318 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERCORARIIN-iE. [Mar. 21, 



for recapitulating these axioms is, that in consequence of them it is 

 necessary to reject several names given by Briinnich in his 'Orni- 

 thologia Borealis,' 1704, which antedates our starting-point by 

 two years — a fact of which some ornithologists, who have probably 

 not examined the date of publication, do not seem to be aware. 

 Under these circumstances, it is needless to discuss the subgenus 

 Buphagiis of Moehring ( 1/52) ; nor do there appear to be any suffi- 

 cient structural differences to warrant the generic separation of the 

 Great Skuas from the other species, the Pomatorhine Skua forming 

 such a connecting link between the heavy and the elegant forms as 

 to preclude any consistent separation, unless Reichenbach's genus 

 Coprotheres be also accepted for the Pomatorhine. For myself 1 

 prefer to retain all the known species of Skua in the same genus, 

 viz. Stercorarius of Brisson (17G0), the type of which is the species 

 whose rightful name is, in my opinion, Stercorarivs crepidatus 

 (Gm.), but which I will for the present, to avoid any ambiguity, 

 distinguish bv the vernacular name of Richardson s Skua. I am, of 

 course, aware that this name was originally applied solely to a 

 dark form of a well-known species ; but it has since been generally 

 adopted ; and as having been applied to no other, its use precludes 

 the possibility of a misunderstanding. 



The genera are as follows : — 



Laws (part), Linnaeus, 1766. L. caiarraefes=Great Skua, L. 

 parasiticus^ Long-tailed or Buffon's Skua. 



Stercorarius, Brisson, 1760. Type"Lestercoraire" = iS'. crepidatus 

 (Richardson's Skua). 



Labbus, Rafinesque, 1815 •, Predatrix, Vieillot, Analyse, 181 6. 

 Based on "le Labbe," of Buflfon, which is Richardson s Skua. 



Lestris, Uliger, Prod. 1811. " L. parasiticus, L. crepidatus, L. 

 catharractes.'''' 



Oceanus, Koch, 1816. " O. parasiticus, O. crept tatus" (sic). 



Cataractes, Fleming, Phil. Zool. 1822. " Cataractes vulgaris" 



Coprotheres, Reichenbach, 1852. S. pomatorhinus. 



Megalestris, Bonap. 1856. S. catarrhactes, S. antarcticits. 



The genetic name, variously spelt Cataractes, Cataracta, or Ca- 

 tarracta, the two latter adopted by Retzius and Leach from Briinnich^ 

 had been previously applied to a subgenus of the Uriinee ; and under 

 the name of Catarrhactes antiquus, Prof. Marsh has described some 

 bones found in the Tertiary deposits of N. Carolina (Am. J. Sc. 

 1870, p. 213). I mention this because these applications of generic 

 names to widely different birds are very confusing, and might lead to 

 the supposition that the fossil remains of a Skua had been discovered. 

 Those who persist in separating the Skuas must therefore adopt 

 Megalestris for the large forms, as the small pointed -tailed species 

 are the types of all the other genera. It is certainly unfortunate 

 that the earliest available name Stercorarius tends to perpetuate a 

 popular fallacy, although one of universal distribution ; but a pre- 

 cisely parallel case occurs in the signification of the word Caprimulgtts, 

 and other instances might be adduced. Illiger's generic name Lestris 



