarulus, a diminutive of rarus, rare ; and to mean thin, slight ; if so, the adjective has become an apt generic name for these lean narrow birds. It is more likely, however, to be onomatopoeic, Latinized in late days from the French rash, rale, a rattling cry, Engl. rail, to reproach, deride, &c., having nothing to do with the English rail (of a fence) ; very applicable to these clamorous birds. Lat. longirostris, long-billed. Lat. crepitans, present participle of crepito, I creak, crackle, clatter, crepitate ; a frequentative or inten- sive form of crepo, of same signification. 'This is R. longirostris of the orig. ed. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 109 674. Ballus longirostris obsoletus (Ridg.) Coues. B . c 466a. R 570. California Clapper Rail. 675. Ballus longirostris saturatus Hensh. B . c . R 57ia. Louisiana Clapper Rail. 676. Rallus elegans Aud. B 552. c 466. R 569. King Rail; Fresh Marsh Hen. 677. Rallus virginianus L. B 554. C467. R 572. Virginia Rail. 678. Porzana maruetta (Leach) Bp. B . c . R 573. (G.) Spotted Crake. 679. Porzana Carolina (L.) V. B 555. c 468. R 574. Carolina Crake ; Rail ; Sora ; Ortolan. 680. Porzana noveboracensis (Gm.) Cass. B 557. c 469. R 575. Yellow Crake. 681. Porzana jamaicensis (Gm.) Cass. B 556. c 470. R 576. Black Crake. 674. R. 1. ob-sdl-e'-tiis. Lat. obsoletus, obsolete, grown unaccustomed, passed out of vogue ; 06, opposition, and solesco, I grow accustomed; soleo, I am accustomed. The application is to the faded, as if worn out and disused, coloration. This is R. elegans var. obsoletus, of the orig. ed., Appendix : see Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 139. 675. R. 1. sat-u-ra'-tus. Lat. saturatus, saturated, satiated, filled full ; i. e. t having eaten enough ; satis, enough : whence satisfied, &c. The allusion is to the color, which is full, i. e. rich, dark, heavy. Not in the orig. ed. ; since described. See Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 140. 676. R. 6Mg-gans. Lat. elegans or eligans, elegant ; literally, choice, select ; from e and lego, I pick out; quite equivalent to electus, chosen, picked, eclectic, &c. 677. R. vir-gln-i-a'-nus. To Virginia, "mother of Presidents," and wet-nurse of Secession. 678. P6r-za'-na ma-rii-et'-ta. Porzana is an Italian word, the meaning of which we know not ; it has been in book-use for several centuries, as the name of some marsh bird. Maruetta is likewise Italian : said to be applicable to anything by the sea, and hence to be equiva- lent to maritime. Crake is to crackle, cackle, creak, croak, quack, &c. ; see Crex, No. 683, Querguedula, No. 714. Not in the orig. ed. Only North American as occurring in Greenland. See Reinh., Ibis, 1861, p. 12. 679. P. ca-rd-li'-na. To Carolina. This is the rail of sportsmen. It is also called sora or soree ; why, we know not : the word is colloquial and local, and has scarcely crept into the books. The word "ortolan" has a curious connection with this species. It is Italian and French, equal to the Latin hortulanus, relating to a garden : the " ortolan " is Emberiza hortulana, a bunting, esteemed a great delicacy by gourmands ; and our crake has been called ortolan for no better reason than that it is also edible and sapid ! The same name is sometimes applied to the bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, because it is found abundantly in the same marshes in the fall, and sells in the same restaurants as the same bird as the rail, the two being brought in together by the gunners. 680. P. n8-vg-bSr-a-cen'-sIs. No New York. See Vireo, No. 181. 681. P. jam-a-l-cen'-sls. To Jamaica. The name signifies in the vernacular the island of springs, of flowing water. 110 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 682. Porzana jamai'censis coturniculus Bd. B . c 470a. R 576. Farallone Black Crake. 683. Crex pratensis Beehst. B 558. c 471. R 577. (!E.) Corn Crake. 684. G-allimila galeata (Licht.) Bp. B 560. c 472. R 579. Florida Gallinule. 685. lonornis martinica (L.) Reich. B 561. c 473. R 578. Purple Gallinule. 686. Fulica americana Gm. B 559. c 474. R 580. American Coot. [See Addenda, No. 885. 687. Phcenicoptems ruber L. B 502. c 475. R 585. Red Flamingo. 688. Cygnus buccinator Rich. B 562. c 476. R 589. Trumpeter Swan. 689. Cygnus columbianus (Ord) Coues. B 56iw*. c 477. R 588. American Swan. ^ . 682. P. j. co-tur-nl'-cu-liis. Lat. diminutive of Cotumix, which see, No. 579. 683. Crex pra-ten'-sis. Gr. itpe, Lat. crex, a crake; all three of these words are the same, meaning the creaking, crackling cry of the bird ; KPCKKCI), I make such a noise. Lat. pratensis, see Grus, No. 670. (A subgenus, " Crescicus," which passed in some American works for the black rail, was simply a misprint for creciscus, which is a Greek diminu- tive form of 684. Gal-lin'-u-la gal-g-a'-ta. Lat. gallinula, a diminutive of gallina, a hen : see Gallinago, No. 608. It is commonly but wrongly accented on the penult, and pronounced gaily-new' -ler ! But gahl-leen'-u-lah is doubtless nearer the sound a Roman would have made if he had used the word. Lat. galeata, helmeted ; galea, a helmet ; galeo, I crown with a helmet ; very apt, in allusion to the frontal shield of a bird of this genus. 685. I-6n-6r'-nIs mar-tin'- 1- ca. Gr. tov, iwvia, a violet, and &pvts, a bird ; well applied to these luxurious porphyritic or hyacinthine " sultans." English violet is from Lat. viola, and this is very easily gotten from the Greek. To the island of Martinique. 686. Ful'-I-ca am-Sr-I-ca'-na. Lat. fulica, same as fulix, a coot, from the sooty color of the bird; fuligo, soot, \vhencefuliginosus, &c. 687. Phoe-nl-cop'-tgr-us rub'-gr. Gr. fpoivuttirrtpos, Lat. phcenicopterus, the flamingo ; literally, red-winged : oiVi| and irrfpov : see Ac/elceus, No. 316. Lat. ruber, red. English flamingo seems to come directly through the Spanish flamenco, the name of this bird ; both these, as the French flamant, are of course from the Latin flamma, flame, fiery-red. 688. Cyg'-nus buc-cln-a'-t8r. Gr. KVKVOS, Lat. cycnus or cygnus, a swan ; famed for its dying song ; also name of a person fabled to have been transmuted into the bird. The name is probably rooted in the idea of singing, this being one of the most persistent and ubiquitous myths. Lat. buccinator, a trumpeter, who uses his cheeks so much in blowing his instrument ; buccina, or fivnavr), a trumpet ; bucca, the cheek. 689. C. c8-lum-bl-a / -nus. Of the Columbia River, where specimens were noted by Lewis and Clarke, afterwards named by Ord. This stands in the orig. ed. as C. americanus. For the change, see Coues, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 2d ser., No. 6, 1876, p. 444. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Ill 690. Cygmis musicus Bechst. B . c . R 586. (G.IE.) Whooping Swan. 691. Cygnus bewicki Yarr. B . c . R 587. (!E.) Bewick's Swan. 692. Anser albifrons (Gin.) Bechst. B . c . R 593. (G.) European White-fronted Goose. 693. Anser albifrons gambeli (Hartl.) Coues. B 565, 566. c 478. R 593. American White-fronted Goose. 694. Chen coemlescens (L.) Ridg. B 564. c 479. R 590. Blue Goose. 