BIRDS LARIDAE — RISSA. 



853 



oi)iuion, must give place to that ofOrJ, cited above ; he also designates it as tlie " Banded-tail 

 Tern." To determine what species was described under the above name (if it was not distinct) 

 has long been considered a i)rt)bleni which it was very desirable to solve ; it agrees in every 

 particular with specimens of the young of honapartei, now under examination. Mr. Ord's 

 description is as follows : 



" Beneath pure white ; above blue ash; below the auriculars a patch of dark slate; tail 

 •white, short, almost even, crossed by a dark brown band ; a line of brown from the shoulder of 

 the wing to the tortials. Weight full five ounces." 



The slender and tern-like iorm of the bill probably induced Mr. Old to put it in Sterna. 



Note hy Dr. ISuckley. — "Abundant on Puget's Sound, in the neighborhood of which I obtained 

 several specimens. This species is the only gull commonly eaten by the Nisqually Indians. I 

 broiled one of these birds and found it about equal, in gastronomic qualities, to the liallua 

 a-epitahs." 



List of specimens. 



CHROICOCEPHALUS MINUTUS, Bruch. 



The l.itUc UiiU. 



Lams minulus, P.\LL.is, Raise, III, 702.— Bonap. Syn. 1828, No. 292.— Rich. & Siv. F. B. A. II, 1831,426.— Ni.tt. 



Man. 11, 1834, 289. 

 Cliroicocephatus minutus, Brucii, Cab. Jour. 1855, 290. 



Sr. Ch. — Adull. Head and upper part of the neck black ; a white crescent behind the eyes ; part of the lower neck and 

 under plumage roseate white ; rump and tail pure white ; back and wings of a pure and very pale bluish gray ; primaries and 

 secondaries ash gray tipped with white ; bill deep lake red; iris dark brown; legs and feet carmine. Length, about 11)^ 

 inches. 



I lab. — Arctic America? Europe. 



There is no specimen in the collection from North America, although a fine series from 

 Europe has been presented to the Smithsonian Institution by the Norwich Museum, England, 



RISSA, Leach. 



Rissa, Leacu, Steph. Gen. Zool. Xlll, 1825, 180. Type Lams triductylus, L. 



Ch.— Bill rather long, strong, and much compressed ; culmen straight at base, curved from the nostrils to the tip ; nostrils 

 lateral and longitudinal ; wings long and pointed ; tail even ; tarsi rather short ; toes slender and united by a full web ; hind 

 toe rudimentary or very small. 



