THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
mon Gelastes gouldi d’aiUeurs inedit, an lieu d’etre plus petit que el jamesoni, 
comme le suppose gratuitement Mr. Bruch, il est plus grand, et se trouve sur 
les cotes septentrionales de la Nouvelle Hollande, tandis que le jamesoni parait 
confine aux cotes meridionales de ce continent.” 
This must be accepted as the first regular introduction of Bonaparte’s 
G. gouldi. In the Consp. Gen. Av., Vol. II., p. 228, 1857, Bonaparte fully 
described the bird as BrucJiigavia gouldi ^ thus : — 
Ex Australia s. praecipue in Fretu Torresiano. Similis G. jamesoni ; sed major. 
Major : albus ; pallio argenteo-griseo ; remigibus nigris, basi et extreme apice albis ; 
primis duabus macula maxima subapicali alba ; cauda Candida ; rostro longulo, parum 
compresso ; palpebris nigro-marginatis. Long. 16 poll. Al. 11^ poll. Gaud. 5 poll. 
Rostr. 2| poll. Tars. 2 poll. 
Included by Gould in his Handh. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 388, 1865, it 
was afterwards recognised by Masters and Ramsay in 1877, the latter noting 
it from Port Darwin and Port Essington ; but the same year Saunders, writing 
on the Laridce {Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1877, p. 799) collected by the 
“ Challenger,” called the bird Larus novce-Jiollandice^ synonymising with it 
L. jamesonii but omitting all mention of L. gouldi Bp., noting : “ No. 131 S : 
132 ? Raine Island, N. Australia. Eyes white ; bill coral, tip darker. Only 
a few about the island.” 
“ From its larger size and the difference in the amount of white on the 
primaries of the adults, this form seems to be fairly separable from 
L. scopulinus of New Zealand, and is undoubtedly distinct from its aUy, 
L. hartlaubi Bruch of the Cape of Good Hope. Specimens from the northern 
portions of Australia are much wanted, and these two examples are, therefore, 
of unusual value.” 
As far as can be judged now, this comparison with L. scopulinus was 
instituted through the action of Schlegel, who in the Mus. Pays-Bas, Vol. VI., 
p. 28, Larus, made the following disposition : “ Larus scopulinus Forster =: 
Larus Jamesonii Wilson = Larus Jamesonii Gould (ex parte) = Larus pomare 
Bruch 1853 = Bruchigavia Jamesonii et pomare Bonaparte, Conspectus ” ; 
and thereunder included specimens from “ Australie meridionale, Rockhampton 
Bay, Tasmanie and Nouvelle Zeelande.” On p. 29 he accepted Larus scopu- 
linus major = Larus scopulinus var. major Forster = Larus pomare Bruch, 
1855 = Bruchigavia gouldii Bonaparte, Conspectus, with a range “ Australie, 
Moreton Bay Australie, NouveUe Caledonie.” Here is a good example of the 
extraordinary results obtained from neglect of geographical distribution when 
criticising closely allied forms. An even more astonishing case is that of the 
subspecies B. n. longirostris Masters, hereafter related. 
460 
