588 GAVIA ATRICILLA. 



of white on their tips, as they are represented by M. Tem- 

 minck. 



Male in Summer. — The bill and feet of a brighter tint. 

 The colours of the plumage as in winter ; but the lower parts 

 tinged with rose-colour, and the head, with a portion of the 

 neck all round, deep leaden-grey, darker on the upper part of 

 the head and along the posterior margin, which descends 

 lower anteriorly, or to the extent of two inches and a half 

 from the base of the lower mandible ; on each of the eyelids 

 is a narrow white streak. 



Female in Summer. — Similar to the male. 



Habits. — This species, which properly belongs to Ame- 

 rica, was made known as a visitor to the shores of England 

 by Montagu, who, in his Ornithological Dictionary, has the 

 following statement : — " In the month of August, 1774, we 

 saw five of them together feeding in a pool upon the Shingly 

 Flats, near Winchelsea ; two only were black on the head, 

 the others were mottled all over with brown. One of them 

 was shot; but although the remaining four continued to 

 resort to the same place for some time, the old ones were too 

 shy to be procured. We also saw two others near Hastings, 

 in Sussex. They may easily be known from the Black- 

 headed Gull even flying ; the flight is different ; the bird 

 appears much larger, and the tail shorter in proportion." 

 The specimen obtained is preserved in the British Museum. 

 It does not appear that any other has been obtained in 

 Britain. 



Part of a very extended account of this bird, given by 

 Mr. Audubon, is as follows : — " The Black-headed Gull may 

 be said to be a constant resident along the southern coast of 

 the United States, fi-om South Carohna to the Sabine River ; 

 and I have found it abundant over all that extent, both in 

 winter and in summer, but more especially on the shores 

 and keys of the Floridas, where I found it breeding, as well 

 as on some islands in the Bay of Galveston, in Texas. A 

 very great number of these birds, however, remove, at the 



