186 Recent Literature. 



bohm and Harvie Brown now show that its true habitat, in the breeding 

 season, is in Northeastern Europe, on the Petchora. Specimens in an im- 

 mature plumage had previously been taken on the Red Sea and in India, 

 and also one from Novaya Zemlia. It is known only as a straggler to 

 North America. 



The only generic names retained by Mr. Saunders are Larus, Xema, 

 Rissa, Pagophila, and Ehodostethia. To Pagophila he assigns but a single 

 species, regarding brachytarsus as only a synonym ; to Rissa two, treating 

 kotzebui as only a form of tridactyla; to Larus forty-three species ; to 

 Xema two, sabinii and furcatum ; and to Rhodostethia one. Although the 

 absence of a hind toe has been regarded as the principal characteristic of 

 the genus Rissa, and this feature is now known not to be a constant pecu- 

 liarity, Mr. Saunders retains it as valid on account of other structural 

 characteristics : these are the remarkably short tarsus, its forked tail, and 

 the peculiar livery of the immature bird, besides its exclusively crag-nest- 

 ing habits. 



Larus hutchinsii Mr. Saunders considers to be an immature L. glaucus 

 in that very brief stage where the mottled brown of the immature plumage 

 has passed away and the pearl-gray mantle has not begun to appear, — a 

 stage so short that but few specimens are recorded in this condition, though 

 it is not uncommon in captivity. 



Larus glaucescens is treated as a valid species, synonymous with glaucop- 

 terus of Kittlitz and with chalcopterus of Lawrence. Its relationship to 

 glaucus is shown by its changes of plumage to be closer than to argentatus, 



Larus occidentalis is regarded as " a very recognizable form and fully 

 deserving of consideration as a species," L. affinis being its nearest ally. 

 Although compared with L. fuscus, it is more closely related to the Her- 

 ring-Gull group in its larger size, stout bill, and large feet. 



Larus californicus of Lawrence was first described by Pallas as 

 Larus niveus, but the latter name "is not available, having been previ- 

 ously employed by Boddaert for P. eburnea." This species occurs on the 

 Japan coast, crossing the North Pacific, corresponds with the nivms of Pallas, 

 and there is little doubt of its identity. The figure given bj^ Pallas is said 

 to be a perfect portrait of a specimen recently sent from the Smithsonian 

 to Mr. Saunders. Mr. Saunders also shows conclusively that this species 

 cannot be the L. argentatoides of Bonaparte's " Synopsis," for that is spoken 

 of as " common near New York and Philadelphia," and as occurring " on 

 the southern coasts of England," while the description and measurements 

 suit delatvarensis. Neither can L. argentatoides of Richardson be identical 

 with L. californicus, for reasons equally conclusive. 



Larus delaivarensis is held to be the argentatoides of Bonaparte {nee 

 Brehm). An immature specimen of this bird is recorded as from Hako- 

 dadi, Japan. 



Larus brachyrhynchus, synonymous with suclieyi and septentrional's, is 

 regarded as an entirely distinct species from canus. In all the specimens 



