The oldest name available for any species of the waxwings is _Lanius garrulus_ Linnaeus (1758). _Lanius garrulus_ and _Lanius garrulus_ variety B _carolinensis_ were described as conspecific. The description has been associated with the first of the two names. The latter name is a _nomen nudum_ since it was not accompanied by a separate description. The generic name _Lanius_ was originally applied to both shrikes and waxwings by Linnaeus. Since that name is applied to the shrikes only, the next available generic name that may be applied to the generically different waxwings must be used. This is _Bombycilla_, a name originally proposed by Brisson (1760) for the Cedar Waxwing. In the 12th Edition of the Systemae Naturae (1766) Gmelin proposed the generic name _Ampelis_ for the Bohemian Waxwing, and combined it with the specific name _garrulus_, the Cedar Waxwing being termed variety B. Vieillot (1807) proposed the generic name _Bombycilla_ and combined it with a new specific name, _cedrorum_, for the Cedar Waxwing. Vieillot has been cited as the author of _Bombycilla_ since that time, although Brisson used _Bombycilla_ 33 years before. Oberholser (1917) did not cite Brisson's work in his discussion of the proper generic name for the waxwings, and _Bombycilla_ should be ascribed to Brisson and not Vieillot, since Opinion 37, rendered by the International Zoological Committee on Nomenclature, states that generic names used by Brisson (1760) are valid under the Code. In consequence, the specific name available for the Cedar Waxwing, since Brisson is ruled not to be a binomialist, is _Bombycilla cedrorum_ Vieillot (1807). Most workers prior to 1900 utilized the family name Ampelidae to include waxwings, silky flycatchers, and palm-chats. Ridgway (1904:113) elevated the silky flycatchers to family rank under the name Ptilogonatidae, and assigned the palm-chats to a separate family, the Dulidae. MATERIALS The following specimens, numbering 238, and representing each currently recognized species and subspecies, were used in the study, and were supplemented by observation in 1947 on specimens in the United States National Museum.