BllOWN-HOODED MEW. G03 



head and the nape are pale brown, a line from near the bill 

 to above the eye, and the ear- coverts white ; the upper parts 

 are brown, variegated with brownish-white, the margins of 

 the feathers being of the latter colour. The secondary wing- 

 coverts are grey ; the quills have their outer webs and tips 

 brownish-black, their inner webs white, of which colour are 

 the edge of the wing and some of the primary coverts. The 

 rump and tail are white, the latter with a broad band of 

 black at the end. The lower parts are greyish-white. 



First Winter. — Bill flesh-coloured, brownish-black at 

 the end; feet flesh-coloured, claws dusky. Upper part of 

 the head greyish -white, the feathers dark grey at the base ; 

 fore part and sides white ; a small black crescent before the 

 eye, and a blackish-gi*ey patch behind it ; the hind neck 

 greyish-Avhite ; the back, scapulars, and secondary coverts 

 pale bluish-grey ; the smaller wing-coverts partly of the same 

 colour, but most of them brown toward the end, and termi- 

 nally margined with light grey. Some of the primary coverts 

 are white, but the outer is dusky, and the next has its 

 outer web of that colour. The first primary quill has the 

 whole outer web, the tip, and a narrow band on the inner 

 margin black, the rest white ; the second, third, and fourth 

 white, with a large portion of the outer web toward the end, 

 the tip, and an inner band black, on the rest the black gra- 

 dually diminishes, the inner webs are gi"ey, the outer tinged 

 with the same, and the tips greyish- white to a small extent ; 

 the secondaries light bluish-grey, with a patch of dusky- 

 brown on the outer web toward the end ; some of the inner, 

 however, are still brown. The rump and tail white, the latter 

 with a terminal brownish-black band, broader on the middle 

 feathers, on the outer reduced to a slight mark. The lower 

 parts are white ; most of the lower wing-coverts pale bluish- 

 grey. 



Second Summer. — When a year old, the bill and feet are 

 pale brownish-red ; the head brownish-grey, space about the 

 eye white, unless anteriorly ; back and wing-coverts as in 

 the adult ; but the quills and tail-feathers remain as in the 



