142 BIRDS. PALMIPIDES. Sterna. 



yellow. In these different states of plumage, it has been termed Red-legged 

 Gull and Brown-headed Gull — This species leaves Scotland in winter, but 

 remains at that season on the English shores. 



231. L. capistratus. — Head and throat brown: outer quills 

 with white shafts: tarsus lAth inch. 

 Temm. Orn. ii. 785. 



Length 13 T 4 „ inches. Bill and feet reddish-brown ; the former slender. 

 The front brownish-grey ; the nape and fore-neck white. In other respects, 

 and in its winter dress, it is like the black-headed gull. It differs, however, 

 in its diminutive proportions, in the brown tints of the bill and legs ; in the 

 hood not descending to the nape, nor down the upper part of the fore-neck, 

 and in the clear grey of the inner side of the wings. M. Temminck has 

 separated this gull from the preceding, with which it appears to have been 

 hitherto confounded by British naturalists. He states, that it is common in 

 Orkney, and on the cqast of Scotland and England ; but it does not appear to 

 have occurred to any of our native ornithologists. 



STRAGGLERS. 



1. L. atricilla. Laughing Gull. — Mont. Orn. Diet — The author just quo- 

 ted states, that " This species is larger than the black-headed gull ; length 

 18 inches. It differs from that bird only in the legs, which are black ; the 

 bill is, however, stronger, and the head larger." Five birds of this species 

 were observed by Montagu in August 1774, in a pool upon the Shingly Flats, 

 near Winchelsea ; and two others near Hastings, in Sussex. 



2. L. minutus. Little Gull — Temm. Orn. ii. 787 — This species has the 

 shafts of the quills brown, the ends of the feathers white, and the tarsus 

 only 1 inch and 1 line in length. Its diminutive size, (not exceeding 10 in- 

 ches in length), serves to distinguish it from all the other species of this genus. 

 Montagu first described this gull, accompanied by a figure, in the Supp. to 

 the Orn. Diet., from a specimen shot on the Thames near Chelsea, in the col- 

 lection of Mr Plasted-— Mr Neill received another specimen, shot in autumn 

 1824, on the shore of the Solway Frith, which he presented to theEdiuburgh 

 Museum. 



3. L. candidus. Snow-Bird Fab. Fauna, gr. 103 — L. eburneus, Temm. 



Orn. ii. 769 The black feet, contrasted with the white plumage, distinguish 



this species. A solitary individual was killed in Balta Sound, Zetland, 13th 

 December 1822. A description of its appearance was transmitted to the Wer- 

 nerian Society (Wern. Mem. iv. 501.), by Mr Edmonston, whose zeal and 

 success in illustrating the habits of the Zetland birds merit the highest praise. 



Gen. CII. STERNA. Tern. — Bill pointed, with the 

 mandibles equal ; tarsi short. Tail forked. — The sexes 

 are alike in plumage ; but the male is superior in size. 

 All the species leave the country during winter. 



232. S. Boysii. Sandwich Tern. — Tarsus 1^ inch. Bill 

 2 inches, black, with a yellow tip. Wings reach beyond the 

 tail. Feet black. 



Sandwich T., Mont. Supp. Orn. Diet. Bewick's Brit. Birds, ii. 204 — S. 

 cantiaca, Temm. Orn. ii. 735. — On the English coast. 



