WCP4040

Letter (WCP4040.3984)

[1]

The Dell, Grays, Essex.

March 28th. 1875

Dear Newton1

Mss. received I am sorry you did not keep it [one word illegible] as I sh[oul]d have profited by your fuller notes. I have just looked over the [one word illegible] &c & find many valuable suggestions I shall adopt.

I think however in a work like mine I sh[oul]d not diverge from the classification of any new & authoritative work. Sclater2 & Saloni[?], keep Chisnididae[?] & Thinocoridae3 separate — You say they are true Charadriidae4. You may be right but it will be for me to follow S. & S’s arrangement.

[2] Again I cannot accept Glareola5 as "true Charadriidae", as it differs in so many external characters,- as much say as Motacillidae6 does from Muscicapidae7,— yet I presume its skeleton is not nearer that of Charadrius8, than those of these two last genera are to each other. I am quite disposed to admit that a worked diversity of sternum[?] regimes that has birds that sh[oul]d be placed in distinct families, but not that a marked similarity necessitates that they sh[oul]d be muted[?] in one family— all external differences withstanding.

On looking hastily through the other groups I see many valuable hints. On group over there for final [3] corrections I may have to trouble you with a few guesses. I shall certainly separate — Menuridae9 and Atrichidae10— as you propose. Do you consider these related,— that is in Atrichidae never to Menura than to any other forms?

I will gladly separate Certhiidae11 & Sittidae12. I presume the Sittidae of the "Handbook" will constitute the latter family.

I see you gave several suggested alterations in Sylviidae13. There I have depended wholly on Tristram14, who took the trouble to give me a complete classification of the whole family with all the genera & these contents[?]— I gave this all on his authority and shall not therefore like to make alterations in it without consulting him again, which would cause more trouble & delay. These large, difficult, [4] and wide-spread families are of little importance in Geog-Dist15 & I do not propose to offer the classifications I adopt as having any authority, but merely as following that of the best writers on the subject.

I note you object to the position of some of the American families,— but in these I follow Sclater & Salum[?] who ought to know.

When I adopt divisions of families as you suggest, e.g. Euberigidae[?] — I will ask you to look over them Mss. again to see if the genera are right.

I will send you the Neotrop[ical] & Eth.[iopian] Regions tomorrow to Cambridge

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
Alfred Newton (11 June 1828 — 7 June 1907) was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907 as well as an English zoologist and ornithologist.
2
Philip Sclater (4 November 1829 — 27 June 1913) was an English lawyer and zoologist, specializing in ornithology. He identified the main zoogeographic regions of world.
3
Thnocoridae are a small family of gregarious waders called seedsnipes.
4
The Charadriidae bird family (65 species) includes plovers, dotterels, and lapwings
5
Glareola is a genus of birds in the family Glareolidae.
6
Motacillidae: family of small passerine birds (65 species) that includes wagtails, longclaws and pipits.
7
Muscicapidae: large family of passerine birds commonly known of the Old World flycatcher.
8
Charadrius: genus of plovers, which is a group of wading birds found throughout the world.
9
Menuridae, commonly known as Lyrebirds, consists of ground-dwelling Australian birds notable for their ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment.
10
Atrichidae: Commonly known as Scrub-birds, now known as Atrichornithidae.
11
Certhiidae: family of small passerine birds, commonly known as treecreepers. They are widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa.
12
Sittidae: Commonly known as nuthatches. Most breed in the montane woodlands of the Northern Hemisphere.
13
Sylviidae: Commonly known as Old World warblers.
14
Henry Baker Tristram (11 May 1822 — 8 March 1906) was an English clergyman and ornithologist. He was an original founder of the British Ornithologists’ Union.
15
Alfred Russel Wallace’s The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876).

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP4040.3984)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Campbell, John [2012-08-15] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15]

Please cite as “WCP4040,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4040