V0 'S^ VI ] Murdoch, A Historical Notice of Ross s Rosy Gull. 1 49 



exceptions ; the one ... in the Larus sabini . . . ; the other Z. 

 roseus*, in which it is subcuneate, the middle feathers being 

 considerably longer, the rest graduated." Referring to the name 

 L. roseus, a footnote reads, " The name given pro tempore to a 

 new species of Gull, discovered by the last Arctic Expedition, 

 but which is to receive its proper designation from Dr. Richard- 

 son." It is perfectly evident that Macgillivray had not the 

 least intention of giving a permanent name to the species, and 

 that he merely wished to have a convenient designation for 

 the bird under discussion. Nevertheless, under the strict rule 

 of zoological nomenclature, he had ' published ' the species, for 

 he had published a binomial name with an accompanying 

 diagnosis, and nothing that he or any one else might do could 

 ever change it. 



It is said that this premature naming of the species caused 

 considerable bad blood at the time, and indeed Richardson 

 refers to an alleged previous description which he was unable 

 to find, in a somewhat offended tone, but he certainly had no 

 good ground for offense, as Macgillivray's intentions were plainly 

 all right. It was merely a case of playing with edged tools. 

 When Macgillivray himself separated the species generically from 

 Larus under its present name of Rhodostethia, he adopted the 

 specific name of rossii (Manual of British Ornithology, Pt. II, 

 p. 252, 1842), which of course was illegitimate. 



The name as now adopted, Rhodostethia rosea, was first used 

 (without explanation) by Bruch in the 'Journal fii.r Ornithologie,' 

 1853 (p. 106). Bonaparte had used the name Rossia for the 

 genus in 1838 (Comparative List of Birds of Europe and Amer- 

 ica, p. 62), but the name was accompanied by no description, 

 and had moreover been used by Owen in 1835 for a genus of 

 Mollusca. 



So much for the nomenclature of the species. 



Meanwhile, there were no more records of the capture of the 

 bird, although it was the time of the great Arctic expeditions, cul- 

 minating in the great Franklin Search, when hundreds of men 

 were pressing into the Arctic regions. It was seen during 

 Parry's expedition over the ice northward from Spitsbergen in lat. 

 82 north (J. C. Ross, Appendix to Parry's 4th Voyage, p. 195, 



