2. NAME OF THE GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH. — Originally and usually written aurocapillus, which should give way to auricapillus. The word means simply "gold-hair," i. e., "golden-haired." The point is here that the ablative of aurum, gold," which is auro, is only to be used when the word with which it is compounded is an adjective or participial; otherwise auri is the correct form. If we were to employ the participial adjective capillatus, it would be correct to say aurocapillatus, i. e., literally and correctly, "haired with gold," auro being the ablativus instrumenti, that with or by means of which the bird is "haired." So we say rightly aurocristatus, aurostriatus, auropunctatus, crested, streaked, or speckled with gold, (color understood), but auriceps, auricollis, Auriparus, etc. So also, if we were to compound with the adjective aureus, "golden," we should say, e. g., aureicauda, not aureocaudatus. Either aureicapillus or auricapillus is correct, but aurocapillus is not. - It is to be 3. NAME OF THE SMALL-BILLED WATER-THRUSH. noted that Motacilla noveboracensis of Gmelin, 1788, is precisely the same as Motacilla navia of Boddaert, 1783, both being based upon Planche Enluminée 752, fig. 1, which is the Fauvette tachetée de la Louisiane of Buffon, afterward the New York Warbler of Pennant and Latham. G. R. Gray seems to have observed this fact, but neither he nor any other author, according to my recollection, has acted upon the obvious requirement of the case, namely, that we must say Siurus nævius (Bodd.), instead of S. noveboracensis (Gm.). Very curiously, Gmelin in another place made this species out to be a variety of the Cape May Warbler, Perissoglossa tigrina; for, Gmelin's Motacilla tigrina var. B (and so, also, Latham's Sylvia tigrina var. B) is based exclusively upon the Ficedula dominicensis fusca of Brisson, Ornith., iii, 513, which is the Small-billed WaterThrush. Vieillot, in 1807, noticed this curious circumstance, which authors have generally overlooked, and correctly allocated the synonymy. The name navius is unobjectionable, has priority, and must obtain. 4. NAME OF THE LARGE-BILLED WATER-THRUSH. This is properly Siurus motacilla (Vieill.), Bp., for the Turdus motacilla, accurately described and recognizably figured by Vieillot in 1807, is unques reason, common sense certainly tells us to spell correctly if we can. If we are always to preserve the original forms of names, we must, for example, say Scopolax instead of Scolopax it so stands in LINN. Syst. Nat. i, 1766, p. 242. tionably this species. Vieillot knew the other species, which he figured and described in the same work. Bonaparte called it Seiurus motacilla in 1850, though in 1824 he had called the other species Turdus motacilla, and Cabanis, in 1857, Henicocichla motacilla; but writers have usually adopted Audubon's term ludovicianus, proposed in 1832, notwithstanding that this author soon abandoned his species, under the wrong impression it was not different from S. nævius. "Siurus motacilla" is not a very choice name, meaning "wagtailed Wagtail," but it is no worse than Mus musculus, Xanthocephalus icterocephalus, Columba palumbus, Regulus satrapa, and a host of other names, the two terms of which mean the same thing; nor as bad as Sialia sialis, Cupidonia cupido, the sense and sound of which agree. I append the synonymy of the species of this genus, the list of names here to be given being much more accurate, more extensive, and more nearly complete than any hitherto collated: 1. Siurus auricapillus. Motacilla aurocapilla, LINN., Syst. Nat. i, 12th ed. 1766, 334, No. 29 (based on Brisson and Edwards, as below cited). Turdus aurocapillus, LATH., Ind. Orn. i, 1790, 328, No. 6. Sylvia aurocapilla, BONAP., Journ. Philada. Acad. iv, 1824, 35. Seiurus aurocapillus, SWAINS., Philos. Mag. i, 1827, 369; Zool. Journ. iii. 1827, 171. Sciurus aurocapillus, D'ORBIG., Ois. Cuba, 1839, 55. Siurus aurocapillus, SCL. & SALV., Ibis, i, 1859, 9.