695. Chen hyperboreus (Pall.) Boie. B 563. c 480. R 591. Snow Goose. 696. Chen hyperboreus albatus (Cass.) Ridg. B . c 480a. R 59ia. Lesser Snow Goose. 697. Chen rossi (Bd.) Ridg. B . c 481. R 592. Ross' Snow Goose. 690. C. mu'-sI-cQs. Gr. pavo-ticSs, Lat. musicus, relating to a muse, any one of the Muses ; hence, " music " is primarily and most properly to be predicated of high ideals in gen- eral, whether in science, letters, or art. The term musicus, however, as applied to a swan, is a lucus a non lucendo, unless a relationship between the Muses and the Graces be imagined. Not in the orig. ed., and here admitted with doubt. Greenland only, as straggler from Europe. See Reinh., Ibis, 1861, p. 13, and Freke, Zoologist, September, 1881, p. 372. See next species. 691. C. be'-wlck-i. To Thomas Bewick. Not in the orig. ed., and here doubtfully admitted. See Pr. Nat. Mus., iii, 1880, p. 222, where Ridgway revives the record given in Fn. Bor.-Am. ii, 1831, p. 465, and states that the description of specimens killed at Igloolik, Arctic America, lat. 66, indicates the true Bewick's Swan. But on the doubt in the case of these Arctic Swans, if any different from C. colnmbiamis, see Newton, Man. Nat. Hist. Greenl., 1875, p. 113, and especially Freke, Zoologist, September, 1881, p. 366. 692. An/se'r al'-bi-frons. Lat. anser, a goose. How anser came about we do not know; we sup- pose it related more or less radically to anas, and so to vao-cra, a duck ; see Hydranassa, No. 660. Lat. albifrons, white forehead. Not in the orig. ed., and here admitted with doubt, the identification of the Green- land white-fronted geese being questionable, cf. Reinh., Ibis, iii, 1861, p. 12 ; Newt., Man. Nat. Hist. Greenl., 1875, p. 113, and Freke, Zoologist, September, 1881,'p. . 693. A. a. gam'-bgl-li. To William Gambel. 694. Chen [pronounced cane] coe-rQl-es'-cens. Gr. xfa, a goose. See Dendroeca, No. 117. 695. C. hy-per-bSr'-e'-us. Lat. hyperboreus, hyperborean, northern ; see Lobipes, No. 603. 696. C. h. al-ba'-tfis. Lat. albatus, whitened, made white. 697. C. rSs'-si. To Bernard R. Ross, Chief Factor, H. B. Co. 112 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 698. Chloephaga canagica (Sevast.) Eyt. B 573. c 482. R 598. Painted Goose. 699. Bernicla leucopsis (Bechst.) Boie. B 572. c 483. R 597. (!E.) Barnacle Goose. 700. Bernicla brenta (Pall.) Steph. B 570. c 484. R 595. Brant Goose. 701. Bernicla brenta nigricans (Lawr.) Coues. B 571. c R 596. Black Brant Goose. 702. Bernicla canadensis (L.) Boie. B 567. c 485. R 594. Canada Goose; Common Wild Goose. 703. Bernicla canadensis leucoparia (Brandt) Coues. B 568. c 485a. R 594^, White-cheeked Canada Goose. [594c. 704. Bernicla canadensis hutchinsi (Rich.) Coues. B 569. c 4856. R 594a. Hutchins' Canada Goose. 705. Dendrocygna fulva (Gm.) Burra. B 575. c 486. R eoo. Fulvous Tree Duck. 706. Dendrocygna antumnalis (L.) Eyt. B 574. c 487. R 599. Autumnal Tree Duck. 698. ChlS-e'-pha-ga ca-na'-gl-ca. Gr. x^a or x\ green ; Qdyu, I eat. Mr. H. W. Elliott informs us there are Eskimos of Alaska who call them- selves " Kanagiamoot," i. e., "the people of the Kanag" whatever that may be; whence quasi-Lat. canagica. 699. Ber'-nl-cla leu-cop'-sls. Bernicla or bernicula is Latinized from the French bernicle or bernache, Engl. barnacle. We only know this word as the name of the little cirriped crus- taceans out of which this goose was fabled to sprout, ripen, and fall like a fruit from its stem. A correspondent observes : " Max Muller says hibernaculum, but he gives no reason whatever (nor for hiberniculce) founded on the word having been ever used." (cf. Lect. on the Sci. of Lang., 2d ser.) Gr. \evK6s, white, and otyis, appearance. This species is Greenlandic, but otherwise North American only as a straggler. For a re'sume' of occurrences, see Freke, Zoologist, September, 1881, p. 372. The geese of this genus stand in the orig. ed. as species of Branta ; but that word having been found unavailable as a generic term, the name Bernicla is restored. 700. B. bren'-ta. Latinized from brent, brant, brand, or branded goose; the forms brentus and brenthus are also found. See Campylorhynchus, No. 63. Brent or brant goose is therefore simply burnt goose, from its blackish appearance, as if charred. 701. B. b. nlg'-rf-cans. Lat. nigricans, being blackish, like nigrescens. Not in the orig. ed. 702. B. ca-na-den'-sls. See Myiodioctes, No. 149. 703. B. c. Ieu-c8-pa-ri'-a. Gr. Aev/c prominent, projecting, protuberant; and' \aa/j.6s, a layer, plate, lamella; referring to the denticulations of the bill. Lat. stre- perus (not classic), noisy, clamorous; as we should say, obstreperous ; strepitus, a noise;, strepo, I make a fuss. 712. Ma-re'-ca pe-n61'-8-pe. Mareca is said to be a Brazilian vernacular word for some kind of duck ; long after, it was transferred to the widgeon. But it may also be remarked that there is the Lat. Marlca, a water-nymph. Eay has Mareca (Syn., p. 149). Penel- ope was the celebrated wife of Ulysses, mother of Telemachus ; penelops, or in Gr.. ir-nv4\oty, was some kind of duck. Linnaeus wrote the latter. 713. M. am-Sr-I-ca-na. See Parula, No. 93. 714. Quer-quS'-dii-la crec'-ca. Lat. querquedula, a kind of small duck; etymology obscure, and not at all to our way of thinking in the authorities consulted ; apparently from KapKafpoa, Kpx&, KfpKis, KipKij, KpcKOD, Kpt}-, a set of onomatopoeic words formed to express- a shrill or harsh creaking sound ; hence related to creak, quack, crackle, &c , and quite equivalent to the very word crecca, which we have here, and which seems but an arbitrary adjective formed from KpeKw. Charleton calls one of the ducks Anas " caudacuta, The Cracke (a strepitu)." The form quacula is found in some writers; and "quack" is the usual word to express a duck's voice. See Crex, No. 683. 114 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIEDS. 715. Querquedula carolinensis (Gm.) Steph. B 579. c 495. R 612. Green-winged Teal. 716. Querquedula discors (L.) Steph. B 581. c 496. R 609. Blue-winged Teal. 717. Querquedula cyanoptera (V.) Cass. B 582. c 497. R 6io. Cinnamon Teal. 718. Spatula clypeata (L.) Boie. B 583. c 498. R 608. Shoveller. 719. Aix sponsa (L.) Boie. B 587. c 499. R 613. Summer Duck ; Wood Duck. [See Addenda, No. 886. 720. Fuligula marila (L.) Steph. B 588. c 500. R 614. Greater Black-head ; Scaup Duck. 721. Fuligula affinis Eyt. B 589. c 501. R 615. Lesser Black-head; Scaup Duck. 722. Fuligula collaris (Donov.) Bp. B 590. c 502. R 616. Ring-neck; Black-head. 723. Fuligula ferina americana (Eyt.) Coues. B 591. c 503. R 618. American Pochard ; Red-head. 715. Q. c5-r6-lln-en'-sls. To Carolina. The genus Nettion, in which this teal has been placed by some, is the Gr. v^rrtov, a little duck ; contracted from v-nrrdpiov, a diminutive of vrjffffa or vijrra : see Hydranassa, No. 660. Very curiously, it seems to have been used by the Greeks as a familiar term of endearment, just as we sometimes now say " little duck," or " ducky darling ." 716. Q. dis'-cors. Lat. discors, discordant, disagreeing, unlike; literally "two-hearted," from dis, twice, and cor, the heart ; opposed to concors, concordant. 