Vol. XXIX1 



1912 



J Rhoads, Ornithological Publications of C. S. Rafinesque. 195 



Hirundo alhifroyis. Say described it in 1823 in the Narrative of 

 Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, under the name 

 "Hirundo lunifrons," at least a year later than our Kentucky 

 author's description, as above. It is amusing to read Dr. Elliott 

 Coues' history of the discovery and naming of this species on pages 

 428-429 of that masterpiece of his, the " Birds of the Colorado 

 Valley." Had he known then of Rafinesque's name for it, we 

 would perhaps have had one more of those epigrammatic para- 

 graphs in which he would have depicted how that eccentric 

 naturalist had stolen the march on all his distinguished contem- 

 poraries by a little squib in the Kentucky Gazette. In this con- 

 nection let us observe that its discoverer names Newport, Ky. as 

 a locality for this species. This town was directly opposite Cincin- 

 nati, where Audubon, in 1818, was mounting birds for the Natural 

 History Museum, and it is not unlikely that one of Audubon's 

 specimens was Rafinesque's type! 

 The second article is as follows: 



"Kentucky Gazette. 

 No. 8. Vol. I. Lexington, K. Thursday Morning, February 21, 



1822. 

 Page 3, Col. 5. 



For the Kentucky Gazette. 



The Cosmonist — No. IV. 



By winter's gales and stormy winds impell'd, 

 They leave the briny waves and stray beyond 

 Their usual haunts, in search of climes unknown. 



On the Wandering Sea-birds of the Western States. 



Extensive tribes of Birds dwell on the Ocean; they have been 

 met one thousand miles from any land; they fly and skip over the 

 waves, swim and dive in search of food, repose and even sleep on 

 the water; they often defy the storms, and come near the shores 

 merely when the need of laying their eggs compels them to seek 

 convenient places and shelters. 



The Sea-birds very seldom wander in the continents, and far 

 from their usual element and food, which consists in fishes, sea- 

 animals and sea-weeds. It was therefore with some astonishment 



