The correct citation and spelling of Ptiliogonys and type locality of Ptiliogonys cinereus

William Swainson published descriptions and illustrations of many new forms of New World birds. In some of his earlier papers, Swainson cited his own works (of which only some parts have been published) as well as some manuscripts that were never published (see McMillan 1971). Swainson also referred to works that were published later under different titles. For example, Swainson (1827a) listed several names of birds and cited his "Mexican Zoology," a work that was never published. Later he (Swainson 1831-1832) referred to the "Cat. of Mex. Mus. App. p. 4 (1824)," in which he claimed to have described the taxa he had listed in Swainson (1827a).

Modern authorities (e.g. Greenway 1960: 371; American Ornithologists' Union [AOU] 1983: 582) refer to the 1824 source as the original publication for the genus they render as Ptilogonys and (AOU 1983) for the species Ptilogonys cinereus. However, there is no evidence that the 1824 work was ever seen as a manuscript or published. In this paper, I review the use of "Swainson, 1824," as a citation and discuss the actual publication, spelling of the names Ptiliogonys and Ptiliogonys cinereus, and type locality of the species.