717. Q. cy-an-6p'-te-ra. Gr. Kvav6s, blue, irrepov, wing. 718. Spa'-tu-la clyp-S-a'-ta. Lat. spatula or spathula, Gr. o-iraQis, a spathe, spatula, spoon, ladle ; with reference to the spathulous or spoon-like shape of the bird's bill. Lat. clypeatus, furnished with a shield, wearing a shield; clypeus or clipeus oT-clupeus or clipeum, a shield: commemorating in this case the rounded expanse of the bill. 719. A '-Ix spon'-sa. Gr. a)f or &i ; application not obvious. Nor is the orthography settled. If the word be from the monosyllable a? it should be Latinized cex ; if from the dissyl- lable &( it becomes aix. In the uncertainty, we do not change the accustomed form ; though we suspect cex to be preferable. Lat. sponsa, a bride, a spouse, a betrothed ; that is, a promised one ; spondeo, I promise sacredly, I vow. Prettily applied to this lovely duck, as if the bird were arrayed for bridal. 720. Ful-Ig'-u-la ma-ri'-la. Lat. fuligula or fulicula, diminutive of fulica or fulix, a coot ; fuligo, soot. Marila we know nothing about ; qu., a proper name ? qu. Gr. ^op/A.7j, embers, charcoal, from the scaup's pitch-black foreparts ? 721. F. af-fin'-Is. Lat. affinis, affined, allied ; ad, and Aral's. See Campylorhynchus, No. 64. 722. F. col-la'-rfs. Lat. collaris, relating to the neck, collum; this species having a ring of color, like a collar, round the neck. 723. F. fg-ri'-na am-gr-I-ca'-na. Lat./en'na, wild, in a state of nature, feral. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 115 724. Fuligula vallisneria (Wils.) Steph. B 592. c 504. R 617. Canvas-back. 725. Clangula glaucium (L.) Brehm. B 593. c 505. R 620. Golden-eye. 726. Clangula islandica (Gm.) Bp. B 594. c 506. R 619. Barrow's Golden-eye. 727. Clangula albeola (L.) Steph. B 595. c 507. R 621. Buffle-head; Butter-ball; Spirit Duck. 728. Harelda glacialis (L.) Leach. B 597. c 508. R 623. Long-tailed Duck; Old Wife. 729. Camptolsemus labradorius (Gm.) Gr. B eoo. c 509. R 624. Labrador Duck. 730. Histrionicus minutus (L.) Coues. B 596. c 510. R 622. Harlequin Duck. 724. F. val-Hs-ner'-I-a. Vallisneria is a genus of aquatic plants, the wild celery, V. spiralis L., named for Antoine Vallisner, a French botanist. The name was applied to the bird from its fondness for this plant as food. The name canvas-back, from the peculiar coloration of the upper parts, is an Americanism which has been in use at least since 1800. (e.g., see Barton, Med. and Phys. Jo urn., pt. i, vol. ii, 1805, p. 161.) 725. Clan'-gu-la glau'-cl-um. Lat. clangula, diminutive of clangor, a clang, noise ; the corre- sponding Gr. K\ayy*fi means particularly the outcry of wild animals ; K\dfa, future K\dyw, I cry out. It was applied to this bird several centuries ago. Gr. yKavmov or y\avKtov, a kind of wild duck, perhaps this very species. Under the varying forms of glaucion, glaucium, glaucius, and glaucia, it has been definitely applied to this duck for more than three centuries. 726. C. is-land'-I-ca. To Iceland. See Falco, No. 500. 727. C. al-bg'-S-la. Diminutive (irregular) form of albus, white: albula would be better form. "Buffle-head" is a corruption of buffalo-head, from the puffiness of the head: "butter- ball" from the fatness of the bird at times : " spirit duck," from the quickness of diving. 728. Har-el'-da gla-cl-a'-lis. Harelda is a nonsense-word, invented by Leach. Lat. glacialis, glacial, icy, relating to ice; glades, ice. (Unde derivatur ? cf. Gr. y\avKos.) 729. Camp-t6-laem'-us lab-ra-do'-rl-us. Gr. /CO^TTT^S, flexible, as leather is, for instance; Kap.iru>, I bend ; and Ao/yuJs, the throat ; but the whole word refers to the soft leathery expansion of the bill, as if Camptorhynchus, for which latter word, preoccupied in zoology, it was proposed as a substitute. To Labrador ; which name is said to have been given to the country by the Spaniards, it being considered cultivable, as Greenland was not ; Span, labrado, cultivated land ; labrador, laborer ; labrar, to work. 730. His-trl-o'-nl-cus ml-nu'-tus. Lat. histrionicus, histrionic, relating to histrio, a stage- player ; because the bird is tricked out in various colors, as if it were dressed to play some part on the stage. The word is related in the most interesting manner to historia, history, and histology, the science of tissues of the body ; the idea being the weaving together of things, to make, as history, a connected account, as in histology, a tissue of organs. We still say, for example, a tissue of falsehood, &c. These words are all related to I whence submerged, immersed, &c. Merganser is simply mergus + anser, i. e., diving- goose. 744. M. ser-ra'-tor. Lat. serrator, a sawyer; serratus, sawn, i.e., saw-shaped, serrate, serried, as the prominent teeth of the bill look like those of a saw ; serra, a saw ; supposed to be equal to secra, from seco, I cut. 745. M. cii-cul-la'-tus. Lat. cucullatus, hooded, wearing the cucuttum, a kind of hood, a capu- chon, perhaps from its circular shape (KVK\OS). Very appropriate in this case. 746. SiiMa bas-sa'-na. Sula, by Agassiz given as a proper name, was Latinized lately from the French name, Le Side. Quasi-Lat. bassanus is an adjective derived from the name of one of the great haunts of the bird, the Bass Rock, Firth of Forth, Scotland. 747. S. Ieu-c6-gas'-tia. Gr. Aev/ofc, white, and ycurr-fip, the belly. This stands as S. fiber in the orig. ed. See Salv., Tr. Z. S. ix, pt. ix, 1875, p. 496. 748. Pgl-e-ca'-nus trach-y-rhynch'-us. Gr. ireXeKav, or ireXficivos, or Lat. pelecanus, a pelican. The etymology is obscure; but the pelican was fabled to strike and wound its own breast, that the young might be nourished with blood ; and there are various Greek and Latin wofds signifying some cutting and striking instrument, as an axe, which are nearly identical in form with the above. Gr. rpax^s, rough, uneven, and frvyxos, the beak ; with reference to the deciduous excrescence or " centre-board " on the upper mandible. 118 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 749. Pelecanus fuscus L. B 616. c 527. R 641. Brown Pelican. 750. Phalacrocorax carbo (L.) Leach. B 620. c 528. R 642. Common Cormorant. 751. Phalacrocorax dilophus (Sw.) Nutt. B 623. c 530. R 643. Double-crested Cormorant. 752. Phalacrocorax dilophus cincinnatus (Brandt) Ridg. B 022. c 520. White-tufted Cormorant. [R 64~6. 753. Phalacrocorax dilophus floridamis (Bartr.) Coues. B624. cssoa. R643a. Florida Cormorant. 754. Phalacrocorax mexicanus (Brandt.) S. & S. B 625. c 531. R 644. Mexican Cormorant. 755. Phalacrocorax penicillattis (Brandt) Heerm. B 626. C 532. R645. Tufted Cormorant. 756. Phalacrocorax perspicillatus Pall. B 621. 0533. R 648. Pallas's Cormorant. 757. Phalacrocorax bicristatus Pall. B . c 534. R 647. Red-faced Cormorant. 758. Phalacrocorax violaceus (Gm.) Ridg. B 627. c 535. R 646. Violet-green Cormorant. 