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 bo Loomis, Procellaria alba Gmelin. [jan. The species concerned are among our commonest everyday winter birds. Verification of this explanation, or the refutation of it, should be easy to secure on the part of persons who are interested in the natural history of living birds; for there are many such nowadays, in excellent position to make accurate observations, and to make from these valid inductions. Museum Vert. Zool., Berkeley, Calif. ON PROCELLARIA ALBA GMELIN. BY LEVERETT MILLS LOOMIS. The technical name Procellaria alba has long been a stumbling- block in the way of nomenclators. It was proposed by Gmelin in 1789 in Volume I, Part II (p. 565) of his edition of Linnoeus's 'Systema Natura?.' The following is Gmelin' s description: "Pr. ex fusco nigra, guise area, pectore, abdomine et crisso albis, rectrici- bus [tectricibus] caudsc inferioribus ex cinereo et albo mistis. White-breasted Petrel. Lath. Syn. III. 2. p. 400. n. 6. Habitat in insults Turturum et nativitatis Christi, 16, pollices longa. Rostrum nigrum; cauda rotundata; pedes ex atro fusci; digiti anteriore dimidia sui parte cum membrana connectente nigri." From the above, it is apparent that Gmelin based his Procellaria alba upon Latham's White-breasted Petrel, the description of which reads as follows: "Length sixteen inches. Bill an inch and a half long, hooked at the tip, and black: the head, neck, and upper parts of the body, dusky brown, nearly black: on the threat a whitish patch: breast, belly, and vent, white: under tail coverts cinereous and white mixed: tail rounded at the end: legs black brown: the fore part of the toes half way black; the outside of the exterior tee the same for the whole length: webs black: spur behind blunt. Inhabits Turtle and Christmas Islands. In the collection of Sir Joseph Bayiks." 1 1 General Synopsis of Birds, Vol. Ill, Pt. 2, 17S5, p. 400.