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Show 162 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE LARINEE. [Feb. 5, mind, to prevent confusion, although I have endeavoured to avoid any ambiguity on this point. Genus PAGOPHILA. The short stout bill, coarse rough feet with serrated membranes, much excised webs, and strong curved claws appear to entitle this species to generic separation. The hallux is connected on the inside of the foot by a serrated membrane with the inner toe, a peculiarity which I do not recollect seeing noticed elsewhere. The name has been in use for nearly half a century, and is of general acceptance. 1. PAGOPHILA EBURNEA (Phipps). Larus eburneus, Phipps, Voy. N . Pole, App. p. 187 (1774) ; Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 596 (1788); Scoresbv, Arct. Voy. i. p. 535 (1820) (Spitzbergen); Schl. Mus. P.-Bas, Lari, p. 6 (1863). Larus candidus, Miiller, Prodromus, p. viii. (1776); 0. Fabr. Faun. Green, p. 103(1780). Larus niveus, Bodd. T. des Pl. Enl. p. 58, no. 994 (1783) (nee Pallas). Larus albus, Schaff. Mus. Orn. p. 65, tab. 42 (1789). Gavia eburneus, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 563; Brehm, Vog. Deutsch. p. 765 (1831). Pagophila eburnea, Kaup, Nat. Syst. eur. Th. pp. 69,196 (1829); Gray, Gen. Birds, iii. p. 655 (1849) ; Newton, Ibis, 1865, p. 507 (Spitzbergen, breeding); P. Wright, Ibis, 1866, p. 217 (Polynia Island, breeding); Dresser, B. of Eur. pts. lix. Ix. M a y 1877- Gavia nivea, Brehm, Vog. Deutsch. p. 766 (1831). Cetosparactes eburneus, Macgill. Man. Brit. Orn. pt. ii. p. 252 (1842); Brit. Birds, vol. v. Larus brachytarsus, Holb. Fn. Grcenl. p. 52 (1846). Pagophila eburneus, Bruch, J. f. Orn, 1853, p. 106. Pagophila brachytarsa, Bruch, J. f. Orn. 1853, p. 106 ; Lawr. B. N. A m . p. 856 (1858); vide Reinht. Ibis, 1861, p. 18. Pagophila nivea, Bp. Compt. Rend. xiii. p. 771 (1856); Consp. Av. ii. p. 230 (1857). Larus (Pagophila) eburnea, Coues, B. N.W. A m . p. 648 (1874). Hab. Arctic regions, from Novaya Zemlya to Baffin's Bay, and the eastern portion of Arctic America, but not as yet found in the North Pacific. Straggles down the western coast of Europe and Eastern America in winter. I can see no reason for considering Holboll's L. brachytarsus to be a distinct species. Genus RISSA. The principal characteristic assigned to this genus by Leach is the rudimentary character, or absence, of the hind toe. As this is not always constant, and as certain rare individuals from the North Pacific out of many hundreds, are occasionally to be found with a visible hind claw, and even with a nail, it has been urged by some systematists that it is not a valid genus. The |