749. P. fus'-cQs. Lat./wscus, fuscous, dark. 750. Phal-a-cr6'-c8r-ax car'-bo. Gr. 0aAa/cpoKo/mf, Lat. phalacrocorax, a cormorant; from a|, a raven. Compare Phalaropus, No. 604. The cormorant was often called " sea-crow," and " cormorant " is nothing but corvus marinus ; Fr. cormoran ; Ital. corvo marino; Span, cuervo marino or cuervo calvo (bald-headed crow). Lat. carbo, a coal, charcoal ; whence carbon ; from the black color. The cormorants are all given as Graculus in the orig. ed. But this was according to a way which G. R. Gray had of determining the types of genera, which has been found not available. Graculus signifies that the bird is so like a crow in color ; of. Eng- lish " sea-crow," above. 751. P. dl'-18ph-iis. Gr. Sis, twice, and Ao>os, crest. 752. P. d. cm-cm-na'-tus. Lat. cincinnatus, having curly hair; Lat. cincinnus, Gr. KIKIVVOS, a curly lock. 753. P. d. flo-ri-da'-nus. To Florida. Bartram named the bird before Audubon did. 754. P. mex-l-ca'-nus. To Mexico. See Sialia, No. 28. 755. P. pe-nl-cilMa'-tiis. Lat. peniciHum, a pencil, or painter's brush ; equivalent to peniculus, a little brush; this from penis, a tail, or the male organ: compare pendeo, I hang; as something pendent or appendaged. The reference is to the tufts of lengthened feathers on the bird. 756. P. per-spfc-fl-la'-tus. See (Edtmia, No. 739. 757. P. bi-cris-ta'-tfis. Lat. bis, twice, and cristatus, crested. Exactly equal to the Gr. 5iAo0oj. 758. P. vI-S-la'-ce-Gs. Lat. violaceus, violet-colored ; viola, a violet. See lonornis, No. 685. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 119 759. Phalacrocorax violaceus resplendens (Aud.) Ridg. B . c . R646a. Baird's Cormorant. 760. Plotus anhinga L. B 628. c 636. K 649. Anhinga; Darter; Snake-bird. 761. Tachypetes aquilus (L.) V. B 619. c 537. R 639. Frigate Bird; Man-of-war Bird. 762. Phaethon sethereus L. B . c . R 655. (?!) Red-billed Tropic-bird. 763. Phaethon flavirostris Brandt. B 629. c 538. R 654. Yellow-billed Tropic-bird. 764. Stercorarius skua (Briinn.) Coues. B 652. c 539. R 696. Skua. 765. Stercorarius pomatorhinus (Temm.) Lawr. B 653. c 540. R 697. Pomatorhine Jager. 759. P. v. res-plen'-dens. Lat. resplendens, resplendent, splendid, or lustrous ; resplendeo or splendeo, I shine, gleam. Splendor is derived by some etymologists from 0-7rA?j(j/)5o's, live coals. Not in the orig. ed. Since recognized by Ridgway, Pr. Nat. Mus., iii, 1880, p. 222. Farallone Islands. 760. Plo'-tus an-hin'-ga. Gr. ir\caT6s, being a good swimmer; from ir\(a, I swim, navigate ; Lat. plotus ; and very early applied, in ornithology, to divers swimming birds. Anhinga is a barbarous word, from the Portuguese anfnna, and equivalent to the Lat. anguina, snaky; anguis, a snake; very well applied to this curious bird, which in its subaqueous excursions strangely resembles a swimming serpent. See Coues, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, iii, 1878, p. 101. We should like to substitute the Latin form of the word, but that would probably be going too far. 761. Tach-y'-pgt-es a'-quil-us. Gr. TOXVTTCTTJS, Lat, tachypetes, flying rapidly; raxvs, swift, and irerofAai, I fly. Lat. aquilus, swarthy, dark-colored. The word is vaguely sup- posed by most persons to have something to do with aquila, an eagle, in consideration of the raptorial prowess of this piratical high-flyer ; but it would in that case be either aquila, substantive, an eagle, or aquilinus, adjective, aquiline. Aquila and aquilus are doubtless the same word, etymologically ; but the present specific name has nothing further to do with the genus Aquila, which see, No. 532. 762. P. ae-thg'-rS-us. Gr. alOepios, Lat. cetkereus, etherial, relating to the al6-f)p, (ether, ether, or serene upper air, as opposed to a-fip, aer, the lower aerial region ; the birds of this genus being noted for soaring aloft. Th. aWca, &a>. Not in the orig. ed. If there be no mistake in identification, this species has straggled to Newfoundland. See Freke, Comp. List B. of Eur. and N. A., p. 44 (repaged from Proc. Roy. Soc. Dubl., 1879). 763. Pha'-e-thon fla-vl-ros'-trls. Gr. 3>a49aov, Lat. Phaethon, a proper name, an epithet of the sun ; Phaethon having once undertaken to drive the chariot of the sun, his father Helios ; well applied to these highly aerial birds of the Tropics. Sometimes very wrongly written Phcethon, and even Phazton. Lat. flauirostris, yellow-billed. 764. Ster-cSr-a'-rl-iis skii'-S. Lat. Stercorarius, having to do with ordure, a scavenger; stercus, excrement ; from the filthy habits of the bird. Skua is the name applied to the bird by the Faeroese. 765. S. po-ma-tS-rhmMis. Gr. irw^a, genitive ir^aros, a flap, lid, cover ; and pis, genitive ptvos, 120 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 766. Stercorarius parasiticus (Brunn.) Gra}^. B 654. c 541. R 698. Parasitic Jager. 767. Stercorarius biifibni (Boie) Coues. B 655. c 542. R 699. Arctic Jager; Long-tailed Jager. 768. Lams glaucus Brunn. B 656. c 543. R 660. Glaucous Gull. 769. Larus leucoptems Faber. B 658. c 544. R661. White-winged Gull. 770. Lams glaucescens Licht. B 657, 659. c 545. R 662. Glaucous-winged Gull. 771. Lams marimis L. B 660. c 546. R 663. Great Black-backed Gull. 772. Lams argentatus Brunn. B . c 547. R 666. Herring Gull. 773. Lams argentatus smithsoniamis Coues. B eei. c 547a. R 666a. Smithsonian Herring Gull. the nose ; from the scale-like covering of the nostrils. Temminck, habitually careless in such matters, originally wrote pomarinus, and we have almost always said "pomarine" jager, with some vague notion of the sea in the case of this marine bird ; but Newton's explanation of the word, as above, is undoubtedly correct. 3a$er or jaeger is the German for hunter, these birds being habitual hunters and plunderers of the gulls and terns. The name was originally applied to a class of wild huntsmen who lived on the banks of the Rhine, and supported themselves entirely by plunder and robbery. 766. S. par-a-si'-tl-cus. Gr. irapcunTiitSs, Lat. parasiticus, parasitic; Gr. irapdviros, Lat. para- situs, a parasite, from irapd, by the side of, and o-r-ros, grain, food ; literally, one who sits at the table of another ; as we should say now, in vulgar parlance, a " free-luncher," " bummer," " dead-beat " ; hence, in general, any kind of a hanger-on. 767. S. buf-f6n'-i. To Jean Louis Le Clerc, Compte de Buffon, the famous French panegyrist' of nature, particular friend of Linnaeus, who wrote a great history of birds with the help of the Abbe' de Montbeillard, and caused Daubenton to prepare the celebrated 1008 Planches Enluminees. 768. Lar'-us glau'-cus. Gr. \dpos, Lat. larus, a gull. Lat. glaucus, glaucous, bluish, y\avit6s. See Glaucidium, No. 484. Gull is supposed to be named for its gluttony, from gulo, a glutton (gula, the gullet) ; Welsh, gwylan; Fr., godand. 769. L. leu-cop'-tgr-us. Gr. ACUK^S, white, and vrfptv, wing. 770. L. glau-ces'-cens. Lat. (decidedly post-classic) glaucescens, the present participle of a suppositious inceptive verb glaucesco, 1 grow bluish ; meaning here somewhat bluish. 