2062 Birds. 



Ringed Guillemot (Uria lachrymans) and eggs. Borvera, June 15. 



Black Guillemot {Uria grylle). Scalpa, May 31. 



Puffin (Alca arctica) and eggs. St. Kilda, Borrera, June 15. 



Razor-bill (Alca torda) and eggs. St. Kilda, Borrera, June 15. 



Common Cormorant (Phalacrocorax cristatus) and eggs. St. Kilda, June 15. 



Green Cormorant (Phalacrocorax graculus) and eggs. St. Kilda, June 15. 



Gannet (Sula Bassana) and eggs. Borrera, June 15. 



Common Tern (Sterna hirundo). Sound of Harris, June 2. 



Arctic Tern {Sterna arctica) and eggs. Sound of Harris, June 7. 



Kittiwake (Larus tridactylus) and eggs. Borrera, St. Kilda, June 15. 



Common Gull (Larus canus) and eggs. Borrera, St. Kilda, June 15. 



Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus). Lewis, Sound of Harris, St. Kilda, 

 June 1 to 16. 



Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) and eggs. Borrera, St. Kilda, June 15. 



Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) and eggs. Lewis, Sound of Harris, 

 St. Kilda, June 1 to 16. 



Shearwater (Puffinus anglorum) and eggs. Soa, June 15. 



Fulmar Petrel (Procellaria glacialis) and eggs. St. Kilda, Borrera, Dun, June 15. 



Fork-tailed Petrel (Procellaria Leachii) and eggs. Dun, Soa, Borrera, June 15. 



Stormy Petrel (Procellaria pelagica) and eggs. Soa, Borrera, June 15. 



W. M. E. MlLNER. 



Nunappleton, Tadcaster, 

 February 20, 1848. 



A few Words on the subject of Nomenclature in Ornithology. — In thanking you for 

 the ' List of British Ornithology,' which you so obligingly sent me, allow me to say a 

 few words on the subject of nomenclature in general, and if you think them worthy of 

 the pages of the * Zoologist,' pray insert them there. I have no doubt that the 

 list you have compiled is one of the best ever put forth, but I think many of the names 

 of the birds in it might be improved. Considerable you may think it to be, but I en- 

 tertain a hope of one day seeing such a specific name applied to each bird, as at once 

 to distinguish it even from those most nearly allied to it. I hope to see the specific 

 name of the bird taken from some well-known habit, or some peculiarity of formation 

 or plumage. The same remark applies to every branch of Natural History. The 

 contributors to the • Zoologist ' profess especially to take Gilbert White as their au- 

 thority in all relating to Natural History ; how then do they, among other naturalists, 

 observe his suggestions with reference to the two species of Mammalia he discovered ? 

 It is almost needless to say, not at all. Of the first, his bat, he says, the " large spe- 

 cies of bat which I call Vespertilio altivolans, from its manner of feeding high in the 

 air." * Of the other, his mouse, he says, " Linnaeus, perhaps, would call the species 

 Mus minimus." f The first of these names is positively given, the second suggested, 

 but in such a way as at once to show what the wish of the author was on the subject. 



* Letter xlvi. (Pennant). f Letter xv. (Pennant). 



