LONGIPEIOTES: GULLS, TERNS, ETC. 



205 



FIG. 210. 



The ordinary Gulls (Zarus, etc.) have the bill wholly 

 horny, compressed, and the upper- mandible longer than 

 the lower, and its tip more or less bent downward. The 

 ordinary Gulls are mainly white with a darker-colored 

 mantle. They vary from twelve to thirty inches in length. 

 They feed upon fishes and upon all other kinds of animal 

 food which they can secure, and they pick up all kinds of 

 food which they find floating upon the water. 



The Terns have the bill rather long, slender, and acute, 

 the mandibles of nearly equal length, the wings extremely 

 long and pointed, the tail generally forked, and the feet 

 very small. They are much 

 more beautiful in their form 

 and more graceful in their move- 

 ments than the Gulls, and they 

 are often called Sea-Swallows. 

 They feed upon fish, which they 

 dart down upon in the water, 

 and upon insects, which they 

 capture on the wing. Most spe- 

 cies of Terns are white, often of 

 a rosy hue below, with a black 

 cap on the head, and with a 

 pearly-colored mantle. Terns 



Vary from eight tO twenty inches Hoseate Tern, Sterna paradisea, 

 . , ^, Brunnich. 



or more in length. 



The Albatrosses and the Petrels have the bill rather 

 long, compressed, and deeply grooved, and appearing 

 as if formed of several distinct parts ; and the nostrils 

 opening from distinct tubes, as already stated. 



The Albatrosses (Diomedeci) have the nostrils placed 

 near the base of the bill, one, nostril on each side, and 

 they have no hind toe. They inhabit the shores and 



