92 FEMALE INDIGO FINCH.
by ' WÏÏson^as ne* geM^ granted this distinction- » Similar,
and ^ t e n ^ i n S s 'u n p o r t a n t ^ ^ ^ ^ ^M .'W Jfi^ured^M'this work.
Hardly^ny -Nprth^^nerican bird^ ^ ^ ab&ôfntejy stands-^m need
than the beautiful Finch which is 'Mow
the ' feutjjectof p u r'o o n silertra« ? scarcely be expfebted
tt^ t tlT e ^ o ^ S ^ ln o u la brilliant Indigo p r d
o £ Wnmetvm^fiè humbîé 'garb in \ W | ' T
tffe BÜE T O w ^ r " simple'iifl^ s
a ^ ^ aS sa^æ T ^ ^p d '^ ^g e o f ' fèinlile is^far mof% interesting
and 'i^ p o r^ h i
f ^ ^ 0^ g ’'J^ o P r o i n e aduît ■ffift^ ^ fte ? tn e .p itum n a l inoulî,' and
’Û L ^ ip pW î ensues in “the ‘s p r in g ^ ^ l a r g e
p ro ^w u o n o f tn e 'life 'o f-th e bird.
Thefim p l)rta^ ? 'of knowledge of tKésm (Srangès* will alWfft;
P S y o ^ ^ ^ e S * dnVecurrmgfcfo ^ tb fo ( ^B ^ ^ f ^ n ÿm y ¥ t Ihe'Tfdfd
o f ^ o ^ a a ^ lle , by wffioh’ï tw i l l j s b d ^ ^ , that %yi§ral\o ^ h mal
* ^ ^ ^ f‘spk ^ ^Keg n p ia4 e Ky naturalists who chanced ^ Jd ^ c rib e
this bird^uring its transitions fr'om one staiu to another. Errors
^W ^ lm d ^ to o ^ f r e q u l^ ^ ^ disfigure 'th è 4 fair pagés of' y:oêî%y,
^w il^ ïS 'ïh e ridîctâdus ambition of th^^p^emro-nafürâîRT^wIio
witlflit ^taking*' the trouble to make ^p ^ tïg a tîo fflT'^ ^fjWï™
indeed t | | | ; ’a r e ^ prôclaiming a rfew
•1^ ^ ^ s% f aM is h e ËM ‘'àVingle individual, and' merely on account
m ^ ^ c ^ o ^ q ^ e * s u c h T trifling' p'artiifâlarï^The ieading ^ystéin"-
ara^twÊd^&A^Mnlhrged'the boundariés of oùr sfeiêncêPbïÉVb tlSb
te a d i^ a dm rtte d fsuch spl&ifs, partly compelled *fo it pelhapsby
^the a ^ r a ^ c y ^ ^ t t lb d ^ p ^ e ip l e s .’ ‘But the more éxtedsivé 'and
accürate knowledge which brSltbdlogists have acquired within a
■^^vyeaïs4rélsât‘iv‘e*fo th ^ h a n ^ eÇ th a frbirds ünde/gb; will réffil?’r
^ êm |ib o iæ cautious, in proportion as the scientific world will be
les^disposed to excuse1* then* ffôr errors-arising’from this souhcfi.
Linné m aybe profitably1 rlssOrted t o 1 as a model of accuracy in
this respect, his profound sagacity leading him in many instances
to reject^,spe'qifes* ;WhMM( had received the sanction- event of the
experienced BrisssmV*' -Unfortunately, Gmelin, who pursued a
pra,ctie‘e^directly the . opposite, and compiled with a careless and
IbdiMfeimmating hand, has been the vdcsefe''1 of > -zoologists for
twenty years., s^ffixei' >thayteefith edition- Of the Systema Naturae
undoubtedly^ retarded the adyafikerhunt off knowledge; instead of
pBonstotijag it, and if* Latham M^d^êrected^-Ms ornithojogifeal
edification the ^chaste« and durable-pLinnean basis, the superstructure
wQ/ul(k have fa^ n|@rq*lvelegant. .But hey first
Misled-ïï&m&lin, and; afterwards «jjuffèred himself to' be misled
by him',-and w is , thërcl’orè, ttec'essaeily betrayed into numerous
VgtaW'Although he ^jjj$the same time^fecqdgged' and dèorreeted
many odiers of his predecessor. We shall not enumerate-, thé
Nominal species authorised by their ,,w@®kss in relation'to the
present? bird-i. since*, they ^may be ascertained|^by» consulting Our
list ofl,synonyids^r. OdA?co,fi|'^rii|fe'tni&T^list with that furnished"
by Mfils^nV it v^iljb hM* seen that the latter is .very-iocomplet e.
Indeed, as regards synonymy, ..Wilson5s ' ,wprk|J| not*? a little
deficient; notwithstanding which;hnwe^lpj it ,will be perpetuated
as a monument of original .and Jfgdthfulvpbsrervat|ion gSl nature^*
whett piles of pedantic compilation's shall,beifprgótteHMpd
We refer huy readers entirely to Wilson for thé' history off this
yery jocial little bird, only A'ser-Vingg- tos,? ourselYegnthe task of
assigning its true, place >. im^tro^bl^stém. fe., Ag^we , have already
mentioned in our ‘‘Observations,” he was the fir|t wh<Wplaced ft
in the genus F^ingitta, (|Q'MWhifeh^^nr@perte,beI<|n!gs)’ after it had
been; transferred from Tanagra to Embe^za^Mjhvm&v .writers,
gome qf|j whpM'had, even^dliSpibed* it*under both, in, one and the
same work. But, although Wifeon. referred this bird tojto proper
genus, yet» he. noaCnQuntabMjpermitted* its cfaseIy-< allied species
the. Fringilla ciris, to, retain*, i<ts station in Emberiza, being, under
Yep. it.—a a