Bibliographical Notices. 461 



Audubon considers to be most frequently three in number ; he has 

 experienced and confirms the speed and excellence of their diving 

 and progressing under water, and acknowledges himself " outdone 

 by a loon." We consider that this bird, if unhurt, can beat any 

 oared boat without rising from the waters. 



Common Tern, Sterna Hirundo. " Although the Prince of Mu- 

 signano states that the bird named the Common Tern in America 

 differs from that bearing the same name in Europe, and has, in con- 

 sequence, changed its appellation to that of WUson's Tern, I am of 

 opinion that no difference exists between the Terns of the two con- 

 tinents." If we have read the prince's works aright, we think this 

 is not the case. Thfe prince, in his observations on Wilson's no- 

 menclature, considers the European and American species identical ; 

 in the ' Osservazione suUa seconda edizione del Regno Animale,' 

 Wilson's plate only is said to be quoted as referring to another spe- 

 cies, the St. Wilsoni, Bonap.; and in the latest work, ' Comparative 

 List of the Birds of Europe and North America,' published in 1838, 

 St. Hirundo, Arctica and DongaUii are all given as common to both 

 continents, while St. Wilsoni (the St. Hirundo, Wilson, not Lin- 

 naeus,) is marked as American only, and St. minuta is represented 

 by St. argentea, Nuttal. This seems the real state of the species, 

 and Mr. Audubon has taken unnecessary trouble in making compa- 

 risons for this purpose, though they may be of use in teaching us 

 the range of variations to which species may be subject. 



Spotted Sandpiper, Totanus Macularia, occurred abundantly from. 

 Texas to the shores of Labrador, breeding and rearing their young 

 in the whole range. This species seems to be more careful than 

 usual in the building and selecting a station for the nest : in an 

 island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, they were placed among the tall 

 slender grass ; and in Labrador they were concealed under ledges of 

 rocks extending several feet over them, were made of dry moss from 

 six to nine inches high, and well finished with slender grasses and 

 feathers of the Eider Duck. 



Long-tailed Duck, Harelda glacialis. Ranges as far south as 

 Texas and the mouth of the Columbia river, and breeds by the fresh- 

 water lakes on the coast of Labrador. The nests were placed under 

 bushes eight or nine feet from the edge of the water, and were 

 formed of rather coarse grass, with a layer of finer weeds, covered 

 with the down of the birds. 



The Knot, Tringa cinerea. Found ranging along the coast far 

 south, but was unsuccessful in finding its breeding stations, which 

 seem yet among the desiderata of the European ornithologist. Cer- 



