364 Stejneger, Atialecta Ornithologica. [October 



Brisson's canadensis or Gmelin's hudsonia. It is an (acciden- 

 tal ?) abbreviation of the original 'Caparacoch,' said to be the name 

 of the bird among the natives of the Hudson's Bay Territory, but 

 not even the most furious purist is expected to request its emen- 

 dation into 'classical' Indian. 



XIV. On Sterna nilotica of Hasselquist. 



In the third volume of "his 'Hand-list of Birds' (1871), p. 119, 

 G. R. Gray enumerates the Gull-billed Tern as Sterna ( Geliche- 

 lidon) nilotica Hasselq.,f giving Montagu's anglica as a syno- 

 nym only. 



The original edition of Hasselquist's 'Iter' was published in 1757, 

 the name thus antedating both the loth and the i3th editions of 

 Linnaei 'Systema Naturalis.' In 1762, however, a German ver- 

 sion was issued, and the names occuring in this edition are, of 

 course, available to ornithologists favoring the loth edition (1758) 

 of Linnaeus as the nomenclatural starting point. As the name 

 is also incorporated in Gmelin's 'Systema' it is moreover accept- 

 able to those author's rejecting names given earlier than 1766. 



It will thus be seen that there is no escape from the name 

 nilotica for either 'school,' provided the description is pertinent. 

 It is true that Mr. Howard Saunders (P. Z. S., 1876, p. 645) 

 says, that "there is nothing in his [Hasselquist's] description to 

 prove that this was the bird referred to" ; but an examination of 

 the literature has convinced me of quite the reverse. 



Having at hand only Latham's and Gmelin's versions of Has- 

 selquist's original description, I shall not go further into detail, 

 but will only ask persons interested in the question to select of 

 their series a specimen of the Gull-billed Tern in winter plumage, 

 in which the black spots on the nape and on the sides of the head 

 are very pronounced, and compare it with the following descrip- 

 tion as given by Latham (Synops. Birds, III, pt. ii, 1785? P* 



356) : 



"8. Egyptian T. Sterna Nilotica, Hasselq. It. p. 373, No. 41. 



Description. Size of a Pz^eo^. Bill black: head and upper part of the 

 neck ash-colour, marked with small blackish spots : round the ejes black, 



t It is a question whether the correct quotation should not be "Linn, in Hasselquist's 

 'Iter,' " as Linnaeus in the preface (German edition, 1762) says that he has himself 

 determined every specimen "according to its kind, adding the names of the animals 

 and plants." 