771. L. ma-ri'-nus. Lat. marinus, marine; mare, the sea. " 772. L. ar-gen-ta'-tus. Lat. argentatus, silvered, silvery ; the participle of an obsolete verb argento; argentum, silver, money, from &pyvpos, silver, apy6s, white, the color of the metal. One writer has criticised the use of argentatus to denote a silvery color, arguing that argentatus would mean silvered over, silver-plated, or frosted, and proposed to sub- stitute some other derivative of argentum. But this is hypercriticism ; the word is more apt or fit for the bird than most specific names are. 773. L. a. srnlth-sSn-T-a'-nQs. To the Smithsonian Institution ; this named for James Smithv son, illegitimate son of Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 121 774. Larus occidentalis And. B 662. c 5476. R 664. Western Herring Gull. 775. Lams cachinnans Pall. B . c . R 667. Pallas's Gull. 776. Larus affinis Reinh. B . c . R 665. (G.) Reinhardt's Gull. 777. Larus californicns La wr. B 663. c 548a. R 668. Calif or nian Gull. 778. Larus delawarensis Ord. B 664. c 548. R 669. Ring-billed Gull. 779. Larus canus L. B . c . R 671. (! E.) Mew Gull. 780. Larus brachyrhynchus Rich. B 665, 673. c 549. R 670. American Mew Gull. 781. Larus heermanni Cass. B 666. c 551. R 672. White-headed Gull. 782. Rissa tridactyla (L.) Bp. B 672. c 552. R 658. Kittiwake Gull. 774. L. 6c-cid-en-ta'-lls. See Dendrceca, No. 113. 775. L. ca-chm'-nans. Lat. cachinnans, laughing immoderately; cachinno, I roar with laughter; Gr. /coxaC or Kayxdfa, of same meaning. Well expressing the outcry of the gull. Not in the orig. ed. ; since determined to occur in Alaska. This is L. borealis of Baird, Trans. Chicago Acad., i, 1869, p. 305. 776. L. af-fi'-nls. Lat. affinis, allied; ad and finis. See Campylorhynchus, No. 64. Not in the orig. ed. ; since determined to be a good species ; North American only as accidentally Greenlandic. See Reinh., Vid. Medd. Nat. For. KjaA4 head. This word has given great trouble from Eyton's, the founder's, saying it was from KPOIKOS, there being no such word. Various attempts to derive it from xp ot< * or XP^ a > or from XP^ y > Xpots, color, and to rectify the supposed erroneous orthography, have resulted in kroikocephalus, chrcecocephalus, chroiocephalus, chroocephalus. Wharton has shown Eyton's original orthography to be correct, lacking only the diaeresis over the i, there being actually such an adjective as XP UII{ ^ S > not given in the common dictionaries. (See Zoologist, March, 1878, p. .) Lat. atricilla, black-tailed; only applicable to the young bird. See Motacilla, No. 86. 787. C. frank'-lln-i. To Sir John Franklin. 788. C. phil-a-del'-phi-a. To the City of Brotherly-Love. See Geaihlypis, No. 142. 789. Rh5-do-ste'-thl-a rSs'-S-a. Gr. p68ov, the rose, and orrrtQos, the breast ; rose-breasted. Lat. roseus, rosy. 790. XS'-ma sa-bin'-T-I. Xema is a nonsense word, invented by Leach : it is sometimes written zema. To Edward Sabine, by his brother. 791. X. fur-ca'-ta. lua,t.furcatus, forked, furcate, bifurcate, forficate; furca, a fork. 792. Ster'-na angMI-ca. Sterna is not classic, having nothing to do with stiirnus, a starling, or with sternum, the breast-bone, or sterna, to strew. Agassiz gives the latter etymon. It is CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 123 793. Sterna caspia Pall. B 682. c 561. R 680. Caspian Tern. 794. Sterna maxima Bodd. B 683. c 562. R 681. Cayenne Tern ; Royal Tern. 795. Sterna elegans Gamb. B 684. c 563. R 682. Elegant Tern. 796. Sterna cantiaca Gm. B 685. c 564. R 683. Sandwich Tern. 797. Sterna hirundo L. B 689. c 565. R 686. Common Tern or Sea Swallow. 798. Sterna forsteri Nutt. B 686, 691. c 566. R 685. Forster's Tern. 799. Sterna macrura Naum. c 690, 693. c 567, 568. R 687. Arctic Tern. 800. Sterna dougalli Mont. B 692. c 569. R 688. Roseate Tern. 801. Sterna superciliaris antillarum (Less.) Coues B 694. c 570. R 690. Least Tern. a Latinization, perhaps not older than about 1523, of the English tern, or stern, or sterne, or stirn, there being all these, and other old forms of the word ; Danish tcerne, &c. We have a vague impression that the word is onomatopoeic, from the cry of the bird One of the names of the bird is the Swiss Schnirring. Most languages, however, have a different set of words, equivalent to our sea-swallow; as Fr. llirondelle-de-mer ; Germ. v, a swallow, i.e., sea- swallow. Lat. lariformis, gull-like, shaped like a gull: larus and forma. 807. H. leu-cop'-tS-ra. Gr. tevxos, white, and irrepov, wing. North America in one known instance (Wisconsin) ; see Brewer, Am. Nat., 1874, p. 188. 808. A'-nS-us st61'-?-diis. Gr. &voos or &vovs, literally mindless, unmindful of ; a privative and vovs, the mind, intellect, understanding. It is applied to the bird as exactly equivalent to stolidus, or ancesthetica, as stolid, apathetic, insensible, in view of its indifference to the presence of man. Lat. stolidus, stolid; related to stultus, foolish, silly. 809. Rhynch'-ops nlg'-ra. Gr. pvyxs> tne beak, and dty, the face ; well applied to a bird whose extraordinary beak is such a prominent feature. Lat. niger, feminine nigra, black. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 125 810. Diomedea brachyura Teinm. B 631. c 578. R 701. Short-tailed Albatross. 811. Diomedea nigripes Aud. B . c 579. R 700. Black-footed Albatross. 812. Phcebetria fuliginosa (Gm.) Coues. B 633. c 580. R 703. Sooty Albatross. 813. Ossifraga gigantea (Gm.) Reich. B 634. c 581. R 704. (!) Giant Fulmar. 814. Fulmarus glacialis (L.) Steph. B 635. c 582. R 705. Fulmar. 815. Fulmarus glacialis pacificus (And.) Coues. B 636. c 5S2. R 705a. (?) Pacific Fulmar. 816. Fulmarus glacialis rodgersi (Cass.) Coues. B .05826. R 7056. (?) Rodgers's Fulmar. 817. Priocella tenuirostris (Aud.) Ridg. B 637. c 583. R 706. (!) Slender-billed Fulmar. 810. Dl-S-me-de'-a brach-y-u'-rS. Lat. Diomedeus, adjective relating to Diomedes or Atoju^5>js, Jove-counselled, a Grecian hero famous at the siege of Troy : application probably fanciful. Pliny's Diomedeaz aces were birds living on the Island Diomedea in the Adriatic. Gr. Ppaxvs, short, and ovpa, tail. 811. D. nlg'-rl-pes. Lat. niger, black, andpes, foot. 812. Phoe-be'-tri-a fu-li-gin-6'-sa. Gr. oi/3aw is to prophesy; literally, to "play Apollo" with oracular utterances; *o?/3os, Phoebus, a Bynonym of Apollo. These words are with great propriety and correct sentiment applied to albatrosses, the import of whose weird presaging will be felt by one who reads Coleridge's " Antient Mariner," or himself goes down the deep in ships. 813. Os-si'-fra-ga gi-gan'-tg-a. Lat. ossffragus, bone-breaking, from os, genitive ossis, a bone, and frango, I break; in the perfect, fregi, participle fractus: three forms of the word repeated in English in. frangible, fragile, fracture: the Latin digammated from Gr. pyyvvm ; the stem here seen giving an immense crop of words. Lat. giganteus, gigantic, giant ; the original " giants," gigantes, riyavres, were a race of Titans, who attempted to scale high heaven; they were the sons of Tartarus and Earth; but, being probably illegiti- mate, took the name of their mother ; " gigantic " meaning literally " earth-born," yyyevfis ; yrt, and ylyvop.ai. Only North American as astray on the high sea. 814. Ful'-ma-rus gla-d-aMis. Fulmarus is arbitrary Latinization of fulmar, which is said to be akin to full 'mart, foulmart, or foumart, a polecat ; probably from foul (dirty), and the root of the word murder ( Wharton's MS.). Glacialis, see Harelda, No. 728. 