THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Colli latera parce cano-maculata ; tectrices secimdariae primoribus obscuriores ; 
remiges fusco-atrae, pogoniis internis fere ad apicem albo-marginatis ; rectrices extemae 
fuscae basi apiceque albis ; rostrum subflavum ; pedes nigri. 
Longitude corporis 19 J ; alae a carpo ad remigem primam, 13| ; caudae 6| ; rostri,, 
ad frontem, 2^ ; ad rectum 3^ ; tarsi 1^. 
Another name added simultaneously was Sterna velox, by Cretzschmar in 
Atlas Reise nord. Afr., Riippell, Vol. II., tab. 13, p. 21, for the form inhabiting 
“ Die Kusten des rothen Meeres.” It seemed of interest to find which of 
these names had priority, and there can be no doubt that Stephens’s work 
appeared first. It is quoted 1826, but it would seem to have been published 
in 1825, as it is reviewed in Froriep’s Notizen at the beginning of April, 
1826, and it is quite unlikely that an English work would receive notice at the 
earliest opportunity in that foreign periodical. Although King’s Narrative 
bears the date 1827 on the title-page, investigation by Mr. C. Davies 
Sherborn proved it to have been issued in the middle of April, 1826 ; this 
date is confirmed by a notice of the work in the Dubfin Philos, Journ.y 
No. IV., p. 288, May, 1826. 
Riippell’s Atlas has been generally quoted as 1826, the date it bears on the 
title-page, but here exactly the opposite state of affairs occurs, and once more 
Mr. C. Davies Sherborn merits the thanks of all working-ornithologists for 
the wonderful work he is engaged upon, and especially for his unrivalled skill 
in elucidating the intricate problems surrounding the publications which 
appeared in parts in the beginning of the last century. In this case the part 
including Sterna velox was not published until 1827 ; the other details will later 
be published by Mr. Sherborn himseff, and I have to thank him for his usual 
graceful permission to make use of this instance. 
Lesson, in the Traite d'Orn., p. 621, 1831, named a bird from the Cape, 
Sterna longirostris. As this is the type-locality of Sterna hergii, Lesson’s name 
becomes an absolute synonym. 
In his Synops. Birds Austr., pi. 37, fig. 3, 1837, Gould introduced Sterna 
poliocerca for the Tasmanian form, as follows : — 
Sterna poliocerca fig. 3 : 
St. fronte cinerascenti-albo in nigrum ad occiput margente ; gutture, collo antice 
et postice, corporeque subtus albis ; corpore supra, alis, caudaque cinerascentibus ; rostro 
flavo ; pedibus nigris. 
Long. tot. 17| inc. ; rostri 2f ; alae 12f ; caudae 7 ; tarsi 1. Forehead greyish- 
white, gradually passing into black at the occiput ; throat, back and front of the neck 
and all the imder surface, white ; remainder of the upper surface, wings and tail grey 
bill yellow ; feet black. 
Hab. Van Diemen’s Land. 
In the U.S. Expl. Exp.^ Zool., p. 281, pi. lxxv., fig. 2, 1848, Peale 
proposed Sterna rectirostris for the Fijian form (c/. 2nd ed., p. 384, 1858). 
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