244 General Notes. 



if any such there were, nor can it be positively stated that any others were 

 seen, the Royal Tern being sufficiently near the present species in size to 

 render discrimination between them at a distance very uncertain. 



A hollow scratched in the dry sand, and without trace of lining, precisely 

 as in the case of the Skimmers' nests close by, held the young, and, when 

 the spot was first approached by our boatman, the female darted close 

 down upon him with such unmistakably hostile intentions that he had re- 

 course to his gun to ward her off. 



A description of the downy young, which have hitherto not been noticed, 

 is appended : Color above grayish-white, each down tuft on the rump and 

 back with blackish tips, under parts pure white, except the jugular region, 

 which is overspread with dusky. A peculiarity of coloration is seen in 

 the uniformly light colors, the back and rump being only faintly mottled 

 with black, which is not aggregated into patches as in the young of nearly 

 all the family. Probably the same will be found to be the case in the same 

 stage of the Royal Tern, which appears not to be known. — H. W. Hen- 

 SHAW, Washington, D. C. 



Note on Alle nigricans. Link. — In looking over Link's Descrip- 

 tion of the Museum of the Rostock University,* — a book so rare that only 

 four copies are known to be extant, — I find, on p. 1 7 of Abth. I, the above 

 name, which requires attention. It is, in fact, a new genus and species, 

 based on Alca aUe, Linn., and set forth in due form. Now Mergidus, the 

 current name of the genus, is a very old word, having come down to us from 

 the pre-Linnaean fathers; but one which was never used in the sense of a 

 modern genus by a binomenclator until so employed by Vieillot in 1816. 

 Consequently AUe, Link, 1806, antedates Mergulus, and must be employed 

 for the genus, unless we are to accept Arctica of Moehring, 1752, which 

 few of us seem disposed to follow Gray in doing. As to the specific name, 

 there are three to choose from. We may say Alle Candida after Briinnich, 

 1764, but this name is scarcely applicable, as it was based upon an entirely 

 white specimen, probably an albino, and misleads as to the character of 

 the bird ; moreover, it conflicts with a Linnaean name, and would therefore 

 be thrown out by most systematists. We may say Alle alle, after Lin- 

 naeus, but this duplication of generic and specific terms is objectionable, 

 and now rarely practised. The alternative is Alle nigricans. Link ; and 

 this would appear to be the tenable name of the bird in question, accord- 

 ing to recognized rules of nomenclature. — Elliott Coues, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



* Beschreibuiig der Naturalien-Sammlung der Universitat zu Rostock. 

 Erste [sechste] Abtheilung. Von D. H. F. Link. Rostock, Adlers Erben, 1806 

 -1808. 1 vol., sm. Svo. (Vogel, pp. 17-50 of Abtheilung I, 1806.) 