-A. & E. NEWT., ibid. 142. Enicocichla aurocapilla, "GRAY." (Reference not at hand as I write.) Enicocichla aurocapillus, BREWER, Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. vii, 1860, 306. Henicocichla aurocapillus, CABAN., Mus. Hein. i, 1850, 16. Turdus auricapillus, LICHT., " Preis-Verz. Mex. Vög. 1830, 2"; Journ. f. Accentor auricapillus, RICH., Rep. Brit. Assoc. for 1836, 1837, 172. Henicocichla auricapilla, SCLAT., Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856, 293. Siurus auricapillus, COUES, Birds Colorado Valley, 187-, (MSS. ined.). Turdus citreus, ??? MÜLLER, Syst. Nat. Suppl. 1776, 141 (very problematical). Motacilla canadensis, BODDAERT, Tabl. Pl. Enl. 1783, 24 (in part; the first ref., to P. E. 398, f. 2, and the ref. to Edw. Gl. 252, are to this sp., but the other refs. are to Dendroca coronata). Turdus minimus, BARTR., Trav. Fla., 1st Am. ed. 1791, 290bis (not of Lafr., nor of authors). Turdus coronatus, VIEILL., Ois. Am. Sept. ii, 1807, 8, pl. 64. Anthus coronatus, GERHARDT, Naumannia, iii, 1853, 38. Ficedula pensilvanica aurocapilla, BRISS., Orn. iii, 1760, 504, No. 57. Golden-crowned Thrush, Edw., "Glean. 91, pl. 252." (Not verified by me.) Grivelette de S. Domingue, BUFF., "Hist. Nat. Ois. iii, 317." (Not verified by me.) Petite Grive de St. Domingue, of Planche Enlum. 398, f. 2 (see the citation of Boddaert, above). Grive couronnée, VIEILLOT, op. loc. cit. Land Kick-up, GOSSE, B. Jam. 1847, 152. Golden-crowned Accentor, Golden-crowned Wagtail, Orange-crowned Accentor, Oven-bird, of AUTHORS. 2. Siurus nævius. Motacilla navia, BODD., Tabl. 1783, 47; based on Pl. Enlum. 752, f. 1. Siurus nævius, COUES, Birds Colorado Valley, 187–, (MSS. ined.). Motacilla noveboracensis, GMEL., Syst. Nat. 13th ed. 1788, 958, No. 69 (based primarily on P. E. 752, f. 1 = nævia Bodd.). Sylvia noveboracensis, LATH., Ind. Orn. ii, 1790, 518, No. 33. ....... - A. & E. NEWT., Turdus noveboracensis, . . . . . . . ?— PEABODY, Rep. Orn. Mass. 1839, 306. Henicocichla noveboracensis, CABAN., "Schomb. Guiana, iii, 1848, 66"; Motacilla novæboracensis, TURTON, Syst. Nat., English mal-version, i, 1806, 589. Turdus (Seiurus) novæboracensis, NUTT., Man. 2d ed. i, 1840, 402 (in part; includes another species). Seiurus novæboracensis, . . 1855, 601. ? — PRATTEN, Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. i, Sciurus novæboracensis, PUTNAM, Proc. Essex Inst. i, 1856, 209. Motacilla tigrina var. ß, GM., Syst. Nat. 13th ed. i, 1788, 985, No. 153 B (= Briss. iii, 513, No. 62, pl. 28, f. 5). Motacilla tigrina, 2, TURTON, op. loc. cit. Sylvia tigrina var. ẞ, LATH., Ind. Orn. ii, 1790, 537, No. 110 8 (= Gm. No. 153 B). Motacilla fluviatilis, BARTR., Trav. Fla. 1st Am. ed. 1791, 291. Turdus aquaticus, WILS., Am. Orn. iii, 1811, 66, pl. 23, f. 5. Seiurus aquaticus, Sw. and RICH., Fn. Bor. Am. ii, 1831, 229, pl. 43. Sylvia anthoides, VIEILL., "Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat. 1817, 208." (Not verified by me.) Turdus motacilla, BONAP., Journ. Phila. Acad. iv, 1824, 35 (not of Vieill.). Sciurus tenuirostris, GAMB., Proc. Phila. Acad. i, 1843, 261. Enicocichla sulphurascens, "GRAY.” Seiurus sulphurascens, BONAP., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 306. Henicocichla sulphurascens, GUNDL., Journ. für Orn. 1855, 471. Anthus l'herminieri, LESSON, " Rev. Zoologique 1839, 101." (Not verified by me.) Seiurus gossii, BONAP., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 306. Fauvette tachetée de la Louisiane, BUFF., "Hist. Nat. Ois. v, 161"; Pl. New York Warbler, LATH., Syn. ii, pt. ii, 1783, 436, No. 29 (= Mot. noveboracensis Gm.). Spotted Yellow Warbler, var. A, LATH., Syn. ii, pt. ii, 1783, 483, var. A (= Sylvia tigrina var. B, Lath.). Fauvette brune, V., O. A. S., l. s. c. Bessy Kick-up, River Pink, GOSSE, B. Jam. 1847, 151 (basis of S. gossiï Bp.). Grive de rouisseaux, ou Hochequeue, LE MOINE, Ois. Canad. 