262 Bulletin of the British 



EARiiD^, for the Skuas. Besides the well-known cere to the 

 bill, the latter possessed some important distinctive features, 

 which had been overlooked by most naturalists except 

 Dr. E. Coues — e. g. the sternum had only one notch oa each 

 side of the posterior margin; the caeca were much larger 

 than in the Laridse ; and the fully webbed toes were 

 furnished with strong, sharp, hooked claws. 



In his treatment of the subfamily Sterninse Mr. Saunders 

 had felt obliged to admit a few more genera than he did in 

 his revision in the P. Z. S. for 1876. To Hydrochelidon (the 

 Marsh Terns) succeeded Phuethusa (the heavy-billed River 

 Tern of tropical America), Gelochelidon (the Gull-billed 

 Tern), Hydroprogne (the Caspian Tern), ^eena (the Indian 

 River Tern), Sterna (for 33 species, commencing with S. 

 melanog aster, including the Sooty Terns, and ending with 

 S. trudeaui), Nania (for the Inca Tern), Procelsterna (for 

 the two small Grey Noddies), Anous (for the large Noddies), 

 Micranous (for the small Slender-billed Noddies), and Gygis 

 (for the 2 aberrant White Terns) — 11 genera, 51 species. 

 The American Black Tern {Hydrochelidon surinamensis) was 

 admitted to specific rank; Sterna saundersi, Hume, was the 

 proper name for the species provisionally called 8. suniatrana 

 in 1876 ; Sterna lorata was the name for the small Tern from 

 the south-west of America, previously known as S. exilis 

 of Tschudi, the type of S. exilis in the Neuchatel Museum 

 having proved to be H. surinamensis. 



In the subfamily Rhynchopinse — with only one genus, 

 Bhynchops — five species were admitted. Three of these were 

 found in America, one in Africa, and one in India. That the 

 species found in Africa was far closer to the south-east 

 American species than it is to the Indian would excite no 

 surprise. 



The subfamily Larinse contained 7 genera : — Xema, for 2 

 species of Fork-tailed Gulls ; Rhodostethia, for 1 species of 

 Wedge-tailed Gull ; Larus (44 species) ; Gabianus, for the 

 large Australiau Gull, G. pacificus, with a very deep bill ; 

 Leucophceus, for L. scoresbii ; Pagophila, for the Ivory Gull j 

 and Rissa, for the two species of Kittiwake. 



