204 



VEKTEliKATA: AVES OR BIRDS. 



birds, as the name indicates. All these have the wings long 

 and pointed, the body well balanced upon the legs, the 

 anterior toes webbed, and the bill furnished with a heavy 

 covering ; and the bill is never lamellate, as in the geese 

 and ducks. 



FIG. 239. 



Herring Gull, Lams aryentatus, Linn. 



Those longipennes whose nostrils are not tubular are 

 called Gulls and Terns, and constitute the family of Lari- 

 dsQ ; those with tubular nostrils are the Albatrosses and 

 Petrels, and constitute the family of Procellaridse. 



Some kinds of gulls have the bill provided with a 

 horny cere, beneath the edges of which the nostrils open ; 

 and they haA^e the tail nearly square. These are the Skua 

 Gulls or Jaegers, which are rapacious in their habits. 

 They belong mainly to the northern regions. 