1861, 173. Water Thrush, New York Water Thrush, Aquatic Wagtail, Aquatic WoodWagtail, Aquatic Accentor, of AUTHORS. 3. Siurus motacilla. Turdus motacilla, VIEILL., Ois. Am. Sept. ii, 1807, 9, pl. 65 (not of Bp., 1824). Seiurus motacilla, BONAP., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 306. Henicocichla motacilla, CAB., Journ. für Orn. 1857, 240. Siurus motacilla, COUES, Birds Colorado Valley, 187-, (MSS. ined.). Turdus ludovicianus, AUD., Orn. Biog. i, 1832, 99, pl. 19 (afterward merged in S. noveboracensis). Seiurus ludovicianus, BONAP., Comp. Geogr. List. 1838, 21. Siurus ludovicianus, Sclat., P. Z. S. 1859, 363. Sciurus ludovicianus, TRIPPE, Proc. Bost. Soc. xv, 1873, 234. Henicocichla ludoviciana, SCLAT., Cat. Am. B. 1860, 25. Henicocichla major, CABAN., Mus. Hein. i, 1850, 16. Enicocichla major, BREWER, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. vii, 1860, 306. Grive hochequeue, VIEILL., l. s. c. Louisiana or Large-billed Water Thrush, AUTHORS. NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF THE BLACK TERN (HYDROCHELIDON LARIFORMIS) IN MINNESOTA. BY T. S. ROBERTS. THE Black Tern is the most abundant representative of its family in this State, making its appearance in the vicinity of Minneapolis about the middle of May. Stragglers remain until the first week in September, but the majority leave during the latter part of August. For a short time after their arrival they are to be seen flying leisurely around the larger lakes; but as the nesting-season approaches they select some prairie slough or marshy lake, and there spend the greater part of their time until the young are able to fly. Late in May or early in June the nest is built and the eggs are laid, or the eggs are deposited without any nest, as the case may be. Dr. Coues mentions (Birds of the Northwest, 1874) meeting with a colony breeding along the Red River, and states that there were no nests whatever, the eggs being placed on beds of decaying reeds. Such is their habit under some circumstances, but only two instances of the kind have come under my notice as yet. Once, I found three eggs laid directly on the mud on an abandoned, broken-down muskrat house in the midst of a large slough. The same day I found another set of two eggs on a bed formed by the bending over of the tops of some tall dead grass. They were thus raised more than a foot above the water, which was of considerable depth. There was no indication of a nest, the eggs being held in place by resting among the coarse grass. A very interesting and valuable note on this subject occurs in a short article by Dr. P. L. Hatch, published in the Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences for 1876. It is an extract from a letter written by Mr. E. W. Nelson of Chicago, and although the observations were not made in this State, I will introduce them here: "I have seen the eggs of Sterna plumbea deposited on masses of floating weeds in several instances, but only for the third brood, the bird having previously built two nests and deposited the eggs in both, which had been removed by myself to ascertain how many they would lay. The result was almost invariably as follows: first nest, three eggs; second nest, two eggs; and the third, one egg. In |