On the name <I>Xenocichla</I>

Vol-XVI-] GeneralNotes. 1

83

presentcase,the alteration ina specific term

makes

necessary a corre- spondingcorrection throughouta long list of subspecies.

Under

our rules ofnomenclature,however,thereseems no doubtofthe untenability ofMelospizafasciata; sinceFringilla fasciata

Gmelin

(Syst. Nat., 1788, I,922) usedforthe

Song

Sparrow,ispreoccupiedby Fringilla fasciata Miiller(Syst.Nat.,

Anhang,

1776, 165),which is a

synonym

of Spinus pinus.

The

onlyavailable

name

forthe eastern

Song

SparrowisFrin- gilla melodiaWilson (Am. Orn., 1S10,II,125,pi. XVI, fig.4), andthe speciesconsequentlyshouldbe calledMelospizamelodia.

Fringillaguttata Nuttall (Man. Orn.,ed.2,1S40,I,581),whichis

now

Melospiza fasciataguttata, isdebarred by Fringilla guttata Vieillot (Nouv.Diet,d'llist.Nat., 1S17,XII,233),for anAustralianWeaver-bird.

As

theRusty

Song

Sparrow seems to have noothername, it

may

be calledMelospizamelodiamorphna.

The Song

Sparrowswillthen standasfollows:

Melospizamelodia melodia (Wilson).

Melospizamelodia fallax (Baird).

Melospizamelodiamontana(.Henshaw).

Melospizamelodiaheermanni(Baird).

Melospizamelodia samuelis (Baird).

Melospizamelodia

morphna

Oberholser.

Melospizamelodia rufina (Bonaparte).

Melospiza melodiarivularis (Bryant).

Melospizamelodia

graminea

(Townsend).

Melospizamelodia elemental(Townsend).

Melospiza melodia cooperi(Ridgway).

Melospiza melodiapusillula(Ridgway).

Melospiza melodia caurina (Ridgway).

Melospiza melodiamexicanaRidgway.

Melospiza melodiaadusta (Nelson).

Melospiza melodia goldmani (Nelson).

— Harry

C.

Oberholser,

Washington,D.C.

On

the

name

Xenocichla.

— Of

late years the term Xenocichla has beeninquite generalusefor agroupofEthiopianBulbuls,having as its type theDasycephalasyndactyla ofSwainson. Xenocichla was founded by Hartlaubin his^'Orn.Westafricas,'1857,p.86,butinthe listof addi- tionsandcorrectionsonp.272,the

name

isnotedasbeing equivalentto Bleda Bonap.

The

exact place of publication of Bonaparte's

name

seemsto havepuzzled recent ornithologists,and

we

find it quoted at second hand'and without date in Waterhouse's 'Index' and Sharpe's

'Catalogue of Birds.'

The

proper reference is Rev. etMag. de Zool., Feb.1857, 50,which antedates Ilartlaub's

work

byat least two months.

The

type being the same in both cases, Xenocichla becomes a perfect

synonym

of Bleda, which shouldhenceforth be used.

The

species of the genus,asrecentlyrestrictedbyShelley, areBledasyndactyla (Swains.),

1

84

^{GeneralNotes. \_\£\}

B.foliocephala (Reichenow), B.xavieri (Oust.), B. notata (Cass.),B.

exitnia (Haiti.), and B. canicapilla (Hartl.).

—

Ciias.

W. Richmond,

Washington,

D.

C.

Barn

Swallows {Hiruudoerythrogastrd).

—

Withinafewyardsofthe house occupied by Mr.JohnR.Sandsbury duringthe time he is caring for theTerns on Muskeget Island,and whereI

make my

headquarters

when

visiting there,is an old shed orboathouse whichhas several aper- tures. This shed hasbeenusedasanesting place for the pastsixyears

~byapparently the same pair of Barn Swallows. At

my

requestMr.S.

made

afewnoteson these birds,which arrivedthisyear (1898)on

May

29. It istheircustomtorepair the oldnest,they neverhavingbuiltany since thefirstone. Four

young

birdswerehatchedthisseason.

The

old birdswouldoccasionallyflyinto the sitting-roomof thehouse,butwere alwaysfrightenedongettinginside.

When

IwasvisitingMuskegetthis

summer

(July 2-5, 1898),^Ifound,inadditiontothe old pair ofbirds,still

anotherpair,apparently birds of last year,assisting in feeding the four

young

ones in the nest. Thistheycontinued to do up toJuly10,the dateon whichthe

young

leftthenest.

On

thisdate theywere allflying abouttogether, the

young

goingatintervalstothe nestto rest.

On

July n,therewere onlythe twooriginal old birdsand the four

young

ones, andtheyremained arounduntil July19,the

young

returningtothe nest everynight.

The young

birdswere so tamethat theywouldalight on, and even runoverMr. Sandsbury'sfingers while he rested^hishand

upon abeam

which wasnear thenest.

They

returned occasionallyupto

August

1,butwerenot so tame, alightingontopof the shed andonthe clothes linenear the house. Atthis latter date the groupconsistedof the two old birds and the fouryoung.

— George

H.

Mackay,

Nantucket, Mass.

Another

Example

ofCurious Nestingof theAmericanRedstart.

—

^Mr-

VerdiBurtch,intheOctober Auk, 1S9S, recorded acurious exampleof the American Redstart's nesting, and having had ^a

somewhat

similar experience,it

may

beof interest torecordit.

June 3,1898,I hadbeen collecting about a

swamp

in the vicinity of Dorchester, Mass.,andatnoon soughtthe shade of a

wood

lot near.

A

femaleRedstart{Setophagaruticilla) atonce attracted

my

attention by her queer ways. ^Iretiredforashort distanceand the bird settled upon a Vireo'snest,which wassituated fouranda halffeetabove theground inasapling. ItcontainedfiveRedstart eggs.

One

ofthesewasentirely buried beneath theothers, in athick liningof horse hair.

The

yolkof thisegg had^settledandhardened.

The

other fourwerefresh.

As

numbersof Redstarts'eggs areannually stolenbyboysfromthis wood,it

may

be possible that the following theory accounts forthis strange thing.

An

incompleteset ofRedstarteggs wastaken;thefemale laid intheVireonestduringthe absenceoftheownersratherthan deposit