244 
General Notes. 
if any such there were, nor can it be positively stated that any others were 
seen, the Royal Tern being sufficiently near the present species in size to 
render discrimination between them at a distance very uncertain. 
A hollow scratched in the dry sand, and without trace of lining, precisely 
as in the case of the Skimmers’ nests close by, held the young, and, when 
the spot was first approached by our boatman, the female darted close 
down upon him with such unmistakably hostile intentions that he had re- 
course to his gun to ward her off. 
<D 
A description of the downy young, which have hitherto not been noticed, 
is appended : Color above grayish-white, each down tuft on the rump and 
back with blackish tips, under parts pure white, except the jugular region, 
which is overspread with dusky. A peculiarity of coloration is seen in 
the uniformly light colors, the back and rump being only faintly mottled 
with black, which is not aggregated into patches as in the young of nearly 
all the family. Probably the same will be found to be the case in the same 
stage of the Royal Tern, which appears not to be known. — H. W. Hen- 
shaw, Washington, D. C. 
Note on Alle nigricans, Link. — In looking over Link’s Descrip- 
tion of the Museum of the Rostock University,* — a book so rare that only 
four copies are known to be extant, — I find, on p. 1 7 of Abth. I, the above 
name, which requires attention. It is, in fact, a new genus and species, 
based on Alca alle , Linn., and set forth in due form. Now Mergulus , the 
current ngme of the genus, is a very old word, having come down to us from 
the pre-Linnaean fathers; but one which was never used in the sense of a 
modern genus by a binomenclator until so employed by Vieillot in 1816. 
Consequently A lle , Link, 1806, antedates Mergulus , and must be employed 
for the genus, unless we are to accept Arctica of Moehring, 1752, which 
few of us seem disposed to follow Gray in doing. As to the specific name, 
there are three to choose from. We may say Alle Candida after Briinnich, 
1764, but this name is scarcely applicable, as it was based upon an entirely 
white specimen, probably an albino, and misleads as to the character of 
the bird ; moreover, it conflicts with a Linnsean name, and would therefore 
be thrown out by most systematists. We may say Alle alle, after Lin- 
nteus, but this duplication of generic and specific terms is objectionable, 
and now rarely practised. The alternative is Alle nigricans. Link ; and 
this would appear to be the tenable name of the bird in question, accord- 
ing to recognized rules of nomenclature. — Elliott Coues, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 
* Beschreibung der Naturalieii-Sammlung der Universitat zu Rostock. 
Erste [sechste] Abtheilung. Yon D. H. F. Link. Rostock, Adlers Erben, 1806 
-1808. 1 vol., sm. 8vo. (Vogel, pp. 17-50 of Abtheilung I, 1806.) 
