RHODOSTETHIA ROSEA, WEDGE-TAILED GULL. 659 



'7 



■space ; tarsus rather stout, anteriorly scntellate, rough behiud ; first toe short, with a 

 large curved claw ; auterior toes moderate, with their welw entire ; claws rather large, 

 arched, conii)ressed, acute ; plumage soft and full ; wings long, rather narrow, ])oiuted ; 

 tail cuueate, of twelve feathers, of which the central are rnucH larger than the lateral." 



Never having seen a specimen of the type of this genus, I have borrowed my diag- 

 nosis from Macgillivray. Its essential character lies in the cuneatc tail, which is a pe- 

 culiarity not shared by any other sjiccies of the subfamily. The pattern of coloration 

 too is peculiar. 



The type of the genus was first named under, and for some years referred to, the 

 genus Lurus. In 1838 Bonaparte first separated it geuerically under the name of Bossia. 

 This name, however, had previously been applied by Prof. Owen to a gtnus of cepha- 

 lopods. Ehodosiethia of Macgillivray is based ujion the same type, and is the proper 

 name to be employed. The only known species of the genus is an inhabitant of the 

 arctic regions of North America, and corresponding latitudes in the Old World. 



KHODOSTETHIA ROSEA, Macgil. 



Wedge-tailed Gull. 



Larus roseus, Macgil., Mem. AVern. Soc. v, 1824, 249.--Jai;d. & Selby, 111. Br. Oru. 1838, 



pi. 14.— Kkys. Sc Blas., Wirb. Eur. 1840, 95. 

 Eossia rosea, Bp., List, 1838, 62. 

 Ehodosteihla roaea, "Br." (.'Naum. 1854, 212: ? Rev. Zool. Gner. 1ST)5, 278).— Bruch, 



J. f. O. 18.53, 106.— Brncii, J. f. O. 1855, 278.— Bp., Consp. ii, 18.56, 230.— 



Lawr., B. N. a. 1858, 856.— CouKS, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1862, 311 ; Key, 1872, 316 : 



Cbeck-list, 1874, No. 557. 

 Larus rossii, Rich.. App. Parry's 2d Vov. 1825, 359 ; F. B. A. ii, 1831, 427.— Wils., 111. 



1831, pi. 3.— NuTT., Man. ii, 1834, .— Aud., Orn. Biog. v, 1839, 324 ; Syu. 



1839,323; B. Am. vii, 1844, 130 (not figured).— Schl., Rev. Crit. 1844, 128.— 



Nau.m., V. D. xiii, 1844, pi. 388, f. 3, 4.— MiLX., Zool. 1847, 1694 — Ciiai:lksw., 



Zool. 1847, 1782.— Degl., Orn. Eur. ii, 1849, 332.— Haht., Br. B. 1872, 173 



(British instances). 

 Ehodostethia rossii, Macgil., Man. Orn. ii, 1842, 253 ; Br. B. v, 618.— Gray, Gen. of B. iii, 



1849, 653 ; List Br. B. 1863, 229.— Bp., Compt. Rend. 1856, 771.— Blas., J. f. 0. 



1865, 370. 

 ♦' Larus richardsoni, Wils." (Fide Bp.) (AVhere ?) 



Diag. E. Cauda cuueaid, torque coUari nigro, rostro nigro, pcdibus rnhns. 



ir«l).— Arctic regions. No United States record. Europe. Great Britain (see Gray 

 & Harting, I. c). Heligoland ; Ibis, 1865, 103. 



Sp. cii. " CoJor.— Scapulars, interscapulars, and both surfaces of the wings, clear 

 pearl-gray ; outer web of the first quill blackish-brown to its tip, which is gray ; ti[)S 

 of the scapulars and lesser quills whitish ; some small feathers near the eye, and a 

 collar round the middle of the neck, pitch-black, rest of the plumage white ; the neck 

 above, and whole under plnmage, deeply tinged with jwach-blossom red in recent spec- 

 imens ; hill black; its rictus, "and the edges of the eyelids, reddish-orange; legs aud 

 feel vermilion-rt'd ; nails blackish. 



"i''o()((.— Ihll slender, weak, with a scarcely perceptible salient angle beneath; the 

 u]>per mandil)le sliglitly arched and compnsscd toward the i)oii)t ; the commissure 

 slightly curved at the tlj). Wings an inch longer than the decidedly cuneiform laii ; 

 the central feathers are an inch longer than the outer ones. Tarsi rather stout ; the 

 thumb very distinct, armed witli a nail as large as that of the outer toe. 



"LfiHifHsio**.*.— Length, 11 inches; wing, l(i.5tt ; tail, 5.50; bill above, 0.75, along 

 gape, 1.25; tarsus, liV [High., 1\ B. A. ii, 18.51, 427.] 



The Smith.souian In.stitution conlains no siiecimeiis of this exquisite Gull ; and having 

 been unable to examine an indivifUuil (Iscwt-fn', I h;iv(^ been obliged to copy Riehard- 

 sou's description, as given in the Fauna Boreali-Ameiicana. Tiieic is little (hnger ihat 

 in the accounts by American authors of this spec es there will be found mat-rial dis- 

 crepancies, since I have not met with a single one who has not taken his deseriptiou 

 AvhoUy or in jiart from the same source. 



There an- no specimens in America, to my knowledge. Aerording t<) the editor of 

 the Ibis (1H65), no more than live s]t( cimen.swire then known : the one from .Milville 

 l)eiiiiisnla, .Iiine, 1H23, in the Univeisity Mi;s(um, Edinbuigh ; aiiolher in the I'erliy 

 Museum, believed to be from the same' source ; one at Mayeuce, fioni Kaiiil.sihaika : 

 one iu the Ga^tke colleition, from Heligoland ; i.nd one in jiossi ssion of Ilcrr lleizin. 

 of CopeuhagfMi, obtained on i\w Fa roe.s in Febiuary. l-'63. Mr. Harting < ites a'> exam- 

 ple recorded (Zool. as above) (rem Yorkshire, but ad.ds that accounts differ as lo locality 

 and date of ca]iture. 



Discussion of sgnonymy.—'Ihiii Gull had the iiiisforiunc to be ushered into oiuitbolo- 



