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Show 318 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERCORARIIN^. [Mar. 21, for recapitulating these axioms is, that in consequence of them it necessary to reject several names given by Briinnich in his 'Orni-thologia Borealis,' 176-4, which antedates our starting-point by two years-a fact of which some ornithologists, who have probably not examined the date of publication, do not seem to be aware. Under these circumstances,, it is needless to discuss the subgenus Buphagus of Moehring (1752) ; nor do there appear to be any sufficient structural differences to warrant the generic separation of the Great Skuas from the other species, the Pomatorhine Skua forming such a connecting link between the heavy and the elegant forms as to preclude any consistent separation, uidess Reichenbach's genus Coprotheres be also accepted for the Pomatorhine. For myself 1 prefer to retain all the known species of Skua in the same genus, viz. Stercorarius of Brisson (1760), the type of which is the species whose rightful name is, in my opinion, Stercorarius crepidatus (Gm.), but which I will for the present, to avoid any ambiguity, distinguish by the vernacular name of Bichardson s Skua. I am, of course, aware that this name was originally applied solely to a dark form of a well-known species; but it has since been generally adopted; and as having been applied to no other, its use precludes the possibility of a misunderstanding. The genera are as follows :- Larus (part), Linnaeus, 1766. L. calarractes=Great Skua, L. parasiticus= Long-tailed or Buffon's Skua. Stercorarius, Brisson, 1760. Type"Lestercoraire" = S.cre/*2c*'«^.s (Richardson's Skua). Labbus, Rafinesque, 1815; Predatrix, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816. Based on "le Labbe," of Buffon, which is Bichardson's Skua. Lestris, Illiger, Prod. 1811. " L. parasiticus, L. crepidatus, L. cathai'ractesi' Oceanus, Koch, 1816. " O. parasiticus. O. crepitatus" (sic). Cataractes, Fleming, Phil. Zool. 1822. " Cataractes vulgarisi' Coprotheres, Reichenbach, 1852. S. pomatorhinus. Megalestris, Bonap. 1856. S. catarrhactes, S. antarcticus. The geneiic name, variously spelt Cataractes, Cataracta, or Ca-tarracta, the two latter adopted by Retzius and Leach from Briinnich, had been previously applied to a subgenus of the Uriina ; and under the name of Catarrhactes antiquus, Prof. Marsh has described some bones found in the Tertiary deposits of N. Carolina (Am. J. Sc. 1870, p. 213). I mention this because these applications of generic names to widely different birds are very confusing, and might lead to the supposition that the fossil remains of a Skua had been discovered. Those who persist in separating the Skuas must therefore adopt Megalestris for the large forms, as the small pointed-tailed species are the types of all the other genera. It is certainly unfortunate that the earliest available name Stercorarius tends to perpetuate a popular fallacy, although one of universal distribution ; but a precisely parallel case occurs in the signification of the word Caprimulgus, and other instances might be adduced. Uliger's generic name Lestris |