815. F. g. pa-cl'-fl-cus. See Anorthura, No. 77. 816. F. g. rSd'-ggr-si. To Commodore John Rodgers, U. S. Navy. 817. Pri-6-cel'-la t6n-u-T-ros'-tris. Priocella we do not recognize, unless, perhaps, it is a frightful concatenation of Prion and Procellaria, two well-known genera of this family. French ornithologists were frequentlj' guilty of such atrocities ; see Embernagra, No. 311, for example. Agassiz gives it as Prion and Procella. Prion is the Gr. irpiuv, a saw, from the prominent teeth of the bill; for Procellaria, see below. Lat. tenuirostris, slender- 126 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 818. Daptium capense (L.) Steph. B639. c 584. R 719. (!) Pintado Petrel; Cape Pigeon. 819. CEstrelata hsesitata (Kuhl) Coues. B 638. c 585. R 717. (!) Black-capped Petrel. [See Addenda, No. 887. 820. CEstrelata bulweri (Jard. & Selb.) Coues. B . c . R 718. (G. !E.) Bulwer's Petrel. 821. Halocyptena microsoma Coues. B . c 58C. R 720. Least Petrel. 822. Procellaria pelagica L. B 645. c 587. R 721. Stormy Petrel. 823. Cymochorea leucorrhoa (V.) Coues. B 642. c 588. R 723. Leach's Petrel. billed ; tenuis, slender, slight ; more literally thin, as if spread out thin ; from tenuo, I make thin, dilute, rarefy ; from Gr. rflvu>, I stretch out, spread out, extend. The bird is questionably North American, unless as astray on the high sea. 818. Dap'-tl-um cap-en'-se". Gr. Sdrrriov or SUTTTIOV, a diminutive of SvTmjs or Urrjs, a diver. This set of words vary in the vowels in different dictionaries, and may not all be found ; compounds of them are seen in ornithology in eudyptes, eudyt.es, c. They are all from one root. The above is almost universally written daption, but in transliteration from Greek to Latin becomes properly daptium. Capense, of the Cape of Good Hope, which was the cape in those days ; Caput Bonce-Spei, as it was called ; caput, head, a headland. " Pintado " is painted ; i. e., of variegated colors ; pingo, I paint. Only North American as astray on the high sea. 819. Oes-tre'-la-ta haes-i-ta'-ta. Gr. oiVrp^AoTos, literally, goaded on by a gad-fly, (i.e., a goad-fly), olvrpos, oestrus, as cattle are; hence, goaded on in any way, as these wide- ranging ocean birds seem to be by some mysterious impulse winch drives them over the waves. The latter part of the word, -lata, the "goaded on " part of the whole idea, is from the Gr. c'AoiW, I urge on, drive. Lat. hcesitata, literally, stuck fast; hcesito, I stick fast, intensified from hcerco, I hang to, cleave to, adhere ; in a tropical sense, I hesitate ; the latter is the application in this case, the describer of the bird being uncertain about it, and therefore hesitating to name it. When at length the above generic and specific terms were combined, the bird was put in the bad way of a stuck-fast gad-about ! Only North American as astray on the high sea. 820. O. bul'-wgr-i. To Bulwer. Only North American as a straggler to Greenland. See Newton, Man. Nat. Hist. Greenl., 1875, p. 108 ; Freke, Zoologist, September, 1881, p. 378. 821. Hal-o-cyp-te'-na mic-rS-so'-ma. Gr. ii\s, genitive a\6s, the salt sea, UKVS, swift, TTTTJ^OS, winged. Gr. fj.(Kpos, small, troD/m, body; "the sharp-winged little sea-body." 822. PrS-cel-la'-rl-a pgl-a'-gl-ca. Lat. proceRaria or procellosa, stormy, tempestuous, relating to storm ; proce/la, a storm. Gr. Tre\aytKos, pelagic, relating to the sea ; thoroughly Greek, but transferable into Latin. Petrel is commonly fancied to be a diminutive of Peter, Petrus, who attempted to walk on the sea of Galilee, as these little birds seem to be continually doing, in the way they patter over the ocean waves ; but there are many forms of petrel, as petteril, peterel, &c., and the word may be related to the verb to patter, just used. 823. C^-mo-chSr-e'-a leu-cor'-rho-a. Gr. Kv^a, genitive KV/J.CITOS, the surging billows, and xopeio or xP?? a > a choir, a dancing; literally, the wave-dancers. One of my critics has favored me with an excellent reason why, according to his faithful dictionary, the CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 127 824. Cymochorea melaena (Bp.) Coues. B 643. c 589. R 724. Black Petrel. 825. Cymochorea homochroa Coues. B . c 590. R 725. Ashy Petrel. 826. Oceanodroma furcata (Gm.) Bp. B 640. c 501. R 726. Fork-tailed Petrel. 827. Oceanodroma hornbyi (Gr.) Bp. B 641. c 592. R 727. Hornby's Petrel. 828. Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl) Cones. B 644. c 593. R 722. Wilson's Petrel. 829. Fregetta grallaria (V.) Bp. B 646. c 594. R 728. (!) Lawrence's Petrel. 830. Priofimis melanurus (Bonn.) Ridg. B651. c 595. R 707. (!) Black-tailed Shearwater. word ought to have been cymatochoreutes. We would refer him to his dictionary again for certain words beginning with sync- and euph-. The stem of the first part of the word is seen in accumulate, to roll up ; of the second in chord, choir, choral, choresis, or chorea (St. Vitus's dance), &c. Gr. \CVKOS, white, and 8pf>os, the rump. 824. C. mgl-ae'-na. Gr. /teAas, feminine fj.f\a.tva, black. The orthography introduced by Bonaparte, melania, requires to be emended as above. 825. C. hS-mo'-chr8-a. Gr. 6/j.6s, equal, like, and xp' a color; in allusion to the unicolor plumage. 826. O-cg-an-o'-drS-ma fur-ca'-ta. Gr. 'n/cecwfy, Oceanus, the divinity of, and the ocean itself; supposed to be UKVS, swift, and vtu, I flow. See Ammodramus, No. 238, and Hydranassa, No. 660. Lat. furcatus, forked ; furca, a fork. 827. 6. horn'-by-i. To Admiral Hornby, R. N. 828. O-cS-an-i'-tes o-cg-an'-I-ciis. Gr. wKeavlrrj?, a son of the sea; sprung from Oceanus. See Oceanodroma, No. 826. Gr. uKeavnc6s, oceanic. 829. Frg-get'-ta gral-la'-rf-a. Fregetta, fregeta, fregata, as variously spelled, is from the Ital. fregata, Span, fragata, Fr. frigate, Eng. frigate ; according to Diez, the Lat. fabricata ; originally applied in French ornithology to the bird called man-of-war, Tachypetes aquilus; applied by English ornithologists about 1790 to some species of the present family, and very lately taken by Bonaparte for a generic term. Grallce, among the Romans, was a pair of stilts, the word being contracted from gradula, this from gradus, a step ; and the Grallatores were people who acted on the stage on stilts. The word was early taken in ornithology for wading birds, called grallce or gral/atores, from their length of leg ; from these words we have derived the English adjectives grallarial and grallato- rial; and grallaria is an obvious easy Latin derivative, though probably never used by the Romans. Only North American as astray on the high sea. 830. PrI-8'-fin-us mgl-an-u'-rus. Priofinus, unless we are mistaken, is a dreadful concoction of prion and puffinus, by the same victims of misapplied ingenuity who gave us Priocella; see this, No. 817, and Puffinus, next below. Gr. ju Acts, genitive /xeAcwoy, black, and olpa, tail. Only North American as astray on the high sea. 128 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 831. Puffinus kuhli (Boie) Bp. B . c 596. R 708. Cinereous Shearwater. fSee Addenda, No. 888. 