CATALOGUE 



,B I R D S. 



Order XIII. GAVIyE. 



The Skuas, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers, which make up the above 

 Order, were formerly united by many authors with the Petrels ; 

 but Nitzsch, after showing (' Pterylography,' 1840) that in their 

 pter}'losis the Gaviae closely approached the LimicoL'e, I'estricted 

 to the Gaviae the name Longipennes and placed the Petrels in 

 the separate Order Tubinares. Mr. P. L. Sclater, who edited 

 Nitzsch's great work for the Ray Society in 1807, was naturally 

 influenced by that author's views, and in a paper entitled ' The 

 present state of the Systema Avium' (Ibis, 1880, p. 409), he 

 enunciated his reasons for placing the Gulls &c. in the Order Gaviae 

 ( = Longipennes, Nitzsch) : the Petrels forming the Order Tubinares 

 next ill succession. This is not the place for the discussion of the 

 views of later writers Avith regard to the degrees of relationship of 

 the Gaviaj to the Limicolae on the one side, and to the Alcidte on 

 the other ; but it may fairly be said that on the whole there has 

 been a tendency to remove the Tubinares to a still greater distance 

 from the Gavia>. There are, however, some exceptions. Dr. A. 

 Reichenow (' Die Vogcl der zoologischen Giirten,' i. p. 17, 1882) 

 includes three families — Procellariida', Laridce, and Sfernidce — in his 

 Order Longipennes ; while Dr. Elliott Cones considers the Gaviae 

 and Tubinares as forming suborders of the same. 



Considering the Gaviae equivalent to Longipennes as restricted by 

 Nitzsch, Sclater, and others, this Order has frequently been taken to 

 consist of one Family — Larid<v ; divided into four subtamilies — 

 Stercorariino' (Skuas), Larincr. (Gulls), Sterniiut' (Terns), and 



VOL. XXV. B 



