LARINiE. RHODOSTETHIA. 
253 
think, been generically distinguished, and most deservedly 
named after Captain James Ross, who has contributed so 
much to our knowledge of the natural productions of those 
desolate regions of the north-west, among which it has been 
his fate to sojourn. But as the generic name Mossia , which 
the Prince of Canino has proposed for it, has been given 
by Mr Owen to a Cephalopodous Molluscum, 1 prefer that 
of Rhodostethia. Body moderate ; neck rather short ; 
head ovate. Bill short, rather slender ; upper mandible 
with the dorsal line straight for half its length, areuato-de- 
curvate toward the end ; lower mandible with the intercrural 
space narrow, the knob slight, the dorsal line concave, the 
tip narrow. Legs short ; tibia bare for a very short space ; 
tarsus rather stout, anteriorly scutellate, rough behind ; first 
toe short, with a large curved claw ; anterior toes moderate, 
with the webs entire ; claws rather large, arched, compress- 
ed, acute. Plumage soft and full ; wings long, rather nar- 
row, pointed ; tail cuneate, of twelve feathers, of which the 
central are much longer than the lateral. Only one species 
is known. 
310. Rhodostethia Rossi. Ross’s Rosy-Gull. 
Wings longer than the tail ; middle tail-feathers exceed- 
ing the lateral by about an inch. In summer, the bill black, 
margins of eyelids reddish-orange ; feet vermilion ; fore-part 
of back, and both surfaces of wings, pale bluish -grey ; outer 
web of first quill blackish-brown ; a narrow ring on the neck, 
and some feathers near the eyes, brownish-black ; the rest 
of the plumage white, but all the lower parts richly tinged 
with rose-colour. 
Adult, 13^, 30, 10^-, |, tit? tW 
This species was first alluded to by myself under the tem- 
porary name of Larus roseus ; then described and figured by 
Sir William Jardine under the same name. Dr Richardson 
named it Larus Rossii, C aneate-tailed Gull, which was its 
first true name, he having been commissioned to describe it. 
I have seen some angry remarks about “subalterns” in mu- 
seums naming objects without being authorized; but I have 
no opportunity at present of referring to them, and would only 
remark that these same subalterns have sometimes had the 
task of affording essential aid to authors, without so much as 
