^y^/JlhiCY^^,^^, .J^ ^ 



i 



NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA, 121 



ises que ne sont ni de vraies plantes, ni de vrais animaux. Ce n'est qu'a 

 force d"observations et de meditations que Ton pourra distinguer clairement 

 les vraies plantes etles vrais animaux desautres Otres organises qui en different 

 assez pour avoir une autre determination et un autre rang dans la division 

 methodique des productions de la nature." (Stances des Ecoles Normales, 

 tome V. p. 277.) 



We cite these authors only for the general purpose of illustrating the usual 

 style of the suggestions and opinions frequently to be met with. Purposely, 

 at present, we do not extend extracts of this description, nor give any such 

 from living authors. 



■ J^f^.^^ 



On the LESTRIS RICHARDSONI of Swainson ; with a Critical Review of the 

 Subfamily LESTRIDIN^. 



BY ELLIOTT COUES, M.D., U.S.A. 



In the year 1831, a Jiiger was described and figured in the Fauna Eoieali- 

 Americana, under the name of '^ Lestris Rtchurtlsoni Swa.ius.'" This bird has 

 been generally supposed to be the true ;;ara.s('acn of Briinnich, in the now 

 well known fusco-unicvlor state of plumage which all the species of Stercora- 

 rius pass through in arriving at maturity. Consequently, the name ^'Richard- 

 soNi " has been employed for the common Jiiger, especially by American 

 writers, to the exclusion of the prior name " jiarasiticn,'^ of Briinnich. 



Examination of the works of Temminck, who, at the time in which he 

 wrote, probably knew more about J;igers than almost any author, will show 

 how this misapplication of a name became general. 



In his edition of 1820, he is acquainted with but a single species of Lestris, 

 (besides catarractes and /)o/war/n«s, ) which he calls '^ jiarasiticaBr'nnn/' His 

 description of the latter is made up of a mixture of the characters oi parasitica 

 and Buffoni ; and the synonyms of the two are indiscriminately adduced. 



In his edition of 1840, he recognizes the distinctions between the two 

 9pecies/)arasi7ic« and25('^o«/; but, unfortunately, he calls the true;^((/T(S(7("c« 

 ^^ Richarclsoni," addiicing the proper synonyms of the species under that 

 name ; while he describes the true Buffoni under the name of ^'parasitica.'" 

 He is thus fully aware of his mistake of 1820 ; for (page 498) he makes the 

 folloviing " Remnrqite : Comme notre article du stercoraire parasite oulabbe 

 du manuel p. 796, renferme, ainsi qu'il vient d'etre dit, les synonymes dedeux 

 especes distiuctes, (le stercoraire a filets subules courts, et le stercoraire a 

 longs filets,) il est necessairede refaire en totalitetoutes les indications sur ces 

 deux especes." 



But, believing Swainson's bird to be the same as the parasitica, he says 

 (page 492), in defence of the nomenclature adopted: "Shortly after the 

 publication of the second edition of the Manual, of 1820, we became aware of 

 the error in our article on Lestris parasitica, where the description and 

 synonymy of two distinct species are confounded. Guided by Boie's observa- 

 tions, we had applied tlie name parasitica to the small 'Jager with short tail 

 feathers, proposing to adopt for the one with long tail feathers (the labbe a 

 longe queue of BufFon,) the name Buffoni; but since some English authors,* 

 led into error by our article, have thought that they have discovered in our 

 parasitica a, new species, which they call " Richardsoni,'^ we are obliged to 

 adopt their mistake, sanctioned as it is by several naturalists, and in many 

 collections. Being, then, confident that Lestris Richardsoni is really the same 

 with our L. parasitica, with short tail feathers, ... we adopt here the 

 first of these names for the short-tailed Jiiger, leaving to the long-tailed species 



s 



1863.] 



i. e., Swainson, and others. 



