Becent Literature. 141 



concede all that Mr. Saunders claims respecting the shading into one 

 another of several of them, and agree that if we are to take positive struc- 

 tural modification as the only gen us- warrant, the minimum number of 

 five must be accepted. Out of more than Ihirty (!) genera which have 

 been proposed for this remarkably homogeneous and compact group of only 

 about fifty species, Mr. Saunders only allows Sterna, Hydrochelidon, Ncenia, 

 Gygis, and Anons. But it does not follow that a few others, like Haliplana 

 and Sternula, are not at least convenient sections or subgenera to recog- 

 nize in so difficult a group. 



The three new species are S. tibetaria, p. 649 (near longipennis and fluviati- 

 lis), S. eurijgnatha, p. 654. f. 1 (the Atlantic form oielegans), and Gygis micro- 

 rhyncha, p. 668, f. 5 (with a smaller bill than that of G. Candida, and white 

 instead of black shafts of the primaries). The colored plate illustrates the 

 heads of three species of Anous. 



AVant of space alone prevents me from giving, as I should wish to do, 

 an abstract of this valuable paper ; but I must confine myself to such 

 portion as bears upon the species of Terns which occur in North America. 

 According to Mr. Saunders's determinations, our Sternince stand as follows : 



1. Hydrochelidon leucoptera (Meisn. and Schinz). 



.S"^. fissipes and ncevia, Pall. — Hxjd. leucoptera, Boie. — Viralva leucoptera, 

 Steph. — Hyd. nigra. Gray. -^ S. nigra, Schleg. — Hyd. suhleucoptera, C. L. 

 Brehra. — Hyd. juvanica, Swinhoe nee Horsf. 



This is the Old World species that I recently recorded as H. nigra from 

 Wisconsin (B. N. W. 1874, 709). It seems that Gray, and those of us 

 who have followed him, were wrong in identifying it with S. nigra, Linn., 

 the latter being :^ fissipes^ncevia, L. 1766 == lariformis, L. 1758, " as any 

 one who is w-illing to take the trouble of examining the matter for himself 

 will " find out, says the author. 



2. Hydrochelidon nigra (L.). 



SS. nigra (p. 227), ncevia, fissipes (p. 228, 1766), L. — Viralva nigra, Steph. 

 — Lams merulinius. Scop. — • S. surinamensis, Gm. — ^S*. plumhea, Wils. — 

 Hyd. nigra, Boie. — Hyd. fissipes. Gray. — Anous jjlumbea, Steph. — Hyd. 

 plumhea, Lawr. — Pelodes surinamensis. Gray. — Hyd. lariformis, Coues [from 

 S. lariformis, L. 1758]. 



I am glad to find my union of the American bird with the European 

 indorsed by such well-versed authority ; though as to the name, I prefer 

 to take Linnaeus at 1758, as the custom now is this side of the water. 



3. Sterna anglica, Mont. 



S. nilotica, Hasselq. ? (pre-Linnsean). — Gelochelidon nilotica. Gray. — Tha- 

 lasseus anglicus, Boie. — Viralva anglica, Steph. — Laropis anglica, Wagler. — 

 Gelochelidon anglica, Coues. — ^S". aranea, Wils. — GelocTw.lidon aranea. Gray. 

 S. affinis, Horsf. (type examined, H. S.). — Gelochelidon balthica, G. meridi- 

 <mali% Brehm. — S. inacrotarsa, Gould. — GelochelicUni macrotarsa, Gould. 



Since I joined aran-ea to anglica, it has become generally admitted that 