832. Puffinus major Faber. B 647. c 597. R 709. Greater Shearwater. 833. Puffinus creatopus Coop. B . c 598. R 710. Flesh-footed Shearwater. 834. Puffinus anglorum Temrn. B 649. c 599. R 711. Manks Shearwater. 835. Puffinus obscurus (Gm.) V. B 650. c eoo. R 712. Dusky Shearwater. 836. Puffinus opisthomelas Coues. B . C601.R713. Black-vented Shearwater. 837. Puffinus fuliginosus A. Strickl. B 648. c 602. R 714. Sooty Shearwater. 83 1 . Puf'-fin-us kuhl'-i. Two very different kinds of birds early received the name of puffein or puffin: one of these, the Fratercula arctica, has retained it in English, in place of the old English coulterneb ("ploughshare-nose"), which soon gave way; the French now call it macareux. The other, namely, the shearwater, soon lost the name of puffin; but meanwhile puffin had been taken into the books, and, at the pen of those who wrote their treatises in Latin, became puffinus or puphinus; and this was subsequently fixed as a generic term for the Shearwater Petrels. We do not know the exact meaning of the word, but suppose it has something to do with puff, as suggested by the stout, " puffy " shape of the bodies of the Auks, as if puffed up. The species is dedicated to Dr. Hein- rich Kuhl, whose early death left much promise unfulfilled. 832. P. ma'-jor. Lat. major, greater, comparative degree of magnus, great. 833. P. crg-at'-8-pus. Gr. Kpeas, genitive Kp4aros. flesh, and irovs, foot ; in allusion to the color of the feet. We see the same stem in the anatomical term pan-creas, " all-flesh." 834. P. an-glS'-riim. " Puffinus anglorum " is a curiosity. It simply says in Latin " the puffin of the English," just as one might cite Puffinus jonstoni, the puffin of Jonston's treatise. Willughby, edited in Latin in 1676, called it " Puffinus Anglorum," meaning only that it was the bird " called puffin in English"; and Temminck, in 1820, not unhappily made the phrase generic and specific as the technical name of the bird. ' Manks " or " Manx " is the name of the people and of their language, of the Isle of Man ; so " manx shear- water" is as if we were to say "the puffin of the Isle of Man." " Shearwater" is defined by early ornithologists as " avis aquce super/idem radens," the bird that grazes, skims, shaves, shears over the surface of the water ; rado, I shave, scrape ; the stem is seen in erase, razor, &c. See above, Puffinus, No. 831. 835. P. 6b-scu'-rus. Lat. obscurus, dark-colored. NOTE. There is doubt that the small dark shearwater of our South Atlantic coast is the P. obscurus of Gmelin, and Finsch has lately proposed to call it P. auduboni. But until we have more light on this obscure group/we prefer not to disestablish several well- settled names in this genus. See Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., ii, 1880, p. 12. 836. P. 8-pIs-th6'-mg-las. Gr. fono-fle, backward, and /j.4\as, black; a Greek way of saying black behind. NOTE. This is supposed by some to be Puffinus gavia (Forst.). 837. P. fu-li-gin-6'-sfis. See Canace, No. 559. CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 129 838. Puffimis amanrosoma Coues. B . c 603. R 715. Spectral Shearwater. 839. Puffinus tenuirostris Temm. B . C 604. R 716. Slender-billed Shearwater. 840. Colymbns torquatus Briinn. B 698. C. 605. R 736. Great Northern Diver or Loon. 841. Colyrnbns torquatTis adamsi (Gr.) Coues. B . c 605a. R 737. Yellow-billed Loon. 842. Colymbus arcticus L. B 699. c 606. R 738. Black- throated Diver. 843. Colymbus arcticus pacificus (Lawr.) Coues. B 700. c 606a. R 739. Pacific Black-throated Diver. 844. Colymbus septentrionalis L. B 701. c 607. R 740. Red-throated Diver. 845. JEchmophorus occidentalis (Lawr.) Coues. B 704. c 608. R 729. Western Grebe. 846. ^Eciimophoms occidentalis clarki (Lawr.) Coues. B705. ceosa. R730. Clark's Grebe. 847. Podicipes griseigena holbcelli (Reinh.) Coues. B 702. c 6io. R 731. American Red-necked Grebe. 838. P. a-mau-rS s5'-ma. Gr. a^avpos, dark, dim, dusky, and creD/to, body. NOTE. This is probably Proc. grisea Gm., as held by Finsch and Salvin. 839. P. ten-ti-l-ros'-tris. See Priocella, No. 817. 840. C6-lym'-bus tor-qua'-tus. The Latin colymbus is simply a transliteration from the Greek,. and has nothing to do, notwithstanding the great similarity, with the purely Latin columba, a dove; the latter being not Greek at all, nor the former Latin, except as directly transferred from the Greek. The two words are consequently not related, unless it be in a radical manner; Corssen, however, considers them to be the same. Gr. K6\vfji0os or /eoAu/ijSis, a diver or swimmer; KoXv^dw, I dive, swim. The K6\v/j.fits of Aristotle was a species of grebe (Podicipes). Lat. torquatus, see Asyndesmus, No. 456. " Loon " is an old Scotch word. See No. 874. 841. C. t. a'-dams-I. To Dr. C. B. Adams, of the British Navy. 842. C. arc'-ti-cus. See Sialia, No. 29. 843. C. a. pa-cl'-fi-cus. See Anorthura, No. 77. 844. C. sep-ten-tri-o-na'-lis. Lat. septentrionalis, northern ; septentriones, the north, northern' regions ; septem-trio, the constellation of the Wain. See Parus, No. 45. 845. Aech-m5'-ph5r-us oc-cld-en-ta'-lis. Gr. alx^, a spear, and opos, bearing; in allusion to the long, slender, sharp bill. For occidentalis, see Dendrceca, No. 113. Grebe is a' French word, the meaning of which we do not know. 846. A. o. clark'-i. To J. H. Clark. 847. Pdd-I'-ci-pes gris-6I'-ggn-a h81'-boei-ll. The extraordinary word "podiceps" has excited much curiosity, and stimulated some ingenious surmises. As it stands, podiceps^ seems to be the Greek irovs, genitive TroS^s, foot, and the Latin termination -ceps, denot- ing head ; and "foot-head " it has doubtless been taken to be by many, who, if thinking of it at all, have felt vaguely that some allusion was intended to the bird's somersaulting 130 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 848. Podicipes corimtus (Gm.) Lath. B 706. c 6ii. R 732. Horned Grebe. 849. Podicipes amitus (L.) Lath. B 708. c . R 733. (G.) European Eared Grebe. 850. Podicipes anritus californicus (Heerm.) Coues. B 707. c 612. R 733. American Eared Grebe. 851. Podicipes dominions (L.) Lath. B 708a. c eis. R 734. St. Domingo Grebe. 852. Podilymbus podicipes (L.) Lawr. B 709. c 614. R 735. Pied-billed Grebe; Dab-chick. 