Rotation and kinematics of the premain-sequence stars in Taurus-Auriga with Ca II emission

Radial velocities and v sin i values for the stars in the Taurus-Auriga region that were found to have strong Ca II H and K emission by Herbig, Vrba, and Rydgren 'HVR', (1986) are reported. Most of the velocities are determined to better than 2 km/s precision. The kinematic properties of the Ca II emission stars with strong Li are found to be indistinguishable from conventional T Tauris in Taurus-Auriga, contrary to HVR. These Li-rich stars also rotate like T Tauris. Most of the stars that lack Li are probable or possible members of the Hyades, in the foreground, and are among the brightest and most active stars in that cluster for their spectral types. It is suggested following Jones and Herbig (1979), that the apparent absence of low-mass stars older than 10 Myr in Taurus-Auriga is real, and is due to the finite lifetime of the cloud.