24 BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALl 



to one pcnus, for which ho adopts the name Stcrcorarius as bc'inf:j the only 

 proper and tenable one. Two of these species, belong to the Southern 

 Henusphcre, the other fonr to the Northern, all of which latter occur in 

 the boreal parts of North America, as well as in the Old Woi-ld. The 

 nomenclature adopted by Mr. Saunders for two of the Nortb..-rn sj)ocie3 

 differs from that commonly employed, Mr. Saunders maintaining, and 

 apparently with good reason, that the Linncean name parasiticus belongs 

 not to tlic bird commonly so called, but to the bird usually called cipphv.s 

 or. buffonL Thus Stcrcorarius crcpidatns Saunders- is the S. parasiticus of 

 Coties and most recent authors, while the iS". parasiticus Saunders is the 

 a. hijfoni of Coiies and others, which is again the S. ccpphv.s of Gray and 

 other Avriterg. 



Mr. Saunders's paper on the Terns (1. c. pp. G38-G72, pi. Ixi) is .similar 

 in character to that' on the Jager or Skau Gulls, treating mainly of no- 

 menclature and distribution, being, like the other, preliminary to a mono- 

 graph of the Laridcc. The genera recognized . are Hydrochclidon, Sterna, 

 Nwnia, Gifjis, .and Anoiis. Of the forty-eight species recognized, thirty- 

 eight are placed under Sterna. The most noteworthy change of names 

 among the North American species is the substitution of the name 

 fMvioAilus of Nauniann for the hitherto almost universally accepted 

 hirundo of Linnceus for our Common Tern, which name he considers as 

 originally embracing both the hirundo and the macrura of recent authors. 

 The Sterna portlandica of Kidgway is referred to S. nuicrura, in accord- 

 ance with Mr. Brewster's views, and the Least Tern is considered as 

 specifically distinct from S. supcrciliaris, of which Dr. Coucs deems it to be 

 merely a variety. In most other cases Mr. Saunders's names as respects 

 the Nortli American .species agree with those recently adopted by Dr. 

 Coues in his " Birds of the Northwest." 



' Messrs. Sclater and Salvin's " llevision of the Neotropical Anatida) " 

 (1. c. pp. 358-412, pi. xxxiv) is a most valuable synopsis of the Ducks 

 and Geese of Middle and Southern America, and embraces also a large 

 proportion of the. species of North America, including as it does all that 

 reach Tropical America in their migrations. The paper includes notices 

 of sixty-two species, of the greater part of whiclrare given short descrij)- 

 tions, accompanied by pretty full lists of bibliographical references. 

 Twenty-three of the species are considered as " Nearclic," leaving thirty- 

 nine as properly " Neotropical." The paper closes with a very convenient 

 Uvbular synopsis of the geographical distribution of the genera and 

 species. — J. A. A. 



Vennor's Rapacious Birds op Canada. —With the title " Our Birds of 

 Prey -, or, The Eagles, Hawks, and Owls of Canada," by Henry G. Vcnnor, 

 Messrs. Dawson Brothers have published an elegant royal octavo volume 

 of one hundred and fifty-four pages, with thirty photographic illustra- 

 tions. While these illustrations are probably as excellent as the photo- 



