Vol. XXI 

 iyo4 



J BuTURLiN, Correct Name of the Pacific Dunlin. C I 



of the U. 8. National Museum, Washington, 1 received afterwards 

 {in litt.) a copy of Vieillot's description. As the work is rare; it 

 is better to quote full}'. 



"La Becassine sakhaline, Scolopax sak/ialina, Vieill., (pi. 85 

 d'un ouvrage russe publie par Sakhalin), se trouve en Russie. 

 Elle a le dessus de la tete, du cou, des ailes et de la queue d'un 

 fauve rougetltre varie d'un grand nombre de taches brunes ; le 

 tour du bee et la gorge blancs et bruns ; la poitrine de cette der- 

 niere couleur, mais uniforme ; les cotds du ventre, les plumes de 

 I'anus et le bord des grandes pennes alaires blancs ; le bee et les 

 pieds bruns." (Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Ill, 18 16, 



P- 359-) 



"Breast uniformly brown" cannot possibly be intended for a 

 Fantail Snipe {GaH. gal/ifiago Linn, or subsp.), and is a gross 

 exaggeration even for a Solitary Snipe {G. solitaria Hodgs. et. 

 subsp.). Amongst Palcearctic waders only to the Dunlin {Tringa 

 or Pelidna alpina Linn, et subsp.) the above description applies 

 better. The including of the Dunlin in one genus with snipes is 

 not to be wondered at, as Pallas (Zoogr., 181 1, II, p. 176) did 

 the same. 



Vieillot's description, however, is none too good, though plainly 

 referable to the Dunlin ; so it was necessary to inquire the source 

 of his information, " un ouvrage russe publie par Sakhalin." 

 Scientific books of Natural History or Travel previous to 181 6 

 (date of Vieillot's work) were rarely published in tlie Russian 

 language, but I tried in vain to trace Mr. Sakhalin, a name of a 

 Russian writer or artist quite as unknown to my friends as to 

 myself. 



At last I thought of Gray's splendid work, and my friend 

 M. N. Michaylowsky has sent me the following quotation (from 

 St. Petersb. Akad. Library) from Gray's Gen. Birds, III, 1849, p. 

 283. " ? 25. G. sakhalina (Vieill.) N. Diet. d'Hist Nat. iii, 359, 

 Krust. Voy. t. 86." 



Here Vieillot's somewhat vague original quotation of a " Russian 

 work by Mr. Sakhalin " is rendered quite clear, as the name of 

 the gallant Captain Krusenstern, first Russian circumnavigator of 

 the Globe, is well known to all interesting themselves in Natural 

 Science. The copies of the original (Russian) edition of his 



