GREEN-BILLED GULL. 581 



coverts of the wings and tail faintly marked with brownish- 

 grey ; the fore part of the back and the scapulars pure grey- 

 ish-blue ; the wing-coverts tinged with brown ; the quills 

 nearly as in the adult, but the outer primaries still without 

 "white at the end ; the upper tail-coverts pure white, and the 

 dark band on the tail reduced to the breadth of an inch and 

 a quarter on the middle feathers, and much less on the lateral. 



Third Year. — In summer, the plumage is as described 

 in the adult at that season. 



Remarks. — This species is nearly allied to Larus zonor- 

 hynchus, an American bird not hitherto observed in Europe, 

 and which has often been confounded with it. As our Larus 

 canus is vulgarly named the Common Gull, and as the 

 American Larus zonorhynchus bears the same name of Com- 

 mon Gull, one or other of these vernacular names must yield 

 in correct nomenclature. Is it not much better at once to 

 call the European bird the Green-billed, and the American 

 the Barred-billed ? Any name is better than " Common " for 

 any bird. 



The species now described, namely, Larus marinus, L. 

 glaucus, L. argentatus, L. leucopterus, L. flavipes, and L. 

 canus, all clearly belong to one and the same group. Al- 

 though they do not differ very much from the other British 

 Gulls, they yet differ fully as obviously as the acknowledged 

 genera of the Sylviinse, Passerinee, Picinee, Turdinge, and 

 many others differ from each other. If we proceed upon the 

 principle of minute subdivision, we must, to be consistent, 

 separate the Gulls into several genera, as well as the Snijoes, 

 or Plovers, which differ as little from each other as they do. 



