THE BIKDS OE AUSTRALIA. 
Since then, various other excuses have been constantly urged against the 
adoption of Lepechin’s name ; but now the claim of priority is being granted 
Lepechin, but so grudgingly. Yet a fair criticism of the facts can yield 
little satisfaction to the upholders of the name given by Pallas. Lepechin’s 
description and figure are good and complete ; indeed, Lepechin’s figure is 
preferable to that of Pallas ; the former’s description I here reproduce, 
especially as it is in a rare journal. To those that have claimed that Lepechin’s 
name should not be given priority because it appeared only 82 pages anterior 
to that given by Pallas, I would point out that Lepechin described and 
exhibited his bird at the meeting held the month previously to that at which 
Pallas showed his bird. Lepechin’s description reads : — 
Lepechin, Nov. Comm. Acad. 8ci. Imp. Petrop., Vol. XIV., pt. i., p. 500, 1770. 
Sterna tschegrava, Tab. XIII., fig. 2. 
Sterna superne ex albo cana, inf erne nivea, capiUitio nigro albedine irrorato, rostro 
coccineo pedibus nigris. 
Longitude totius, 1 ped. 10-|, poll, pars crurum pennis denudata 6 lin reliquus pes cum 
digito et imgue 1 poll, et 11 lin membrana palmarum longior, quae medium eum extimo 
junguit. Alarum extremitates 3 pedum et 2 poUicum interim albo distant. Rectricum 
iongissimae 5 poll et 6 lin adaequant. 
Rostrum coccineum, nares nudae, lineares, sulcatae, oculi nigri iride obscura, frons, 
capillitium, et occiput, intense nigra sunt bine inde albedine irrorata. Oculorum ambitum 
itidem nigredo amplectitur, excepta parva Irmula albicante in palpebra inferiore. Genae, 
collum lateraliter, uropygium utrinque atque tota avis subtus nivea ; supeme vero ex cinereo 
cana. Remiges 6 primores saturate cinereae marginibus apicibusque undique nigricantibus. 
Reliqua remigum cohors dorso concolor est. Cauda forcipata 12 rectricibus niveis constat. 
Pedes omnino nigri. 
Ad mare caspium frequentissima ; voce risum aemulatur. 
“ Exhibit d. 15 Mart. 1770.” 
The forms of this species are not easy to separate, but there can be no 
doubt that subspecies should be recognised. The type-locality is the Caspian 
Sea, and European birds have received names by Meyer and Wolf, and Brehrn, 
viz. S. 7negarJiynchos Meyer and Wolf, Taschenb. d. Vogel, Vol. II., p. 457, 
1810 ; Sterna schillingii Brehm, Beitr Vdgelkunde, Vol. III., p. 641, 1822, and 
Sylochelidon halthica Brehm, Vogel DeutscM., p. 769, 1831. Swainson [Birds 
West Afr., Vol. II., p. 253, 1837) named a bird from West Africa Thalassites 
7 nelanotis, and breeding-colonies are reported on the West coast of Africa, 
for which this name may be used. Series are not yet available from that 
locality to decide the matter, and northern birds are migratory. 
Gould, after due consideration, named the Australian bird, on account 
of its larger size, as follows : — 
Sylochelidon strenuus. Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1846, p. 21. 
Syl. fronte vertice et nucha nitide nigris ; dorso alis caudaque paUide cinereo -griseis ; 
reliquis plumis albis. 
Forehead, crown and nape deep glossy black ; back, wings, and tail pale ashy-grey, 
becoming lighter on the tail and deepening into dark grey on the primaries, the shafts 
336 
