. A history of British birds . ed Crossbill,and this earliest distinctive name, though possibly not thehappiest that might have been chosen, has been accordinglyhere retained for it, while the ancient style of the Americanform is left unchanged.* * Certain writers, it may be remarked, for some recondite reason have removedthe Crossbills from the genus Loxia, but to the Editor it seems unquestionablethat L. curvlrostnc must be considered the type of that genus as founded liyLinmeus, who, as was his wont, combined in his appellation the names by whichit had been before known to naturalists, whil
. A history of British birds . ed Crossbill,and this earliest distinctive name, though possibly not thehappiest that might have been chosen, has been accordinglyhere retained for it, while the ancient style of the Americanform is left unchanged.* * Certain writers, it may be remarked, for some recondite reason have removedthe Crossbills from the genus Loxia, but to the Editor it seems unquestionablethat L. curvlrostnc must be considered the type of that genus as founded liyLinmeus, who, as was his wont, combined in his appellation the names by whichit had been before known to naturalists, while the derivation of the word Loxia(from the Greek Xo|o?, wry) shows that it is unsuitable to any of the other groupsto which it has been applied. Some writers have also separated the Crossbillsfrom the FrinrjiUtdie, and have given them the rank of a family under thename of Loxiklct—a very needless division since they are most intimatelyrelated to many of the unquestionable Finches. RED-WINGED STARLING. PASSERES. 223ICTERIDAL. phgeniceus (Linnpeus *). THE RED-WINGED STARLING. Af/elaius phocrdceus. AoEiiEUS, Vieillot-f.—Bill as long as the head, hard, stout, straight andcuneated ; the mandibles nearly equal, their edges inflected. Nostrils basal, oval,overhung by a rudimentary operculum. Gape angular. Wings moderate, withonly nine primaiies, that which is ordinarily the first being absent, and of thosepresent the outermost is shorter than the next two. Tail i-ather long, scutellated in front, covered behind by a single plate ,• claws moderate. A SPECIMEN of this common American bird, shot nearLondon, was figmed in 1738 by Albin, who says that he * Oriolas i->hoeniceux, Linnreus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 161 (1766).+ Agelaius (by mistake), Vieillot, Analyse &c. p. 33 (1816).VOL. II. G G 224 ICTERID.^. found in its gizzard, grubs, beetles and small mag-gots,adding I believe it was a Cage-Bird, which had got plate shews it to have been an ad
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