853. Fratercula corniculata (Naum.) Gray. B 713. c 617. R 744. Horned Puffin. in the water, turning "heels over head," as we should say. In deriving the name of the family of grebes, some curious words have been ventured ; as Podici/>ince, as if the genitive were podicipis, or Podicipitince, as if the genitive were podicipitis. There is no doubt that podiceps, and everything derived from it, is absurd. We have not traced the word back of 1758, when it probably originated in a misprint. Going back further in the annals of ornithology, we soon come upon the word in its proper form, viz., podicipes, occurring repeatedly in Willughby and various writers of about that period. The word is the Latin podex, genitive podicis, the rump, buttocks, and pes, foot ; being simply a translation into Latin of a very vulgar English name. Having crystallized in the shape of podiceps, by Latham's employ of the word as a generic term, and then been used for a century, it will not be easy to eradicate ; but the attempt should be made to substitute the proper podicipes. The genitive of this is podicipedis, and the family name should be Podicipedidce. Lat. griseus, gray : gena, cheek. NOTE. There is no technical reason or excuse for using the word at all. For Colymbus, Brisson, 1760, is the proper name for the genus of grebes, having meant Grebe, not Loon, from the time of Aristotle to that of Linnaeus, when the latter used it for loons and grebes indiscriminately. The loons were called Mergus by Brisson ; and Eudytes, Illiger, 1811, seems to be the tenable generic name for them. 848. P. cor-nu'-tus. Lat. cornutus, horned ; cornu, a horn ; in reference to the tufts of feathers on the head. 849. P. aur-i'-tus. Lat. auritus, eared ; auris, an ear ; Gr. o$s, genitive ur6s, ear ; in allusion to the auricular tufts of feathers. Not in the orig. ed. Only North American as occurring in Greenland. 850. P. cal-I-for'-ni-cus. To California. 851. P. dSm-In'-I-cus. To the Island of St. Domingo. See Dendrceca, No. 129. 853. Pdd-T-lyny-bus pod-l'-cl-pes. The word podilymbus, sometimes aggravated into pody- limbus, is a peculiarly villanous miscegenation of podi[ceps and co]lymbus ; see the latter word, No. 840, and Podicipes, No. 847. 853. Fra-ter'-cu-la cor-nl-cul-a'-ta. " Fratercula " is a singular word, the application of which to this bird is not obvious, and the form of which seems absurd : a. feminine noun mean- ing "little brother." Fraterculus is a proper classical word, a diminutive of J rater, brother. But there is no larger bird sufficiently near this species for the latter to be called the "little brother." Fratercula in ornithological writing is much older than 1760, when Brisson made a genus of it, and we are inclined to think that it is humorously used ; all the more so by being made feminine, in the same spirit that prompted the comic writer Plautus to invent the verb fraterculo, as he did sororio, to signalize the swellings of the breasts of boys, like ^m-brothers, at puberty. If there be anything in CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIEDS. 131 854. Fraterciila arctica (L.) Steph. B 715. c 618. R 743. Common Puffin ; Sea Parrot. 855. Fratercula arctica glacialis (Leach) Coues. B 714. c 6i8a. R 743. Large-billed Puffin. 856. Fratercnla cirrata (Pall.) Steph. B 712, 716. c 619. R 745. Tufted Puffin. 857. Ceratorhina monocerata (Pall.) Cass. B 717, 718. c 620. R 746. Horn-billed Auk. 858. Simorhynchus psittaculus (Pall.) Schl. B 725. c 621. R 747. Parroquet Auk. 859. Simorhynchus cristatellus (Pall.) Merr. B 710, 720. c 622. R 748. Crested Auk. 860. Simorhynchus pygmaeus (Gm.) Ridg. B 721. c 623. R 749. Whiskered Auk. 861. Simorhynchus pusillus (Pall.) Coues. B 722, 723. c 624. R 750. Knob-billed Auk. 862. Ptychorhamphus aleuticus (Pall.) Brdt. B 724. c 625. R 751. Aleutian Auk. this, the application of the word to the birds is to be sought in their stout puffy shape, that which appears to have caused the English word puffin. See Puffinus, No. 831. Lat. corniculata, horned, a diminutive of cornutus : referring to the acute epidermal process on the upper eyelid, which is deciduous, being shed like the horns of deer. 854. F. arc'-tl-ca. See Sialia, No. 29. 855. F. a. gla-cl-a'-lls. See Harelda, No. 728. 856. F. cir-ra'-ta. Lat. cirratus or cirrhatus, having curled locks, or ringlets, curly-haired; cm-us or cirrhus, a curl of hair ; well applied to this oddly feather-tufted bird. 857. C6r-at-6-rhi'-na mo-no-ce'r-a'-ta. Gr. Kepas, genitive iceparos, a horn, and pis, genitive pivos, the nose ; alluding to the prominent deciduous horn which grows up from the base of the bill, over the nostrils. Gr. jj.6vos, only, alone, single, transliterated as Lat. mono-, in composition, and Kepas, horn, Latinized as ce'ras, ceratis, whence an adjective form, ceratus, horned; that is, unicorn, one-horned. 858. Si-mo-rhyn'-chus psit-ta'-cii-lus. Gr. ericas, flat-nosed, snub-nosed, like the negro ; pvyx os ' beak ; well applied to these birds, whose bills are singularly shaped. The same idea is expressed in the Latin simia, an ape, whence our English simian, become a common word since Darwinism has been so much discussed. Lat. psittaculus, a little parrot, diminutive of psittacus. See Sitta, No. 57. 859. S. cris-ta-tel'-lus. Lat. diminutive of cristatus, crested. 860. S. pyg-mae'-us. See Sitta, No. 61. This is S. camtschaticiis of the orig. ed. ; but Alca pygmcea Gm. is based on the young of the same species, called S. cassini by Coues. 861. S. pus-il'-lus. See Sitta, No. 60. 862. Pty-chS-rham'-phus a-leu'-tl-cus. Gr. wrrff, genitive trrvxos, a fold, and pdfjLQos, the beak ; well alluding to the wrinkled covering of the bill ; which, by analogy with what is known of other species, may be taken as an indication that the soft part concerned will be found to grow some kind of excrescence, not yet discovered. Lat. aleuticus, of the Aleutian Islands, the country of the people called Aleuts. 132 CHECK LIST OF NOETH AMERICAN BIRDS. 863. Alle nigricans Link. B 738. c 626. R 752. Sea Dove; Dovekie. 864. Synthliborhamphus antiqnus (Gra.) Coues. B 736. c 627. R753. Black-throated Auk. 865. SynthliboramphTis umizTisiime (Temm.) Coues. B 737. c 628. R 754. Temminck's Auk. 866. Brachyrhamphns marmorattis (Gm.) Brdt. B 732, 733. c 629. R 755. Marbled Murrelet. 867. BrachyrhamphTis kittlitzi Brdt. B 735. c 630. R 756. Kittlitz's Murrelet. 868. Brachyrhamphiis hypoleucus Xant. B . c . R 757. White-bellied Murrelet. 869. Brachyrhamphus craverii (Salvad.) Coues. B . c . R 758. (?) Craveri's Murrelet. 870. Brachyrhamphus brachypterus Brdt. B 734. c . R 759. (?) Short-winged Murrelet. 863. AF-1S nig'-rl-cans. Alle is a local designation of this species and of Uria grylle. Its mean- ing we do not know. It was long the specific name of the bird, taken for the generic by Link in 1806. Lat. nigricans, present participle of a supposed verb nigrico, equivalent to nigresco, I grow black, am blackish. This stands in the orig. ed. as Mergulus alle : for the reason of the change, see Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, iv, 1879, p. 244. 864. Syn-thll-b6-rharn'-phus an-ti'-qii-us. Gr. , I press; papfyos, beak. Lat. antiquus, antique, ancient ; with reference to the gray of the head, like an old man's. Antiquus is simply for anticuus, this a form of anticus, from ante, before ; one having retained the idea of being before in space, that is, in front of, the other having acquired the idea of priority in time, like antea; the opposition in either case is with post, postea, behind, after. 865. S. u-ml-zu'-sii-me. This appalling word we know nothing about except that it is transliterated from the Japanese, Temminck having described the species from that country ; " son nom japonais est wumizusume," he says. We drop the w. 866. Brach-y-rhanV-phus mar-m6-ra'-tus. Gr. Ppaxvs, short, and pap.aivr nn rr r JUL